YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATES

Gift of
THOMAS EWART MARSTON
YALE 1927

THE ALPENSTOCK.

L, B. SEELEY AND SONS, WESTON GREENj
THAMES DITTON.

ALPENSTOCK;
on,
SKETCHES
OF
SWISS SCENERY AND MANNERS,
M DCCO XXV. — M DCCC XXVI.

BY CHARLES JOSEPH LATROBE.

The Eiijiaviogs printeil by C. Whittingham, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane.
PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND \\ . BURNSIDE :
AND SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY' AND SON'S,
FLEET STREET, LONDON.
JVIDCCCXXIX.

ADVERTISEMENT.
In making choice of ii title for the following pages, the
writer has fixed upon one which would seem to entail
upon him the necessity of a brief apology and an
explanation. As apology all that can be said amounts
to this : that no other was at hand equally expressive
(when understood) of the circumstances under which the
majority of the sketches contained in this volume
were committed to paper : and as explanation, it may
be at once stated, that the Alpenstock is the name
of the long iron-spiked pole, in common use on the
Alps, in the hands of the chamois-hunter, the crystal-
hunter, and the pedestrian traveller ; and therefore not
an unfitting symbol of the pursuits of one of the
latter class.

Subjects of tj^c VismtteH.
DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY S. WILLIAMS.

THE CHAMOIS-HUNTER AND TRAVELLER.— Outline of the Jungfrau
and Eigers, from the superior parts of the Wengem-alp. Title page.

THE WRESTLERS.— Scene near the head of the Simmenthal. Page asg

CATTLE WITH THEIR HOLIDAY ATTIRE.— From the alp below the
summit of the Stockhom. Page 31 0
THE ALP-HORN.— Sunrise.— Outlines ofthe Wetterhom and Wellhom. Page 373

CONTENTS.

Chapter I. — Neuchatel. Winter q/" 1824-5. Spring.
Departure for the Berne Oberland. Avenche. Morat.
The great Lime-tree at Miinchwyler. Phenomenon
observed on the lake of Morat. —Berne. Thun. The
Giinzenen. Erlenbach. [June. 1825.) Page 1.
Chapter II. — The Simmenthal. Baths of Weis-
senburg. The Stockhorn. Ch&.lets. The Rinder-alp.
Superior class of Chalets. The Kuhrei. Castles of the
Simmenthal. Wimmis. jEschi. Interlacken. Lauter-
brunneu. The Staubbach. Trachsellauinen. Swiss
children. The Wengern-alp. Avalanches. View at
sunrise upon the Jungfrau and Eigers. The Little
Scheidegg. Grindelwald. (iVo*<'. Ascent ofthe Jungfrau
by six peasants from Grindelwald, Se|)tember, 1828.)
The passage of the Great Scheidegg. Alpine Storm.
Meyringen. (July.) Page 20.
Chapter III. — The Obeihaslithal. Costumes of the
peasantry. Cascades. Goats. Vale of Grund. The
ChMet of thc Handeck. Features of the pass of the
Grimsel. The Hospital. Goats. The Meyenwand.
Glacier of the Rhone. The pass ofthe Furca. Descent into

viii COXTliNTS.
Canton Uri. Val d'Urseren. Hospenthal. Andenuatt.
The Schollenen. Vale of the Reuss. Effects of the
Roman Catholic Religion upon the peasantry. Amst'ag.
Altovf. William Tell. Fliielen. Lake of the Four
Cantons. Tell's Chapel. Riitli. Brunnen. Schwytz.
Lowertz. TheRighi. Kiissnach. Winkel. Alpnach.
Sachslen. The Briinig. Meyringen. [July.] Page 55.
Chapter IV. — Second Passage of the Grimsel.
Falls of the Aar. The Hospice. Obergesteln. The
Eginenthal. Pass of the Gries. Falls of the Tosa.
Formazza. Vales of Formazza and Antigorio. Crevola.
Domo d'Ossola. Villa. Mergozzo. Lago Maggiore.
Laveno. Varese. The Santo Monte. Description of
the view from the summit. Return to Domo d'Ossola.
Pass of the Simplon. Alpine storm. Brieg. Baths
of Leuk. Pass of the Gemmi. Vales of Kander and
Frutigen. Wimmis. Erlenbach. [July.) Page 92.
Chapter V.— The Niesen. The Obersimmenthal.
Zweysimmen. Saanen-mooser. Gsteig. Swiss Pastors.
Bears. Pass of the Sanetsch. Sion. Martigny. Bex.
Return to Neuchatel, and departure for Germany. The
Jura. Val de Moutier. The Black Forest. Donaues-
chingeu. Schaffhausen. Castle of Habsburg. The
vintage. [August — September.) Page 133.
Chapter VI. — Neuchatel. Town, Lake, and
Canton. Market-days. F6te des Armurins. Churches.
Burgundian carriers. Winter. The Lake and its tri
butaries. The Chaumont. Sketches of different
characters in the Town. The Vineyards. Paragreles.
Serriere. ViUage Psalmody. Montmirail. Spring, 1826.

CONTENTS.

The Mews. The Chasseval. Val de Ruz. Les Vallen-
gines. Val de Travers. The Creux du Vent. St.
Sulpice and its traditions. The Joran. Thunderstorms.

Page 161.

Chapter VII. — Departure for the Canton of Berne.
Belp. Thun. Approach to the foot of the Alps. The
Simmenthal. Thunderstorms. Thun. Swiss Scenery.
Baths of Weissenburg. The Ladders. The Haggen.
Optical deceptions in the mountains. The Wahl-alp.
Chalets. Economy of the alps. Biirglen and Gant-
risch. Baths of Gurnigel. Sunday in the moun
tains. The great Tanne, or Silver-fir. Amusements
of the Swiss Peasantry — Wrestling and Quilles.
(June — July.) Page 213.
Chapter VIII. — Vale of Diemtigen. Thiermatt.
Pass of the Grimmi. Vale of Fermel. Obersimmenthal.
Der Lenk. The Seven Fountains. Valley of Iffigen.
The Pass of the Rawyl. Descent to the Vallais.
Sion. Martigny. Valley of the Drance. The Con
vent of the Great St. Bernard. Italian douanier. Val
d'Aosta. Aosta. Vale of the Dora. St. Didier.
Courmajeur. Mont Blanc. Pass of the Little St.
Bernard. Descent to the Vale of the Isfere. Scez.
Chapui. I'ass of the Col de Bonhomme. Contamines.
Sallenche. Route to Geneva. (July.) Page 242.
Chapter IX. — Montreux. Pass de Jaman. Return
to Berne and Neuchatel. The Simmenthal. The
Stockhorn. Cattle and their Bells. Popular Supersti
tion. Village Fair. The Thurnen. Interlacken.

>! CONTENTS.
Unterseen. Travelling in Switzerland, and its effect
upon the morals of the peasantiy. Shores of the Lake
of Brienz. The Briinig. Lungern. Sachslen. Stanz.
The Lake of the Four Cantons. Brunnen. Schwytz.
Ecce Homo. Swiss beggars. Rothenthurm. Swiss
dignitaries. Sattel. The Field of Battle of Morgarten.
St. Maria Einsiedeln, its monasteries and pilgrims.
The Ezel. Lake of Zurich. Uznach. The Himmel-
wald. Canton AppenzeU. Herisau. St. Gall. Rors
chach. Lake of Constance. (September.) Page 303.
Chapter X.— Rorschach. The Statthalterei. Castle
of St. Anne. The Sulzberg. The Austrian Frontier.
Shooting parties. Scenery of the Lower Rheinthal.
Bregenz. Excursion up the right bank of the Rhine to
the Principality of Lichenstein, and the Grison
Frontier. Castles on the Rhine. Sargans. The
Rhine, its present and future course through the N. E.
of Switzerland. Lake and town of Wallenstatt. Glarus.
The Klonthal. Pass of the Bragel. Descent into the
Muottathal. The Alp-horn. Schwytz. Brunnen.
Gersau. Lake of the Four Cantons. Buochs. Stanz.
Sachslen. Return to the Simmenthal by the Briinig.
Brienz, .^schi, and Wimmis. [September and October.)
Neuchsltel. Winter oJ" 1826-7. Winter's day among
the Alps. Departure from Switzerland. [March 1827.)
Page 349.
Appendix. — The Flora of the chain ofthe Stockhorn
and Thurnen.

THE ALPENSTOCK.

CHAPTER I.

Above me are the Alps
The palaces of nature, whose vast walls
Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps
And throned eternity in icy halls
Of cold sublimity, where forms and falls
Tlie avalanche — the thunderbolt of snow 1
All that expands the spirit, yet appals,
Gather around these summits, as to show
How earth may pierce to heaven, yet leave vain man below.

The sunset of a bright autumnal day, towards the end
of October 1824, found me for the first time standing
upon the shore of the Lake of Neuchatel, at the point
where its waters are deepened by the construction of a
promenade, stretching to the N. E. of the town of that
name. The preceding days, distinguished by equally season
able, but very rough weather, I had been toiling through
the recesses of those deep and secluded defiles in the Jura,
which intersecting its chain from Basle to Bienne, form
to the N. E. the valley of the Birse, and to the S. W.
B

2 NEUCHATEL.
that of the Suze, two mountain-streams of considerable
volume and impetuosity.
I cannot say that either my person or my accoutrements
had suffered materially from the storms, which, driving
over the mountains, had showered the stained foliage
of the forest thickly upon my path ; or that the season was
so far advanced, that travelling was no longer likely to
yield its due measure of enjoyment. Yet, on entering
this little town, which I had for some time back glanced
at upon my map, as a temporary home, I felt every
disposition to lay aside my staff and to have done with
roaming for the present. Accordingly, having entered
into a contract, which left me undisputed master of an
apartment about fourteen feet square, I took formal
possession by depositing the sturdy companion of my
summer rambles in a corner, and strolled into the public
walk. The sun was just sinking towards the western horizon,
throwing his beams horizontally over the whole length
of the wide sheet of water, whose short interrupted waves
rebounded from the masonry of the terrace, and from the
Crfet, a small rocky knoll at its termination. Beyond
the latter the eye followed the continuation of the shore
to the N. E. end of the lake. Behind, rose the long,
steep, and forested ridge of the Jura ; the white-walled
farm-houses on the heights, glistening against the blue
sky. Across the lake, the horizon was formed of one unbroken
and widely extended chain of mountains ; from the Alps
of Savoy on the south, to the rocky summits in the
vicinity of the lake of the Four Cantons, far to the
eastward : ridge above ridge, peak above peak ; their

NEUCHATEL. 3
snows glowing with the red hue of an autumnal sun,
which every moment rendered more intense and more
beautiful. I cannot express in words the feelings of wonder and
awe with which I gazed for that first time upon this
magnificent scene ; the sense of exultation, with which
my eye measured the successive heights as they rose from
the steep shores of the lake, till surmounted by the
towering glaciers of the central chain ; or the involun
tary impulse to adore and glorify the Creator of heaven
and earth, which rose in my breast, in the presence of
these stupendous and magnificent monuments of his
power. During the winter months which followed, before I
had ceased to feel myself a stranger in a foreign land, the
contemplation of this scene was as daily bread to me ; and,
to the delight and admiration with which I never ceased
to gaze upon it, fresh interest was added, in proportion
as my knowledge of its details increased.
When I entered this retired corner of Switzerland, as
above mentioned, it was under the influence of peculiar
feelings. A year, distinguished among the few and
comparatively even ones, of which my life had hitherto
been composed, by a number of severe trials, was coming
to a close ; trials, which are not the less painful to the
individual, from the knowledge that all are more or less
liable to experience them. However, from the heavy
thoughts which these had left behind them, my attention
and feelings were imperceptibly diverted by the scenes
amidst which I was placed, the quiet of my little cham
ber, my books, and the kind and winning attentions of the
few who knew of my existence at that time among them.
B 2

4 NEUCHATEL,
Under the influence of these, the short days of winter
passed away : time wore on, — and before the first days
of March following, the earth and air began to show
signs of the approach of spring.
The snow evidently diminished upon the southern
declivities of the Jura, and the little river Seyon brought
down a greater volume of water into the town. The
diminutive white blossoms of the Draba verna unfolded
themselves upon the warm ledges of the Cr^t ; and
though vegetation cannot be said to have generally
commenced, there was a rustling among the dead leaves
in the forest, and the dry grass of the hill-side, which
betokened its speedy approach.
Till towards the middle of this month, however, the
season was not without its usual drawbacks. The Bize, a
strong and keen N. E. wind, very prevalent in Switzer
land in the interval between the winter solstice and vernal
equinox, often blew for several successive days with great
violence, dashing the waves ofour blue lake high over the
piers and embankments, and by its intensity checking the
genial influence of a clear and powerful sun.
Though no more snow fell at the foot of the Jura,
the cars descending the mountains at sun-rise on market
days, not unfrequently entered the town with a thick
coating of snow piled over their load of wood. This
uncertain state of things was, however, of no long
continuance. But I had no occasion to look abroad for signs and
symptoms that winter was passing, and a more delightful
season stealing over the landscape. My habits, during
the preceding winter months, had been regular and
retired ; I had risen early, had my stated hours for this or

NEUCHATEL. .5
that study ; had sat long and patiently at my desk ; —
and confined my rambles to the immediate vicinity,
and had almost forgotten that I had had, in former
years, often reason to bewail a naturally restless mind
and body. But about this time much of my soberness
began to evaporate silently out of my system. My chair
began to feel harder and less comfortable than it had
done before ; and, for my life, I could neither sit as
long, nor as immovably upon it as I had done.
I continued to find Schiller's Thirty years' War
vastly entertaining ; but for all that, I could not bend
my neck over it for as long a time together. When
the hour came which I had regularly set apart for the
purpose of reading aloud, as I perambulated my chamber
from angle to angle, I found I could seldom turn
upon my heel, at the comer next the windows on a
fine sunny day, without feeling my eyes sliding edgeways
from the page, leaving my tongue in the middle of a
sentence. Many a sly glance did I throw into the corner where
my trusty staff had been consigned to ignoble repose
for so many months. In short, I began grievously to
suspect that I was much the same individual as here
tofore ; and that the temptation held out to me by the
continual sight of the distant Alps and their glaciers,
would probably, under the insinuating influence of
longer days and brighter suns, prove seriously detrimental
to my sober and sedentary employments.
However, I must be allowed to say a good word for
myself, by stating, that in spite of much temptation
from within and without, I struggled hard, and with
partial success against these symptoms, before I fairlj^

(J NEUCHATEL.
gave in. It was the middle of April before I relaxed
aught material of my discipline, and the middle
of June before I fairly assumed the staff and wallet.
During this period, distinguished by eight weeks
of the most uninterrupted spring weather, I had every
opportunity of becoming well-acquainted with the country
in the vicinity of my winter's residence.
The neighbouring mountains, with the broken country
at their feet ; the spacious and fertile Val de Ruz ; the
stupendous defile of the Reuse leading to the Val de
Travers and Franche Compte ; the shores of the three
adjacent lakes, were all within the compass of an
afternoon's or evening's ramble, and of moderate exertion.
— But more of these at a future page.
After being engaged for some days in making the
necessary arrangements, I quitted a neighbourhood to
which I had become much and deservedly attached :
being inclined in my future wanderings, to try how far
the information I had brought together, relative to the
Alpine districts of Switzerland, could bear me out in
my project of penetrating into their recesses, independent
of the ordinary assistance and society of guides ; a
race of men with which I had no desire to come into
contact, if I could by any means avoid it.
I knew, from experience, that my back was, thanks to
God, strong enough to bear my own burden ; my health
sufficiently robust to support ordinary fatigue ; and my
spirits sufficiently unbroken and flexible, to keep me
up, where the body unaided might be inclined to sink
from extraordinary exertion or difiiculty.
Though neither misanthropic nor of a particularly
gloomy turn, I had no objection to solitude ; and

NEUCHATEL. 7
trusted to find in the scenes around me, and in my
own thoughts and resources, sufficient amusement to
prevent my suffering from ennui.
If it were not, in the present age, set down to a man's
discredit, to acknowledge that he was not rich enough
to squander, I might perhaps add this reason also,
why I did not feel at liberty to indulge in luxuries
which I could possibly do without : but as the minds
of men happen to be so constructed at present, I will
even keep my own counsel, and set out as Milor
Anglais, or what you please.
The sketches of the pen from nature may, and do
often, resemble the hasty sketches of the pencil.
Though roughly drawn, and destitute of the careful
touch and keeping which characterize a work perfected
at leisure in the cabinet, they often bear, with all their
rudeness of outline and roughness of colouring, a
truth and a vigour which no copy can imitate, and which
any subsequent retouch would be more likely to destroy
than to heighten.
If this is admitted, it will be perceived, why, in
many of the following pages, the loose and irregular
style of a journal, written while the impression of the
objects and events attempted to be described was yet
fresh on the imagination, is retained, in preference to
any remodelled edition of it.
June 22. — With this day my summer's peregrinations
properly commenced, as the preceding evening I had
only rounded the low and swampy shores of the lake
of Neuchatel, from Montmirail to Cudrefin, and from
thence struck across the hills to Avenche.

8 AVENCHE.
A bright unclouded morning sun is never unwelcome
to the traveller, and by such I was glad to be awakened.
Avenche, or Wijiisburg, the ancient Aventicum, is
situated on a rising ground, at the edge of the morasses
which extend to the S.W. of the lake of Morat. The
country at the back reminds me forcibly of many parts
of England. Gentle hills, covered with wood ; meadows
and cornfields, separated by hedgerows filled with trees,
whose full round masses of foliage appeared to great
advantage, after being so long accustomed to the poorly
clothed stems on the declivities of the Jura ; pleasant
gardens ; the absence of the stiff and unpicturesque
vineyard ; cattle straying in the pastures ; were features
of the landscape, which chiefly prompted the comparison.
The present town occupies the site of what was
once the castle, the outer walls and moatings of which
still remain : thus the great and splendid city, formerly
the capital of Roman Helvetia, with exception of a few
massy fragments of the exterior walls, seen here and
there in the plain below, an old tower, probably the
N.E. gateway, and a solitary column, has now shrunk
into the inclosure formerly its citadel. But few anti
quities, chiefly inscriptions and cornices, are now to be
seen. I was shown a mosaic pavement, evidently that
of a bath, in very tolerable preservation, at some distance
from the gate of the town. Another, still finer, was
discovered some time ago in a stable, but commanded
no respect, as the cattle were suffered to tread it to pieces.
The above mentioned column is to me the most
interesting relic. It seems to have been originally in
the angle of a building. It is clustered with smaller
pillars, and seems to have been furnished on one side

AVENCHE. 9
with small abutments for arches. On the summit two
storks had built their nest, and both young and old
seemed occupied with some substantial meal as I stood
beneath it.
The remains of the walls are daily decreasing, from
the rapacity of builders, who unceremoniously take away
all the materials they can possibly make use of. Grass
and fruit-trees fill the amphitheatre.
Who can visit the remains of this fallen city, and not
cast his thoughts back to the far times of Julius Alpinus,
and feel his heart throb over the remembrance of the
tomb and record of the heart-broken Julia !
This was my second visit at Avenche. It was after a
night of considerable adventure amongst the rude
hamlets and bewildei'ing swamps of this corner of the
cantons of Freyberg and Berne, that the sun-rise of a
fresh April morning found me before its gate for the
first time. It was not without emotion that I called up
the recollection of the historical picture of the city as it
existed in the olden time ; now clothed in that inde
scribable mantle in which the tale of the glory and
prosperity which has utterly faded from the face of the
earth, with the lapse of centuries, is enveloped. Then
the sight of its remains so lonely and so grey ; the
luxuriance of the green sod, from which its leafless
and dead walls reared themselves ; the sweet breath
of the spring which made my very existence feel a
blessing ; all conspired to yield me some hours of en
joyment, such as has seldom been my lot, since the
¦Veshness and truth of my boyish feelings have passed.
After spending some hours in strolling about the
town and its more immediate neighbourhood, I continued

10 MORAT.
my route to Berne, by way of Morat. A short time
before you enter the gates of the latter town, the road
passes over the field of battle, signalized by the victory
of the ancient Swiss over Charles the Bold and his
Burgundians, June 22, 1476.
The long struggle of the confederated cantons with
the surrounding nations, for the preservation of their
independence, during the 14th and 15th centuries, will
hardly find its parallel in history, whether we consider
the sternly noble and unambitious feeling which brought
them into the field, or the hardy devotion and bravery
with which they, a handful of rudely appointed moun
taineers, repeatedly withstood and repulsed armies,
composed ofthe bravest, proudest, and most accomplished
chivalry in Europe.
From the battles of Morgarten and Laupen, to those
of Grandson and Morat, one war-cry alone seems to
have thrilled through the bosom of the sturdy and
simple inhabitants of these mountains : and well they
obeyed the summons to die for the liberties of their
country, till gold and ease wrought their usual evil
work on the public and private character of the people.
Then ambition, and its attendant train of vices soon
uprooted that pristine virtue which had made their fore
fathers renowned ; and the very field of victory, on
which I now stood, tended greatly in its consequences
to hasten this declension.
The victory of Grandson, gained over the same
prince, in the March preceding, had deluged the simple
houses of the Swiss burgers with gold, silver, and every
article of luxury ; for Charles had marched to his
overthrow upon that spot with all the pomp of a

MORAT. 1 1
victorious monarch entering his capital, and had fled
with the loss of all, even his own ducal ring.
At Morat, an overthrow, more signal, if possible, left
the victors in possesssion of the remnant of those spoils
which he and his nobles had amassed in an hitherto
successful and victorious career : and the period of
comparative traiicjuillity, which the Swiss cantons imme
diately after enjoyed, gave but too much time and
opportunity for the nurture of the passions, to which the
acquisition of so much wealth and luxury unavoidably
gave rise.
The famous ossuaire or bone-house no longer exists.
After remaining untouched for a period of upwards
of 300 years, it was destroyed by the French army
under the revolutionary generals, on their entry into
Switzerland in the year 1797.
Its former site is marked by a plain unadorned obelisk.
From this point I made a digression to an eminence above
the village of Miinchwyler, to visit the great lime tree,
traditionally reported to be the very tree under which
the Swiss generals held their council of war on the
evening preceding the battle. Whether true or false, a
survey of the immense trunk and towering branches is
quite sufficient to add to the credulity of the credulous,
if not to stagger the incredulity of the unbeliever. I
never saw a tree of that species which could at all be
compared to this, either for size, luxuriant growth, or
the beautiful disposition of its large masses of foliage.
It would appear to be still in its prime.
M'iinchwyler once possessed a convent, and may still
boast a venerable church.
The lake of Morat which it overlooks, was the scene

12 MORAT.
of a very singular phenomenon, during the earlier months
of this year, 1825.
I remember the report reaching Neuchatel — through
the medium of the market people passing from one
lake to the other, (some time during the winter) that the
waters of the lake of Morat had suddenly become the
colour of blood, though I could meet with no one
whose testimony was sufficiently clear and unequivocal
to establish the fact. This, joined to my not having
the leisure then to come and see for myself, caused the
matter to slip my memory entirely, till I found myself
in the neighbourhood. Here the circumstance was
fully confirmed to me in a manner not to be questioned ;
and having since met with a paper, written by Mons.
de Candolle of Geneva, on the subject, shall take
what is there stated as my best guide in mentioning
the facts as they occurred.
It appears that this singular phenomenon began to
excite the attention of the inhabitants of Morat as early
as November last year, and that it continued more or
less observable during the whole of the winter.
Mr. Trechsel, a gentleman resident at Morat, to whom
M. de Candolle applied, on hearing the report, for infor
mation and specimens of the colouring matter, stated —
That during the early hours of the day no extraordinary
appearance was observable in the lake ; but that a little
later, long parallel lines of reddish matter were seen to
extend along the surface of the water, at some short dis
tance from the banks. This being blown by the wind
towards the more sheltered parts of the shore, collected
itself about the reeds and rushes, covering the surface
of the lake with a light foam ; forming, as it were, dif-

MORAT. 13
(J
ferent strata of various colours, from greenish black,
grey, yellow, and brown, to the most delicious red. He
adds, that this matter exhaled a pestiferous odour during
the day, but disappeared at the approach of night. It
was further observed, that during tempestuous weather
it vanished altogether. Many small fishes were seen to
become intoxicated while swimming amongst it, and after
a few convulsive leaps, to lie motionless on the surface.
The naturalists of Geneva decided, from the specimens
sent, that it was an animal substance, which, if not the
oscillatoria subfusca, was nearly allied to it.
Soon after the beginning of May it disappeared entirely.
It is not known that this phenomenon has appeared be
fore on the lake of Morat within the memory of man.
Tradition states the same to have happened the year
preceding the great battle.
From the Lime tree I struck across the country, and
did not join the main road till Campenach. At Gum-
menen I crossed the Saanen, here flowing in a deep dell,
with steep sandy acclivities on both sides. The stone
of all this country, from the limestone of the Jura to the
breccia at the foot of the Alps, is a soft sandstone, called
molasse, varying in colour from a dull red, to greenish
grey, and disposed in horizontal strata with layers of
gravel between.
From the height above Capellan there is a fine view
of the long range of the Jura, rising from the shore
of the lakes at its foot, like a vast rampart of precipitous
heights. The regular line preserved by the different
ridges composing its chain, when viewed from a distance,
is very singular. No trace can then be discovered of the
profound defiles by which they are intersected.

14 BERNE.
My road led me forward through a fine broken tract
of country, sprinkled with villages and country seats, till
I entered the avenues of lime trees which announced my
approach to the town of Berne, whose arcades, foun
tains, minster, bears, and environs, afforded me much
amusement for the following days.
The situation of Berne is sufficiently picturesque and
remarkable to attract notice, even were the views from its
ramparts and environs less beautiful than they are uni
versally acknowledged to be. It is built upon an elevated
peninsula, round which the waters of the river Aar sweep
alternately East and West, in a deep and varied channel.
A favourite promenade of the citizens, called L'Eng^
situated a quarter of an hour's walk from the North
West barrier, has always appeared to me pre-eminent
among the numerous exquisite points of view in this
neighbourhood. The town, with its several gateways,
steeples, and the tower of the minster rising above the
crowded roofing of the houses, here appears in the
iniddle ground ; separated from the point on which you
stand, by the deep wooded dell of the Aar. Upon the
brink of this, the outermost houses are crowded in the
oddly fashioned manner usual in old fortified towns,
where each seems to depend vipon its neighbour for sup
port, and form a long irregular line, descending gradually
towards the lower and further extremity of the peninsula,
where the bridge is situated. Beyond appears the varied
and broken country towards Belp, and the lake of Thun ;
and over this the finest portion of the Berne Alps rear
their sparkling masses to the clouds. The view from
the area before the minster is too universally known to
need any description in this place.

THUN. 15
During my stay I was the honoured guest of a family
of kind and hospitable friends, whose country house was
situated on the brow of the hill commanding the town.
In the occurrence of these days I find nothing of a nature
sufficiently novel to merit insertion here. That which I have
the tact to perceive to be very commonplace, I should
hardly be acting wisely to trouble the reader with, however
amusing I may find the recollection of it to be to myself.
jMwe25th. — I rose between three and four o'clock,
A. M. and set out on the high road to Thun. As I ad
vanced, the sun rose upon the landscape ; and by the time
I reached the village of Muri, at the distance of a league
from Berne, the summits of the Alps before me were
all glowing in his clear and unobstructed light. I
need not spread out my page by describing this line
of road, which though very picturesque, was produc
tive of no adventure.
I entered Thun, after a little more than three hours
march, with a crowd of peasants bringing their various
commodities to the Saturday's market. While sitting in
the elevated church-yard, which commands one of the
finest coups d'oeil in Switzerland, I observed a bridal
party entering the church, and followed in the rear to
see how the ceremony was conducted.
The officiating clergyman afforded me an opportunity
of observing the clerical costume of the country. This
consists of a black serge gown fitting close to the
shoulders and body, but falling from the small of the
back in long full plaits, loose hanging sleeves and
cufls, and a thick white ruff round the neck. A black
brimless hat is carried in the hand.

1 6 THUN.
The couple first sat apart, on different sides of the
church, and the minister had just begun to read the
prayers or rather the exhortation, when an unexpected in
terruption was experienced, by the sudden apparition of a
poor idiot, who it appears had been employed to toll the
bell on the happy occasion ; and who now came
scrambling out of the roof, by the assistance of a
creaking ladder, finishing his descent by a thundering
leap or tumble on the gallery boards. This seemed to
be considered as an indecorous intrusion. The Herr
Pfarrer stopped short, and the bride elect, who by the
by was neither young nor handsome, stared round with
an expression of some impatience ; while the clerk by
whose side I had posted myself, held up his fist in a
menacing posture, and uttered a loud Whist .' The
poor fellow, who seemed to have no idea of the mischief
he had done, now remained mute and motionless ; the
clergyman continued the service, the happy couple once
more cast their eyes upon the ground, and, after a few
short prayers, were made man and wife, by simply joining
their hands.
My plan was now to turn my steps towards the
Stockhorn chain to the westward, and to visit the
Simmenthal which lies behind it, before entering upon
the examination of the higher and more central portions
of district termed the Oberland. Accordingly, after
spending some hours in the heat of the day at Thun, I
turned to the south-west towards the range of precipitous
mountains named after the singularly-shaped rock which
rises about the centre ofthe chain.
While walking along the high road leading from
Thun to the vallies of the Kander and Simmen, I

THE GUNZENEN. 17
occupied myself with narrowly examining the face
of the precipices, to the bases of which I was gradually
approaching, to discover, if possible, some ravine
which might enable me to cross the mountains, instead
of keeping the regular route to Wimmis and the
entrance of the valley beyond. But seeing no pos
sibility of ascending the range from this side, I walked
soberly forward till I came to the vicinity of the village
of Reutigen. There the feasibility of my first idea
again struck me, from the appearance of the mountain
side above that village, though I had now passed very
considerably to t;he southward of the Stockhorn
itself. I left the road accordingly ; and, after steering
through the pastures and the irregular village, to the
foot of the mountain, began my climb over several
miles of very steep pasture land, upon the slippery
verdure of which I had no little difficulty to keep my
footing. Here I made my first experience of the various
and important uses of the Alpenstock, the long iron-shod
pole, for which I had exchanged my ordinary lowland
companion at the town of Thun, and which subsequently
stood me in stead in many a hazardous slide and leap.
After an hour and a half's toil, I approached the
summit of the Giinzenen, the last of the Stockhorn
range next the Niesen,- and separated from it by the
entrance into the Simmenthal. Here I found a small
ch§.let with a good Swiss matron in the door-way, milking
her goats. From her I learned that I was four leagues
from the summit of the Stockhom, and was consequently
deterred from attempting to reach it. The approach
of a stormy night and the utter hopelessness of a clear

18 THE GUNZENEN.
view of the Glaciers, even if I did reach it, served to
reconcile me to a change of plan.
I therefore determined, after five minutes' rest and a
basin of milk, to think no more about it, but to find my
way over the opposite side of the mountain into the
valley of the Simmen.
Some general directions I got at the chilet ; but
whether they were not particular enough, or whether I
mistook them, I cannot determine. Soon after losing
sight of it, I came to a spot commanding a peep into
the valley beneath, with the Simmen runnin g through it,
and the village of Erlenbach, whither I was bound ;
but at such a depth below, as prepared me for a long-
scramble before I could make svire of a night's shelter.
The first track which I hit upon, after quitting the bare
head of the mountain, led me into the pine forests which
girdle all these chains at a certain height, and there I
lost it. The second, on which I could not enter without
retracing my steps a considerable way towards the sum
mit, led me again into the forest for about a mile and a
half, and then disappeared like the former in the vicinity
of a deserted log-hut.
I again took the only way which seemed to promise a
favourable result, re-ascended to the upper pastures, and
made choice of another track, which I followed for
another fifteen minutes, through the forest into which
it brought me, till it came to a termination at the verge
of a precipice of five or six hundred feet, being formed,
as I afterwards found, solely for the purpose of drag
ging the fallen pines to the edge, and precipitating them
below, as is the custom in these mountains.
Here then I came to a stand, and for a moment imagined

ERLENBACH. 19
that I was fagged, and out of heart. With a very small
portion of day-light remaining, the mountains opposite
me enveloped with thick vapours, gradually spreading
themselves over the valley, and a feeling of dispiriting
doubt I'esting upon the issue of any other attempt I
might yet have the opportunity of making, I began
seriously to think of a bivouac in the woods. Here, I
thought, I had a first taste ofthat kind of ill-luck which
must often be my lot in the Alps, if I persisted in
denying myself the luxuries of guidance.
After some further musing, I roused myself, having
recruited my good temper by a little rest, and my bodily
strength by an application to my leathern bottle ; and
found myself free from the irritability resulting from
disappointment, and ready to make another trial.
I emerged once more from the forest, and was suffi
ciently fortunate to take another track which led to some
inhabited chdlets, and what was better still, to a stream
of water. Here all doubt and difficulty ended.
In less than three quarters of an hour I stood at the
door of the parsonage at Erlenbach, a village then to me
of no more interest than the hundreds nestled in the
sheltered vallies of these mountains — now one of those
spots to which my heart clings with an affection which
is interwoven with the thread of my being.

CHAPTER II.

Into that forest farre, they thence hhn led
Where was their dwelling, in a pleasant glsule.
With mountains round about environed.
And mighty woods which did the valley shade.
And Uke a stately theatre it made.
Spreading itself into a spacious plain :
And in the midst a little river play'd.
Among the pumy stones, which seem'd to plaine.
With gentle murmur that his course they did restraine :—
*****
Beside the same a dainty place there lay.
Planted with myrtel trees and laurels green 3
In which the birds sang many a lovely lay.
Of God's high praise, and of their love's sweet teen.
As it an earthly paradise had been !

The Simmentlial is one of those long and fertile vallies,
which, descending from the central chain of the Berne
Alps to the northward, serve to carry oiF the waters
of the glaciers at their head, as well as the tribute
of numberless streams of greater or less volume, flowing
through the transverse ravines and glens. The Simmen,
running through it, issues from the side of the RSzliberg,
at a spot called, from the peculiar appearance of its
source. Die Sieben Brunnen^ or The Seven Fountains.
After a course of above twelve leagues, it issues into
the open country between the Giinzenen and the Bar.
a singular rocky hill, which rises up directly at the
entrance of the Simmenthal, near Wimmis ; and after
many windings in the comparatively open tract between

THE SIMMENTHAL. 21
the mountains and the lake of Thun, is joined by the
Kander, draining the next range of vallies to the East
ward, and immediately after enters the lake justmentioned.
The valley is divided into two districts or bailiwicks,
the Ober and Nieder Simmenthal ; the seat of govern
ment of the former being at the castle of Blankenburg,
near St. Stephen, and that of the latter at Wimmis.
It is hemmed in throughout its whole extent by high
mountains, those on the left bank of the Simmen being
attached to the Stockhom range, and those on the right
to different offsets from the central chain.
The pastures and forests which cover their sides, form
the riches of the inhabitants who occupy nine large, and
numerous smaller villages and hamlets scattered through
the valley, including Wimmis and Reutigen at its
entrance. The morning after my arrival in Erlenbach, as just
related, I issued forth with that feeling of interest and
curiosity which it is so natural to entertain with regard
to a scene whose outlines were but dimly descried in
the preceding evening's twilight.
The parsonage (to the inhabitants of which the name
of a common friend had been my introduction) is situated
upon a knoll, upon the sun-side of the valley, a few
paces higher than the simple white-walled village church
and humble church-3'-ard. The immediate vicinity is occu
pied by a flower garden, stocked with many a shrub and
flower, created to bloom under a far different sun and
sky. The white walls of the house, and the pillars
supporting the little side galleries at the gable, were
covered with a profusion of vines and the thick foliage
of the Virginian Creeper. Behind, a wild mountain

22 THE SIMMENTHAL.
torrent, descending from the mountains to the N. dashed
down a rocky and shady gully, in the side of the hill,
turned a small mill for bruising bark, and then made
its way through the village to the Simmen, whose
gentle murmurings filled the ear from the depth of the
valley. Eastward, the eye descried the entrance of the Sim
menthal, bi'oken by the forested head of the Bar, and
bounded by the declivities of the Niesen on the right,
and Giinzenen on the left ; a portion of the mountains
near Brientz appears on the small extent of distant
horizon visible ; up the valley, the ej^e rests upon the
rocky mountains beyond Boltigen. The village occu
pies the slope of the hill immediately beneath the small
plateau upon which the church and parsonage stand.
Across the Simmen, the Diemtigenberg, with its
farm-houses, pastures, and black patches of pine forest,
presents itself as a middle-ground, over which tower the
steep summits of the chain of the Mannlifluh, of which
the Niesen is the termination.
It was Sunday, and the picture was rendered more
lively by the groups of peasantry sitting in the church
yard, or coming leisurely up the steep foot-path leading
from the village.
I am thus particular in attempting to describe this
retired spot, because it is one to which I must inake
continual reference in future. It became, from that
very day, a central point from which I started for my
summer rambles to every part of the country, and the
home to which I always turned my steps when my object
was gained, or when disappointment or indisposition made
m^' solitude wearisome.

THE SIMMENTHAL. 2:;
Thus much 1 feel, that I never quitted that threshold
without being accompanied on my road by the warm
good wishes of those whom I left behind ; and never
entered the door-way again without feeling that there was
truth, and honest-hearted affection in the welcome which
greeted me. But they need not this weak testimonial
of my value for their unvarying and disinterested
friendship. A visit of ten days was the first result of my intro
duction to this worthy family.
The season was very unsettled, especially after the
first few days. However, I had some opportunity for
the examination of the mountains in the vicinity, aud
did not faiLto take advantage of it.
The baths of Weissenburg, situated in the side of the
mountains to the N. W. about two leagues distant, were
the first remarkable point to which I was conducted by
my newly-found friends.
We pursued the main road leading up the valley,
past the village of Darstetten, till we reached the hamlet
of Weissenburg. Then, turning short to the right,
followed a ravine, which narrowed at every step till it
became a chasm in the breast of the mountain, so deep
and profound, that the baths, which are situated in its
recesses, enjoy only from two to three hours sun daily,
during the height of summer. The buildings erected
in this gloomy spot, at the brink of a boiling mountain-
torrent, are of a considerable extent, and furnish accom
modation for a great number of visitors during the
summer months.
The mineral springs do not rise here, but much deeper
in the gorge than even this point, and their water is

24 THE SIMMENTHAL.
conveyed to the baths by wooden pipes running along
the face of the precipices for several furlongs. It is
clear, and as far as I could judge, perfectly tasteless.
The ordinary temperature, is about 82° Fahrenheit :
though I was told that in the morning and evening it is
several degrees warmer. As to its peculiar uses, each
seems to entertain a different opinion, though all agree it
is highly medicinal.
I was conducted by my companion still deeper into
the ravine, by a precarious and narrow footway running
above the edge of the torrent, to see a precipice, up
which the country people have formed a pathway to the
higher pastures, by means of grooves in the face of the
rock, and ladders in other places where passage was
otherwise impossible. Two or three hundred feet of
dizzy precipice are in this manner rendered surmountable
by practised heads and feet. A trial of about half the
height proved to me, beyond a doubt, that mine were
not yet steady enough : and I was glad to find myself
once more with whole bones at the baths. Our return
home added nothing to our adventure worth recording.
The chamois is abundant in this and the neighbouring
mountains. The wolf and the bear are sometimes, but
rarely seen ; but the lynx is not unfrequently shot. I was
told, that in 1823 the lightning fell upon a large pine on
the opposite mountain and killed thirty-nine sheep lying
beneath it. They were buried on the spot ; but, a few days
after, a hunter passing near, espied four full-grown lynxes
very busily engaged in scratching them up again. He
fired, killed one, and the rest of course took the nearest
road to the forest. The museum at Berne contains some
very fine specimens of this large and powerful cat. They

THE STOCKHORN. 25
are of a yellowish red colour, with very large green eyes,
and sharply pointed ears.
One main object in my turning towards this part ofthe
country had been to ascend the Stockhom ; accordingly
we had anxiously watched the signs of the weather,
morning, noon, and night since my arrival, and only
waited the dispersion of the grey masses of vapour
which rested on the summits around us, to make the
attempt. On the afternoon of the 27th the wind rose, and put
these in motion ; and in the hope that they might com
pletely clear off before we should have reached the end
of our three hours' climb, my host and myself took our
Alp-poles &c. and set off. Following the green
margin of the brook behind the house, we advanced
slowly up the mountain towards the belt of forest
separating the higher from the lower pastures, and,
after an hour's walk, reached the foot of a high
precipitous ridge between the Walpersbergfluh and
Mossfluh, two enormous piles of bare perpendicular
rock, each soaring to the height of many hundred feet
above the head of the passenger. Over this ridge, a
rough pathway led us to a profound hollow in the
mountains, the bottom of which is occupied by the
Stockensee, a deep and gloomy lake. The rocks on the
ridge were covered with a profusion of the beautiful
flowers of the rhododendron ferrugineum ; and our
tin-cases began to fill rapidly with specimens of Alpine
botany, which, though familiar to my companion, were
for the most part new to me.
We were now in the region of vapour, which, however,
being driven to and fro by the wind, never concealed the

26 THE STOCKHORN.
same point long together, and we had accordingly partial
glimpses of the four summits surrounding the hollow
of the Stockensee, that to the N. E. being the Stockhorn
itself. Afteranother long pull over a steep tract of pasture
land, vying in the freshness and luxuriance of its cover
ing with the most beautiful turf in my own country,
we approached to the last and most laborious stage of the
mountain. This commences with a narrow ridge of considerable
length, stretching between two profound hollows, and
hardly broader than a dog's back, (from which it has its
name, Hundsrucken,) leading to the last inclined range
of wide pastures immediately under the head of the
Stockhorn. Upon the highest point of this we stood,
about 4 P.M., a gigantic pile of limestone rock forming,
on the side opposite to that we had ascended, a precipice
of above 700 feet perpendicular. The elevation of
the Stock (the name given to the crest of the mountain)
is about 7260 English feet above the level of the sea.
We were now above the vapours, and, occasionally at
least, under the influence of a bright and powerful sun ;
but, alas ! the country below, and the whole line of
glaciers to the S. E. and E., were covered with a dense
and impenetrable mass of clouds. The sound of the
herd-bells, rising through the mist, from the vallies
beneath us, was truly tantalizing.
Alpine plants clothe the little patches of soil amongst
the rocks of the Stockhorn to the highest crag ; and the
myosotis perennis clustering at the foot of the lightning-
shivered beacon, sparkles in the sunshine, with a depth
and intensity of colour, which may vie with the blue ether
in whose purest dews it is ever glistening.

THE SIMMENTHAL. 27
After an hour and a half's sojoum on the summit,
waiting in vain for a final dispersion of the vapours, we
commenced our descent, crossed over another part of the
flanks of the mountain, to a second black and dismal
lake ; and, pursuing our course towards the valley, came
at dusk to a ch&.let, round which some thirty head
of cattle were, in various picturesque groups, awaiting
their turn to be milked.
As the term chMet has already frequently occurred in
these pages, and probably will do yet oftener, I will here
once for all attempt to give a general description of the
appearance and appropriation of the kind of building
to which it is applicable. It is constructed of the
trunks of the pine, either merely stripped of their bark,
or more or less accurately squared. They are laid hori
zontally one over the other, intervals of about three
inches being left, to admit a free passage for the air.
Across the rafters, which form a very obtuse angle, a
roof of shingles of great thickness is laid, and kept
in its place by transverse rods with heavy stones upon
them. The smaller ch&lets have no interior partition, and
are merely used as barns, where the hay ofthe adjoining
meadows is stowed away for winter use, or as a mere shed
for the cattle.
The next in size, like that in which we were seated, is
appropriated partly to these purposes, and partly also to
serve as a summer habitation for the vacher, or cowherd,
where the operations of the dairy may be carried on,
while the cattle are on the higher pastures.
In this case, a loose partition is run up, the second
division containing a rude fire place, or hearth of stones,
a few shelves for stowing away the cheeses, milk, and

28 THE SIMMENTHAL.
utensils of the dairy, &c. a small cauldron, and one or
two stools. A loft is then constructed in the roof, and
serves as a dormitory for the vacher and his assistants.
But there is another class, belonging to the richer
peasants, much more extended and elaborate in their
construction. The two kinds here mentioned however are
the most frequently met with.
It is computed that there are 12,000 of these buildings
within the limits of the Ober and Nieder Simmenthal.
The old grey-headed peasant who had made us wel
come to a seat in his chS.let and a bowl of milk, was now
spending his sixty-second summer on the mountains,
having commenced this kind of life at twelve years
of age.
When our thirst was sufficiently quenched, we resumed
our descent into the valley, and soon reached our night
quarters, consoling ourselves with the result of our bota
nical gleanings, for the partial disappointment we had
experienced from the mountain mists, i
A few very unfavourable days followed. But even
the remembrance of these is enlivened by much which
to me was highly interesting.
In the intervals between the showers it was delightful, as
a novice among these vast scenes, to take my stand in a little
gallery, under the wide projectingroof of an outbuilding,
which commanded an uninterrupted view down the valley,
and to watch the movements of the heavy and fantastic
masses of grey vapour sweeping majestically over the
sides of the Niesen and Bettfluh. Towards evening the
' For a tolerably complete list of the Flora of the Stockhorn and
the neighbouring ranges, see Appendix I.

THE SIMMENTHAL. 2H
clouds very frequently became more broken, and before
the close of the day, one or two little bright yellow
patches of sunshine might be observed straying slowly
over the mountain sides opposite ; one moment casting
a transient and capricious light upon a portion of the
black forests, and at another, a faint gleam upon the bare
rocks at the summits.
A fair afternoon towards the end of the week was taken
advantage of, to make an excursion to the mountains
opposite the village, principally for the purpose of ex
amining one of the superior class of ch&.lets.
After crossing the Simmen, and entering the forest
which in general clothes the mountains to a lower line on
their north than on their south sides, our little party
entered the gully between the Diemtigenberg and its
neighbour, which brought us, in about two hours' walk,
upon the Rinder-Alp.
From the elevated range of green pastures known by
this' name, we enjoyed a magnificent view of the valley
beneath, the Stockhorn opposite, the Spielgarten and
Rothehom to the S.E. and part of the lake of Thun,
and the mountains beyond. We found the large chilet
on this alp still uninhabited, the cattle not having as yet
been conducted beyond the middle range of pastures on
the slope of the mountains ; and therefore continued our
walk to the next alp about half-a-league distant.
This we found covered with a large herd of cows
belonging to one of my friend's parishioners, and shortly
reached the chalet where he, his wife and family and their
valets, had their abode, as long as the pasturage around
was sufficiently abundant to supersede the necessity of
removing their menage to a still more elevated situation.

30 THE SIMMENTHAL.
On our entrance we found all hands busy scouring the
various utensils which had been used in making the
cheese of the day, which had just been put into the press.
The visit of their pastor and his friends seemed to call
forth the exertion of their best efforts to entertain us.
In five minutes a table was covered with a clean napkin,
and new milk, a pitcher of whey, a huge basin of snow-
white curds, bread, butter, and cheese, and a bowl of rich
cream, placed upon it; with an apology for the poorness
of the fare, of the necessity for which I leave the reader
to judge.
The vacher, a strong, tall, well-built pesisant in the
prime of life, stalked about the premises, seeing that the
duties, which must be neglected for no one, were duly
performed by the valets ; now and then thrusting his
head into the dwelling apartment where we were seated,
to exchange a word with the pastor, and to see that his
eldest daughter, a ruddy-faced healthy looking girl, took
good care of us.
His wife gathered the five younger members of the
family together, and gave us a long history of their good
and bad qualities.
The ch§.let in which we were seated was much more
spacious than any I had yet seen. One portion of it, fitted
up in a homely but comfortable manner, with plastered
walls and small casements, was set apart as the dwelling
place of the vacher and his family. A second division,
more open to the air, contained upon a wide hearth in
the centre, a huge brass cauldron, weighing above two
hundred weight, in which each day's milk was heated in
the process of cheese-making. A third division w as the
dairy, properly so called, furnished with shelves, and

THE SIMMENTHAL, 31
large flat wooden vessels of milk and cream, and con
venience for stowing away the cheeses, curds, and
butter, &c.
The end of the building corresponded to the rude
structure of those already described. The lower part
serving as a cowhouse, and the upper as a hayloft. In the
vicinity of a large chalet of this description, there are
several of the meaner kind, for the convenience of depo
siting straw and hay, or for the reception of the cattle in
bad weather.
These good people have above one hundred cows to
milk, morning and evening, and every day put into the
press a cheese weighing nearly two hundred pounds.
The vacher leads his cattle from the skirts of the moun
tains to this line of pasture about the beginning of June ;
and towards the end of July removes with his whole
establishment to chalets in a still more elevated position,
where the same course of life is pursued, as long as the
season is sufficiently favourable, or the pasture sufficiently
abundant. As sunset drew near, the cattle began of their own
accord to come slowly over the pasture from every quarter
of the alp, towards the chalet, and to remain standing in
its vicinity till they were milked. The Alphorn is not
used in the Simmenthal.
Two of the valets, setting out towards another part
of the mountain where the goats were browsing, gave
me the first specimen of the peculiar mode of singing
usual among the inhabitants of these regions.
I do not mean the Kuhrei, or Ranz de Vache, but what
is termed in Swiss German Yodlen or Yuchzen. A full
prolonged tone of the falsette, produced with considerable

.32 THE SIMMENTHAL.
exertion, and moving through the most simple modula'-
tions, without the articulation of any words, is the best
definition I can give of it.
The two performers generally sing in simple thirds.
While close by, the sound was too harsh, and the violent
exertion with which it was produced too apparent to
allow of its being pleasing. But, as they descended the
slope of the mountain, the effect was really delightful,
and the tones so clear, strong, and sonorous, that it
required an effort to believe that they were proceeding
from the rude throats of the individuals before us. The
melody is of course but little varied. It is astonishing to
what a distance the sound may be heard, in the calm
clear atmosphere of an evening in these mountains. Long
after the performers had disappeared among the inequali
ties of the scene before us, our ears caught, from time to
time, an isolated cadence, mingling with the chime from
the bells of the herds.
Our retreat was soon after sounded, as the rays of the
sun were falling more and more obliquely upon the green
turf of the mountains. We descended to the eastward
into the valley of Grund, passed after dark through the
village of Diemtegen, and gained our quiet retreat just
as the moon was rising above the Bettfluh.
The same kind of broken weather distinguished the
commencement of the week following. The momings
were commonly very tempestuous, and the view from my
gallery was much curtailed by the heavy lines of clouds
sweeping along the mountains almost to their base.
However, as the afternoon or evening seldom passed
by without a bright gleam of longer or shorter duration,
the pen and pencil were often laid aside for the purpose

THE SIMMENTHAL. a.T
»f making a forced march to this or the other interesting
object in the immediate vicinity ofour village.
There seems to have been, in the old feudal times, a
complete chain of castles throughout the whole length
ofthe Ober and Nieder Simmenthal. In the I after division,
that of /Wimmis is the only one still in existence, and
a considerable portion of it has been modernized. In
the neighbourhood of Erlenbach, the sites of no fewer
than five of these strongholds can be pointed out. The
largest of these was situated at Weissenburg", and was
for many years the principal castle of the rich and
puissant barons of that name. Sufficient traces exist
to fix its situation with certainty, but no more. The
castle of Erlenbach or Ringoldingen was, it is believed,
placed on an elevated knoll to the west of the parsonage,
but little or no trace remains of it. A noble lime-tree
however marks the spot.
Two castles, now level with the ground, formerly
commanded the entrance into the valley of Diemtigen.
The fifth, and most remarkable for its situation, is that
of Gaffertchink near Latterbach. This was posted half
way up the precipices on the side of tlie Giinzenen, on a
projecting buttress of rock, and might well be deemed
impregnable ; either from above or below, a casual
observer would fancy it was inaccessible. A rough and
hazardous climb over the broken face of the crao-,
upon the ruins of a former dizzy foot-way, brought me
on to the ledge. Here I found the ruins of a square
tower overgrown with a deep thicket of brushwood ; and
I am very much inclined to suspect, after a careful
examination of the horizontal surface of the rock, that
this isolated tower was all that ever existed, and was only
D

34 THE SIMMENTHAL.
used as a watch tower or advanced post, commanding
the entrance of the defile into the valley.
The little open gallery before mentioned became,
almost invariably, the post of our family circle as soon
as the shades of evening began to steal along the
depth of the valley, or the sun gave notice that he
was about to set by the red beams cast upon the
opposite mountains. Of the luminary itself, we lost
sight at a very early hour, owing to the high mountains
at our back.
I should vainly attempt to paint the feelings with
which I had now, for many evenings, tranquilly watched
the day-light fade away from this delightful landscape ;
the mingling of sweet rural sounds which the village sent
forth while the sun was still gleaming brightly upon
the towering ridges of the Niesen and Bettfluh ; or the
delicious calm which stole over the senses, as both light
and sound gradually died away, nothing remaining of the
one but the faint twilight and the glow on the western
sky ; or of the other, save the dash of our little mountain-
torrent, and the distant murmur ofthe Simmen. Still later,
the moon rose slowly over the mountains, and continued
skirting the outline of the Tchukken and Kinder Alp
for an hour or two ; then dipping again beneath their
edge, the shadows spread once more over the valley,
restoring its obscurity, and leaving all objects (except
some of the high rocks to the north which still retained
the moon beams for a while) to the reign of that calm
and solemn twilight, which lingers in our zone
throughout the short hours of a summer night.
July 6th. — A fine cloudless morning giving reason to

THE SIMMENTHAL. 35
hope that the steady rise of the barometer during the two
preceding days was no unmeaning token : I was
roused early, according to my desire, and shortly after
ward quitted the house where I had experienced so
much unexpected pleasure from the friendship and
hospitality of its inmates ; leaving hostages, however, for
my return, as soon as my various plans would allow me.
Having now once more fairly entered upon my
pilgrimage, I made it a matter of conscience in my first
moments of solitude, to bring myself to that state
of mind which I felt to be absolutely necessary, if I
meant to follow my original plan of travelling with any
degree of internal satisfaction and contentment.
So then, I forthwith bade solemn farewell to the
cheerful society to which I had hour after hour looked
for amusement and information, under the roof of the
good Swiss pastor ; to many social comforts ; and more
especially to that self-indulgence into which you are
allured by the kindness of friends attentive to the
gratification of every wish.
This done, I was once more prepared to love solitude
and to seek company from my own thoughts.
A boldly-constructed stone bridge of a single arch is
thrown over the Simmen, just before the rivey and the
road leading to Thun emerge from the narrow gorge
between the Bar and the flanks of the Stockenfluh, a
rocky hill attached to the Giinzenen. This conducts
the traveller close under the hanging woods and rocks
of the former, to the village of Wimmis. The white-
walled castle is perched up against the steep but
forested declivity of the same mountain, while the
village occupies a large patch of ground, stretching from
D 2

36 INTERLACHEX.
its foot towards the base of the Niesen, rising directly
to the SSE.
From Wimmis, I struck across the country towards
iEschi, the spire of whose small church was my landmark
during the next two hours' walk over a fine but per
plexing woodland region. As I advanced into the open
country, the view expanded towards the Glaciers of the
Blumlis-Alp, and others in the same chain to the SE.
rising silvery white high in the air, under the glowing
light of the morning sun. After passing iEschi, however,
my road led me too close under the mountains to the
south of the lake of Thun, to admit of a distant prospect
in that direction.
Soon after nine o'clock a. m. while making my way on
the shore of this delicious lake, I was very sorry to
observe, on glancing back towards the entrance of the
Simmenthal, now far in the distance, that tbe Stock horn,
Niesen, and all the more elevated summits in their
ranges had each become enveloped in that small round
mass of fleecy clouds, which in this country is deemed
a sure prognostic of stormy unsettled weather.
However, I was now in motion, and there was no
flinching. The further end of the lake was soon
rounded ; and I arrived at Interlachen.
The magnificent scenery which renders this viUage
so deservedly celebrated, even among the Alps, w^as, as
I had in a great measure anticipated, divested of its
brightest feature.
The extremity of the long valley leading to Lauter-
brunnen and Grindelwald, showed nothing ofthe Glaciers.
They were enveloped in one high-piled, motionless
mass of heavy clouds, and the whole surface of the

LAUTERBRUNNEN. 37
heavens began before noon to betoken speedy and heavy
rain. This was no empty show. The evening found me
seated, in but indifferent case, before a scanty fire in the
travellers' room in the inn at Lauterbrunnen, chilled to the
bone, chaffing my hands by application to the flickering
blaze, and my temper by various unprofitable reflec
tions upon my bad fortune and disappointment. How
ever, as I grew warm, I got better tempered, and found
I could hope for to-morrow, while I despaired for to-day.
The morrow came : and with it every sign of the
continuance of the provokingly bad weather. Far from
the Jungfrau being visible, it was with difficulty that
the eye could trace the outline of the Wengern-Alp at
its foot, and the numerous cascades tumbling down the
sides of the latter seemed really to fall from the clouds.
It was, to be sure, a bad speculation, to go out with
no other prospect than that of being rained upon :
yet to remain in the inn, adding m^- quota to the yawns,
ennui, and discontent of some thirty or forty English,
Russian, and German travellers, all, like myself, sighing
for fair weather, did not appear to me to offer a much
better alternative.
So, after a leisurely breakfast, I set off to see the
cascades, the only objects in the valley which were likely
to gain any thing from the rain. The principal of these,
the Staubbach, descends into the valley close behind
the village. The height of the fall is computed at 800
feet, but I should think that in this number, the joint
height of one or two additional falls on the Plechberg
above, not observable from below, are included.
The leisurely and graceful manner in which its light

38 LAUTERBRUNNEN.
vapoury columns dispose themselves, one over the other,
in the first stage of their descent from the edge of the
precipice, is very remarkable. Each of these, after the
first rupture of its waters bj' the action ofthe air, takes
the appearance of a white star followed by a long tail.
This nucleus, however, is soon dispersed, and further
down nothing is seen but a light grey vapour, the particles
of which being once more collected by a jutting ledge
of rock, fall from thence in light, thin, and widely
dispersed streams.
I should imagine that the line of the fall was very
rarely perpendicular. Whatever force the weight or
impetus of the stream may exert against the action of
the wind, in the first part of its descent, is soon at an
end ; and the vapourous part must be almost always
bent by it. After lingering iu the neighbourhood of this
cascade, and visiting several others of a similar character,
I continued my route up the valle)', intending to reach
the falls of the Schmadribach, a stream which descends
from the Glaciers about three leagues distant.
I suppose better than half this distance had been
accomplished (at least I had come within sight of the
upper works of the cascade rolling down the mountain
side, about four miles distant) when two footways made
their appearance, each, for any thing I could see to the
contrary, leading to the end proposed. — M^hat a terrible
thing is choice, either to an ass in his provender, to a
school-boy between right and wrong in parsing, to a
statesman between conscience and expediency or to
a pedestrian at the junction of two equally plausible
ways. One of these paths crossed the torrent rolling dow n the

LAUTERBRUNNEN. 39
valley, and seemed to lead over rocky, but firm ground,
to the point opposite the Schmadribach. The other kept
this side, and appeared to traverse the ruins of a great
avalanche, called the Trachsellauine, and to admit of the
possibility of advancing quite up to the foot of the falls.
I choose the latter, why, I need not, because I cannot
say. After crossing some prelim.inary pastures and
broken land, on which I found amusement enough from
the variety of Alpine plants growing upon it, I was
sorry to find my path-way dwindle into a mere sheep-
walk, leading up to the green patches among the rocks
to the right. However, as I saw no impediment in the
remains of the avalanche before me, to my pursuing the
road on this side the stream, I flattered myself that 1
might make good my advance, and crossed its edge.
I found it to consist of an enormous mass of rock,
earth, ice, and snow, in most wonderful confusion,
covering a surface of many hundred acres of the slope
of the mountain.
After toiling for some time amongst this rubbish, I
came to an impediment I had not observed or anticipated.
This was the gletscherstrom, a swollen and boisterous
torrent, running from the glaciers above. Of the base
of the latter I had now a front view, at a great height
above me, looking very grim and formidable through
the opening, burst in the top of the precipice by the
passage of the monster on whose remains I was treading.
The uncomfortable qualm which came over me at the
natural idea, that, if another avalanche thought proper to
descend, I was full in its path, was not lessened by
observing that part of the snows of the old one under my
feet, which had descended some years ago, were covered

40 LAUTERBRUNNEN.
by the debris of another which, by its whiteness had
certainlj' come down within a few weeks. I then made
up my mind that if I got safe to the Schmadribach
this way, I would even try to discover another on my
return. It was not without difficulty that I found stepping
stones for the passage of the foaming torrent, and ad
vanced ; but another furlong or two, and I saw that
farther progress was next to impossible.
Other streams from the glaciers dashed and murmured
on every hand, making their way under the ice and
snow, which was chiefly piled on this side, keeping no
channel, but turning and twisting, and working deep
caverns and hollows in these materials, whose treacherous
archings I felt no inclination to tempt further than I had
done, as long as face about, march ! would give me an
alternative. With one or two disappointed glances at the
Schmadribach, and three or four more very suspicious
ones at the opening in the rocks above, I began to retrace
my steps, and soon arrived at the Gletscherstrom.
I had insensibly bent my steps downward, and came
upon its bank at a point where it was verj' broad and
strong, dashing over the fragments of rock with a noise
which almost deafened me. Into this rude and des
perately cold bath, my person and accoutrements
were a few moments afterwards consigned, by the
strength of the stream dragging my pole from its
anchorage, as I was attempting to leap across, after
in vain seeking for a place where I might traverse it
speedily with less risk. It need not be mentioned that I
scrambled out as well and as soon as I could, and with
out stopping even to shake myself, or to inquire what

LAUTERBRUNNEN, 41
damage had been sustained, set off at a pace which soon
carried me out of the bounds of the Trachsellauine. I
am fond of the water ; but there was something a little
too unceremonious in the impromptu ducking I had
received, and I felt my temper considerably affected by
it, as long as the water continued to bubble up out of my
shoes, and drain from the various extremities of my
apparel. However, strange as it may seem, this trifling
but unexpected adventure made me at once decide upon
my plan of operations for the rest of the day. I knew
that violent exercise would be the best antidote to any
evil consequences I might have reason to apprehend, and
determined that I would make no stay at Lauterbrunnen,
but, in spite of the continued dark and unfavourable
weather, go and spend the following night on the
Wengern-Alp. Another consideration helped to make
this project a sensible, and even a well-conceived one. I
had given up all hopes of a speedy change of weather ;
yet I knew that bad as it was, there was one chance, and
only one, of accomplishing the main object of my visit to
Lauterbrunnen, that was, a near view of the glaciers of the
Jungfrau and Eigers : this was, to be on the higher
mountains at day-break, when, if at any time, during
even rainy and thick weather, the higher Alps are free
from clouds for a few hours.
If this experiment did not succeed, it was indeed a lost
case. After some slight refreshment on my arrival at
the village, I settled my bill, shouldered my knapsack,
and strode away.
While commencing my ascent of the first stage of the
opposite mountain, which is sprinkled with cottages, I
remarked that the approach of a stranger had put

42 LAUTERBRUNNEN.
their inmates in motion, each pouring from the door
way the younger members of the family. These beset
the devious foot-way leading up the hill-side, in a
long scattered line to a considerable height, just like a
train of gunpowder, which only awaited my approach to
explode. And so it was : for, as I advanced, one after
the other set up her or his pipes in succession ; offering
me little bouquets of roses, or the orchis nigra, and beg
ging a batz in return.
Had it been a fine warm day, I might have looked
upon this preparation for my entertainment with a good
natured desire to be entertained ; but it was terribly raw
and cold, I had had a ducking which still made my teeth
chatter in my head, and, I own, I looked upon this pre
concerted plan of attack upon my ears and my pocket
with a very jaundiced eye. Besides, a dear-bought night's
lodging and refreshment had tended to induce a passing
economical if not parsimonious humour. So there was
but a poor look-out for these songsters.
Accordingly, the first two applicants I passed without
noticing. The third screamed most vociferously, holding
her petticoat ready for the batz. She sung so loud,
that I could not avoid looking her full in the face, and
by way of stopping her song, gave her a chuck under the
chin, which she received with a low courtesy. Somehow
or other this softened my heart considerably. The next,
a bright-faced little girl was the gainer by it, as she held
the flowers so near my fingers, that I was absolutely
obliged to take them, and of course to give her the
batz. Seeing the success of the last, and that impor
tunity had gained the day, the following insisted upon
my taking her rose. I stopped and asked : ' Which of us

THE "WeNGERN-ALP. 43
was the poorer } ' She answered, without hesitation : ' That
she was ; ' and there was something in the ready simplicity
of her answer, and the glance she threw down to her naked
feet, which made me ashamed of the sophistry, or whatever
it was, which had dictated the question, and of course I
satisfied the demand.
The last and highest cottage turned out a party of five,
a great boy, three little girls, and a sharp black-eyed
urchin. These all made music. After giving once, it be
comes very difficult to refuse. This I felt as I approached
the rear-guard. The boy I put to flight by saying I
thought he was old and strong enough to earn his bread in
a different manner, and, turning to the rest, added, that
begging was not originally a Swiss trade, and that they
were abusing the beautiful flowers of their mountains,
and the old and simple customs of their forefathers, when
they made them the excuse for an idle life and desire
after the batzen of the stranger. Perhaps they did not
understand me ; but the mother did, and came forward
from the cottage door, with her youngest still at the
breast. She pleaded poverty, and a large family, and the
bad weather, which obliged the elder children to remain
idle at home. She said she was a Swiss born, and did not
like to see her children beg ; but the bad custom had
crept in no one knew how. She spoke like a mother,
though a faulty one, and of course was irresistible.
After two hours' march, mostly in heavy rain, I
arrived at a number of chMets situated on the brow
of the Wengern-Alp ; j ust at the edge of that deep and
gloomy ravine which separates it from the Jungfrau.
Only one of these miserable log-huts, open to all the
winds of heaven, was inhabited by a poor vacher and his

44 THE WENGERN-ALP.
two boys. He possessed, upon hire, two cows and half-
a-dozen goats, and made his livelihood by passing the
summer with them in this wild solitude, for the sake
of the pasturage.
While he prepared a little warm milk, I told him, if he
would spare me some straw, and the shelter of his roof
from the rain, which continued to patter down from the
dull sky, I would stay with him till morning. A fire
of logs before me, my wet shoes and coat off, a night-cap
on my head, and wherewith to satisfy thirst before me, I
began to feel the comfort of roof and shelter, in the ab
sence of all those things generally considered comforts,
and to forget all the faux pas of the day.
I had not been seated ten minutes, before a loud ex
plosion from the mountain opposite gave warning of an
avalanche. I hastened to the door-way, and saw that the
lower part of the Jungfrau, which rose directly before
me, had become totally free from vapour, though the
numerous summits of the mountain, and of course the
greater part of the glaciers, were still covered with an
impenetrable mass of clouds. This lower part consists
of lines of the most fearful precipices, in steps of some
hundred feet each, with patches of green herbage dis
persed over their ledges, and grooved here and there by
deep and narrow perpendicular furrows.
The two principal of these, immediately opposite to
the Wengern-Alp, serve as channels for the greater part
ofthe avalanches originating on the slopes of the glaciers
on this side of the mountain ; a great portion of these
declivities having apparently a bearing either to the one
or the other.
I came too late for the lauine, which had roused me;

THE WENGERN-ALP. 45
but in the course of the evening had my utmost
curiosity satisfied with respect to this awful phenomenon.
By far the greater number were seen pouring down
from one precipice to another, like a huge cataract ;
accompanied by a loud explosion, or a series of explo
sions. All the minor ones have this appearance. But it
was my fortune to be witness of another kind, much
more awful and imposing in appearance, and we had
reason to think, much more disastrous in its effects.
The vacher had been absent from the chS.let about two
hours, his cows being in a shed upon another part of the
alp, and had just returned. It being then about seven
o'clock p. M.
In the course of the evening, he had directed my
attention to a small flock of sheep, on one of the above-
mentioned green patches of pasture, situated on the
ledge overhanging the precipices, about half way up the
lower part of the mountain. To an observation of wonder
at their exposure, in a situation apparently so dangerous,
he had replied, that they were the property of a private
person at Lauterbrunnen, who i-an the risk, for the
sake of the extraordinary luxuriance and richness of the
grass on that slope ; and added, that moreover, being
situated under a high rock, with a deep ravine on either
side, the danger was not so great, when once fairly lodged
there. Half an hour after his return, just as the shades
of approaching evening began to render the dull light
from the chcllet door barely sufficient for me to guide
my pen upon my paper, I was roused from my seat by
a distant rumble, and hastened to the door-way. The
sound continued to increase, but for some short time

46 THE WENGERN-ALP.
nothing was to be seen in motion. At length we saw the
avalanche emerge, like a rolling cloud of dense smoke,
from the fogs resting upon the mountain. It rushed
forward like a whirlwind down the last stage of the
glaciers, and approached the edge of the precipices. My
breathless attention was naturally directed towards the
advancing mass ; when it was diverted, by hearing the
vacher ciy out, from the little elevation to which he had
run — ' O God ! the sheep, the poor sheep ! ' My eye
instantly glanced at the little green slope, and had hardly
time to take cognizance of its situation, before, dashing
high over the precipice above, the snow, ice, and rock
poured down upon it, swept like lighting over its surface,
and then hurried down out of sight into the depths of the
Triimletenthal, leaving the spot of green a patch of dingy
brown. There could be no doubt but the sheep, whether
few or many, were instantaneously overwhelmed. No
living animal could be seen any where on the precipices ;
down which, by the regular channels, the snow and ice,
disturbed and set in motion by the great avalanche, con
tinued to thunder for several minutes after.
It was about eight o'clock when I crept up into my
resting place, as the poor fellow and his two boys, who
had preceded me, invited me to do, in ' Gottes name.' I
found this to be the little loft close under the low roof
which was perfectly open at the gables. A little hay and
straw, a piece of sacking round my body, and my knap
sack for my pillow, made up the sum of my bed furniture.
I laid down just as I was, having first diminished the
quantity of my mattress by stopping the interstices between
the logs with hay — thanked God for the shelter over my
head, and composed myself to rest.

THE WENGERN-ALP. 47
My neighbours at the other end of the plank soon gave
token of sound sleep.
Rest I had, but no sleep. During the ensuing eight
hours, I often shut my eyes, but I believe never entirely
lost my consciousness.
A slight toothache may have been one reason ; but
setting that aside, the rain pattered too loudly close
to my head ; the wind piped too shrilly through the
openings in the roof and sides ; the straw crackled too
incessantly with every heavy breath I drew, and above all,
the roar of the avalanches thundering down the mountain
side over against us, was too frequent to suffer either my
imagination or my senses to grow torpid.
To the latter I listened with a feeling of awe perhaps
better imagined than described.
At four o'clock in the moming my host made a motion
to rise, which I seconded, and peeping through the hole,
through which the wind had been buzzing close to my
ear all night, I saw to my no small exultation that the
clouds were dispersing from the mountain, and becoming
tinged with the sunbeams. I rose, and after performing
my ablutions, we both left the chS.let together ; he to
milk his cows and goats, as the evening before, and I to
gain the highest part of the alp, about two miles distant.
After half an hour's climb, through thick grass, quite
saturated with the heavy rain, I reached this point.
Meanwhile the sky had become perfectly clear, while
the vallies appeared on every side filled with masses
of rolling white vapour ; and I think I may be excused
for indulging in a harmless chuckle over the crowd
of travellers whose number I had left upon the increase
at Lauterbrunnen, and in some transient self-approbation

4S THE WENGERN-ALP.
for the superior generalship I had somehow or other
evinced. The Jungfrau and two Eigers, with the Wetterhom
and its neighbours to the Eastward, all rose before me in
unclouded sublimity; the early morning sun lighting
up one peak after another, and making the long waste
of glaciers between them sparkle with the whiteness and
brilliancy of burnished silver. As the sun rose higher,
the light stole downward toward the immense range of dark
o-ranite precipices which supported them, and illuminated
the exterior layers of fleecy vapour, rising midway from
the depths of the Triimletenthal below;
After remaining some time on the summit, I noticed
that the clouds, which on their descent to a certain
level had become perfectly motionless, now began to
rise very rapidly and to spread themseh es far and wide.
This was the signal for my speedy descent ; but they
came i-olling up the side of the mountain with such velo
city, that I was soon enveloped in a white mist, so dense
as to render my return to the chalet a work of considerable
difficulty. I took advantage of a partial brightening
in the atmosphere about two hours after, to set off and
make the best of my way over the damp surface of the
Wengern-Alp and Little Scheidegg to Grindelwald,
where I arrived after a march of nearly three hours ;
contented with a succession of bright gleams which

The Wengern-Alp is elevated about 6685 English feet above the
level of the sea.
Jungfrau 13,748 Schreckhom 13,470
Eiger or Monch 13,524 Finster-Aarhorn 14,070
Great Eiger 13,050 Wetterhorn 12,220.

GRINDELWALD. 49
had favoured me the whole morning, and given me
all the advantages I could possibly hope for in the
present state of the weather. '
^ As the particulars of the first successful ascent of the Jungfrau,
from the viUage of Grindelwald, in the month of September last year
(1828), may not have become generally known, the following brief
sketch of that adventurous expedition Is subjoined.
The principal details are taken from an account published towards
the close ot the year by the original projector, Mons. C. Rohrdorf, a
gentleman of Zurich, resident at Berne.
It seems to have been long decided, by all persons acquainted with
the details of the northern face of this vast mountain, that any attempt
to reach the summit from the north could never be attended with
success. The lines of gigantic precipices which rise immediately from
the base, over which the crumbling rock and the avalanche are con
tinually impending ; the fearful accumulations of ice and snow which
overtop them, and sweep upwards in broken and disjointed fields
towards the superior ridges and pinnacles, seem to have opposed such
appalling and positive dangers to the attempt, that for many years alt
idea of the possibility of success from this quarter had been abandoned.
The aspect of the southern acclivities of the Jungfrau and its
neighbours, on the other hand, has been hitherto but little known ; as
between them and the Vallais there intervenes a wide-spread tract of
almost inaccessible country, extending for many square railes round
their bases, and restricting the observation and approach of man to
several leagues from their flanks.
It is an established fact, however, that these fro2en ridges and
glaciers were, in early times, frequently passed in safety by moun
taineers desirous of repairing directly frora the village of Grindelwald
in the Berne Oberland, to the Valley of the Rhone ; and that a pathway
over the Upper Grindelwald glacier, and across the ridge of the Ves-
cherhorn to the village of Viesch in the Vallais, which seems to have
been in frequent use in the sixteenth century, was open as late as the
year 1712.
The former existence of such a track gave M. Rohrdorf the first idea
of the practicability of approaching the Jungfrau from the south-east,
E

50 GRINDELWALD.
Seeing however that no permanent change for the
better had taken place, or was to be expected, I thought
and he determined to make an attempt to trace the direction in which it
formerly ran.
Accordingly, on the 21st of August, 1828, he set off from Grindel
wald, accompanied by twelve peasants, a proportion of whom were
chamois hunters. In the course of the first day they scaled the upper
Grindelwald glacier, and ascended to a small hut which the government
of the canton had caused to be erected for their accommodation. Here
they passed the night, at the height of about 5600 feet above the sea,
and had subsequently to remain inactive in the same shelter, on
account of the stormy weather, till the 26th.
On the morning of that day they continued their ascent ; traversed
the glacier to the westward, and reached the ridge ofthe lesser Kallihorn.
From thence they proceeded to a line of precipitous rocks, bounding the
great glacier of the Viescherhorn, and towards the evening gained the
foot of the greater Kallihorn, rising behind the Eiger. Tliey passed the
night in a spacious cave, about forty-five feet broad at the entrance,
and fifty-three feet in the interior. At the further extremity of tliis
they saw three other caverns, into which they did not penetrate.
On the 27th at day break, (Reaum. Therm, at zero,) pursuing their
course, they gained the edge of the upper Grindelwald Viescher glacier
after about an hour and a half s toil, but did not reach the precipitous
crest of the same till three o'clock, p.m. (Therm. 31° in the sun).
Shortly after they found themselves opposite the Monch, upon a steep
ridge of snow, over the surface of which they slid down, and advanced
towards the point where the two great glaciers of Aletsch and Lotschen
adjoin each other. Upon this wilderness of ice and snow the ther
mometer stood at 9° towards nightfall, and even at midnight, at 4o
above zero. The moon shone bright all night.
Here M. Rohrdorf remained with a number of his party, and des
patched the rest to reconnoitre in what direction the Jungfrau, which
now rose directly before them to the N. E. raight possibly be ascended
with the least risk.
These pioneers reached the edge of the glacier of the Jungfrau in

GRINDELWALD. 51
it my wisest plan to push on in the course of the after
noon, if possible, to Meyringen, between six and seven

safety, but, in consequence of a tempest of wind which overtook them,
were unable to proceed, and returned to their corapanions.
M. Rohrdorf was now convinced of the possibility of attaining the
highest suramit from this quarter ; but, not thinking it advisable to
proceed at present, commenced his return with the peasants, descending
by nearly the same route as that by which they had mounted, and
reached Grindelwald in safety on the 29th.
From this village he repaired to Berne, with the intention of pre
paring the instruments necessary for the measureraent of heights and
distances, and then of returning without delay to resume and achieve
his enterprize.
During his absence, the mountaineers who had accompanied him,
as just related, conceived a feeling of jealousy at the idea of a native
of another Canton obtaining the honour of being the first to ascend
the untrodden suramit of one of the raost remarkable of the Berne
Alps, and determined among theraselves, with more display of national
feeUng than of honour, to wrest the triumph from him, by taking
advantage of his temporary absence, and setting forth to perfect the
scheme to which his well-directed ingenuity had afforded them the clue.
Accordingly they did not wait for his return; but six in number, viz.
Cliristian Bauman, Peter Bauman, XJlrich Wittner, Hildebrand
Burgener, Peter Roth, and Peter Moser set off from Grindelwald on
the 8th of September. They took with them all M. Rohrdorf s appa
ratus, ropes, ladders, &c. with an iron fiag or ensign, twenty inches
long by fifteen broad, attached to an iron rod ten feet eight inches in
length, and weighing thirty-six pounds. Their intrepidity and success
cannot atone for their want of common honour and just feeling.
They followed the same direction as before, proceeding up the
glacier between the Eiger and the Mettenberg, and passed the first
night in a spacious cavern, situated on the south side of the Great
Eiger, and named the King's Cave by M. Rohrdorf.
The following day, the 9th, they mounted the glacier of the upper
Veischer glacier, and bent to the westward towards the Glacier of the
E 2

52 GRINDELWALD.
leagues distant, over the Great Scheidegg. Here I hoped
to find my valise, and the means of refitting my wardrobe,
my bad fortune hitherto having made dry apparel a scarce
article. Accordingly, I quitted the inn at Grindelwald about
Jungfrau, passing the night among rocks fallen from the Finster-aar-
horn, in the vicinity of the Grunhorn. On their march they picked
up the skeleton of the Purple Heron (Ardea Purpurea) .
On the 1 0th they set off at early dawn, and, returning towards the
foot ofthe Jungfrau, scaled and followed the crite descending from it
towards the Breithorn, and thus commenced their ascent of the
mountain itself frora the S.E. They approached the first snowy
escarpment of the mountain, planted their ladders, and passed it in
safety. The second they traversed in like manner, and then reached the edge
of a very steep unbroken acclivity, which sweeps up to the very base
of the southermost and highest pinnacle of the Jungfrau, and from
which they had been obliged to retire in their first attempt, on account
of the wind. They took their course obliquely over this waste of ice,
which was here but partially covered with snow ; and after a further
toil of three hours, being occupied in digging footsteps as they pro
ceeded, they arrived at the foot of the highest pinnacle.
Peter Bauman was the first to ascend it. He describes it as a narrow
ridge of sharp rock, rising out of the solid ice, and running from SW.
to N. E. about twelve feet long, and only two inches broad at the edge.
Setting himself astride upon it, he advanced gradually by the assistance
of his axe, and was followed in like manner by his companions, until
they found a horizontal surface of about two and a-half feet under them.
Here they punched a hole in the centre three feet deep, and erected
their signal as securely as possible. After thus leaving a memento
of their success, they backed carefully off their dangerous position, and
commenced their descent, spent the night on the spot where they had
passed it with M. Rohrdorf on the 27th of August, and on the llth
returned in safety to Grindelwald.
The ensign was visible from Berne, Thun, Interlachen, and the
adjacent country, till towards the end of Deceraber, when it disappeared.

THE GREAT SCHEIDEGG. 53
noon ; a troublesome scramble of near two hours brought
me over the inferior acclivities of the mountain, and I
began to hope that I might possibly gain the ridge of
the Scheidegg,'^ and have a glance at the probable line
of my further route to the eastward, before the tempest
which I had long seen gathering behind me, should add
to my perplexities. But before Icould make good my
purpose, I was suddenly overtaken by such a tempes-
pestuous wind and torrent of piercingly cold rain,
accompanied by a dense fog, as I never before
experienced. Against this storm, which continued unabated the
whole of the afternoon, I had to struggle for between
three and four hours longer, often in doubt of my path,
and frequently for a moinent quite bewildered. As far
as the ridge ofthe mountain, I had taken the print of a
horse's hoof as my guide ; but soon after the commence
ment of the storm, I lost it on a long drift of half-melted
snow. Thence I followed a sheep-walk, which, after some
time, brought me to a number of deserted chilets ; and
here, what with the violence of the wind and rain, the
thickness of the mist, and the multitudes of grooves and
furrows by which the earth on every side was deeply
indented, from the hoofs of the cattle, I bade adieu
to all track, finding it impossible to judge which, among
the many leading in every direction, inight be the
right one.
The wind was now the only guide upon which I could
place any dependance. I knew that it had blown for
several weeks from the S. W. and that Meyringen lay
' The Great Scheidegg 67 II.

54 MEYRINGEN.
to the S. E. of the mountain, upon whose flanks I was
wandering. I therefore exposed my right cheek steadily
to its current, and made up my mind that I could not
go far wrong, as long as I did so. Meanwhile, to give
honour w here honour is due — the contents of my leathern
bottle stood me in good stead — and helped to keep me
in heart, mettle, and heat. Heart and mettle I never
lost for a moment, even when most bewildered ; but
heat I certainly did, my fingers were glued, as it were,
to my Alp-pole by the icy coldness of the wind and
rain, and in spite of continued and violent exertion, my
whole body trembled with cold. After some further
wanderings, I got into a forest of pine, in which I was
overjoyed to see two wild-looking cows and some cut
wood, and soon after arrived at the brink of a ravine
down which rolled a mountain-torrent. This I knew
must be the Reichenbach, and that I could not do better
than follow its current.
About four o'clock, P. M. I came to a human habita
tion. The vacher wished me to enter, but I refused,
knowing that I must keep iu motion if I would keep
in health ; and about two hours after entered the inn
at jMevringen, more like a fish than a human being.

CHAPTER III.

Nor vainly did the early Persian make
His temple the high places and the peak
Of earth o'er gazing; mountains : and thus take
A fit and unwaUed temple, there to seek
The spirit, in whose honour shrines are weak,
Uprear'd of human hands 1 Come and compare
Columns and idol dweUings, Goth or Greek,
With nature's realms of worship, earth and air.
Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer.

Meyringen is one of the largest and handsomest villages
of the Oberland. It lies at the upper extremity of the
vale of Oberhasli, a fair and spacious valley, through
the whole length of which the river Aar takes its course
from the mountains of the Grimsel to the lake of Brienz.
Many of the cottages in the village are esteemed perfect
specimens of the rural architecture of the Canton.
The inhabitants of this valley and the adjacent
mountains rank as the finest race in Switzerland, and
are supposed to have the same Scandinavian origin
as the original inhabitants of the three Forest Cantons,^
' Among the minor facts which may be plausibly brought forward
in support of this traditignal idea, may he mentioned the similarity
that exists between the method of raaking inclosures in these portions
ofthe Alps, and that mentioned by Dr. Clarke, as universal in Sweden,
Lapland, Finland, and Norway, ' by sloping splinters of deal, fastened
by withys against upright stakes.'

56 MEYRINGEN.
from whom their valley is only separated by the Briinig.
The features of the inhabitants of both sexes in fact
differ materially from those which characterize their
neighbours, and though not generally handsome, there
are those among them who may lay claim to a degree
of beauty very uncommon in the class to which they
belong. The costume of the men consists of a kind of striped
jerkin, without breast or arms, so that the waistcoat and
shirt sleeves form part of their outward apparel, short
small-clothes, and white woollen stockings gartered
below the knee. That of the women, on Sundays, is
composed of a vest of black velvet, fitting close up to
the throat, and very narrow at the back ; white, full, and
stiffly-starched sleeves, coming down to the elbow, and
a full and equally stiff greenish-yellow petticoat. A
small black hat, not much larger than the bowl of a
soup-ladle, is stuck at the back of the head ; and from
underneath this the hair descends in broad plaits to
the heels. On week-da3'-s, a red handkerchief is sub
stituted for the hat, and a red vest for the black one.
Marriage, baptism, and burial have each their distinct
costume. As I proposed staying some days here to await, and
to write letters, my first object the morning after my
arrival was to present my credentials to the clergyman ;
in order to procure myself, through his recommendation,
a quiet home in the cottage of one of his parishioners.
I very soon got suited to my mind, in the house of a
reputable widow, still in her weeds, a quiet middle-aged
woman, with a family of three or four children, whose
affection I discovered 1 had won, from the moment they

MEYRINGEN. 57
found I could shoot with the cross-bow almost as vvell
as themselves.
Here I occupied a large clean apartment with white
curtains before the latticed windows, and drip-white bed
furniture. Now and then the good mother came
herself to see and ask if I was comfortable, otherwise
I had the attendance of a stout peasant girl, who, in
her eagerness to see that the gentleman should want for
nothing, paced to and fro over the little platform of
boards leading to my chamber, with footsteps as noisy
as the stampers of an oil-mill. My otherwise solitary
meals were enlivened by the society of a black and white
tom cat with torn ears and one eye, who swore, by way
of giving thanks, over every morsel I bestowed upon
him. The same spell, as heretofore, lay upon the weather
during the five days I spent in this village ; and, though
I took advantage of every gleam of sunshine, to sally
forth and examine the surrounding country, the interest
of my visit was of course greatly diminished. Still, I was
in a humour to be pleased with what I could see, and did
not lose much time in grumbling at my indifferent
fortune. The numerous falls and cascades tumbling
from the mountains were in their glory ; the continued
rains having swollen many of them greatly beyond their
usual volume, and brought others into action, which
never appear in ordinary summers.
Besides the falls of the Reichenbach on the opposite
side of the valley, two large cascades descend the face
of the alp directly behind the village. The one, a clear
stream, comes tumbling over the side of the hill after
a short course through the pastures and green declivi-

MEYRINGEN
ties of the lower mountains ; while the other, a dark,
turbid and powerful torrent, pouring its waters down a
black rift into the same water-course below, takes its rise
among the snow and ice of the Hohenstollen and Roth-
horn far in the interior of the country. As a barrier against
the floods which these conjointly pour down into the plain
in the winter, a broad and strong wall is built the whole
length of the village.
Many portions of the fine even tract of country
forming the bottom of the valley, and stretching from
Meyringen to the lake of Brientz, are rendered perfectly
desert from the violence of these floods, which bring down
from the surrounding mountains, an immense quantity
of rubbish, spreading far and wide on either side of an
otherwise trifling watercourse.
On the 13th I determined to start the following
morning for the Grimsel, as I had great faith in the
approaching change of the moon, and was impatient to
proceed on my tour. After a day spent within doors — I
took advantage of a fair sunset, to stroll into a bye
path leading down the valley close under the woody
hills to the right of the church. This led me through
some delightfully varied scenery, till it joined the main
road, leading towards the village, from the lower bridge
over the Aar. I had hardly set my foot upon it, before
I heard the tinkling of the goat-bells behind me,
and wishing to see this animal under the multitude of
varieties which a large herd presents, I stopped short till
they should overtake me. They soon appeared in sight,
having left their mountain pasture at sunset to return to
be milked in the village, where they always pass the night.
Most of the larger Swiss villages have an individual.

MEYRINGEN. 59
employed by the inhabitants conjointly, to take care of
their goats during the day. This goatherd, who is often
an idiot, makes his appearance in the main street at day
break ; he sounds his horn, and each peasant turns his
goat or goats out of the stall. The animals then herd
instinctively together, and are led on to the mountains,
where they feed during the day, and are brought back,
as just mentioned, at night-fall.
They came forward, trotting across the bridge over
the Aar, pushing and skirmishing with one another, with
every sign of saucy impatience. The goatherd, who
walked after them with his coat hanging over a stick
upon his shoulder, and a great pair of dun heels peeping
out of his clogs at every step he took in the mire, was a
true modern specimen of this class ; perfectly unpoetical
and unphilosophical in appearance, in spite of the poetry
of his profession. Instead of ' tuneful quill,'' his lips
were busy with a short black tobacco-pipe.
In the herd of above one hundred goats, which seemed
to be conducting him to his home, there was a
great variety of colour, from milk-white, through all
the shades of yellow and brown, to black. There was
equal difference in the quantity and quality of their
coats, some being covered with a long and shaggy hair,
and others with a short and smooth fur. Most of them
had beards, though all female ; and some of them, in
addition, two little tufts at each side of the throat, which
looked, for all the world, like cap or Bonnet strings.
When we approached the village, they became much
more clamorous and quarrelsome, and I could see and
hear that there was strong skirmishing in the van.
Immediately on entering it, we were met by a crowd

60 MEYRINGEN.
of children, many not above three or four years old.
They came forward to meet us, and mingling with the
herd, began to seek and pick out their several pets.
When found, they grasped their horns, or put their little
arms round their necks, and directed them home. Many
of the goats stopped short at the door of their owner's
cottage, and bleating, demanded admittance ; while
others, of their own accord, set off at a canter up the
bye lanes leading to their homes, and were out of sight
in an instant. The first welcome of a master or mistress
for their goat, as well as the cow, is a handful of salt ;
and it is amusing to see with what eagerness they follow,
and lick the hand that allures them with it.
At the close of a day full of such variety of scenery
and accident, as . that afforded by a forced march
from Meyringen to the hospital of the Grimsel, from
thence by the glacier of the Rhone to the summit
of the Furca, and further still to the bourg of Hos
penthal at the foot of the Gothard, it really becomes
something like a task to give even the outline with any
degree of perspicuity and exactness.
The appointed signal having dispersed my dreams
about four o'clock on the morning ofthe 14th, I was very
glad to see a cloudless blue sky peeping through my
lattice window, and, on rising, to believe that there was
every prospect of the long-expected change in the weather
having commenced. I dressed and breakfasted with all
speed, and in half-an-hour, having said Gott griis's euch to
my good landlady, I strapped on my knapsack, slung my
schnaps-bottle over my head and shoulders, and, pole in
hand, sallied forth.

THE VALLEY OF GRUND, 61
As the spring is to me the most delightful time of the
year, when I feel most essentially myself, when every
sense gives its portion of enjoyment, so the early morning
is the most delightful time of the day. Though seldom
very bad, I am generally the best company for myself at
this time. In my days of castle-building, this was my
sweetest time for them, and my most glowing phantasies
were morning dreams ; and I never, or very seldom find
myself breathing the sweet and untainted breath of the
early morning, without feeling my heart beat with some
small portion of that enviable boyish enthusiasm, which
reigns in the breast while the world is new.
The sun had not yet risen upon the deep valley, but
his first yellow beam was stealing over the Wellhom and
the glacier of Rosenlaui, which came into bold relief with
their glistening snows upon the pale blue sky behind.
However, at the termination of the half hour which was
occupied in scrambling over the rocky pathway, with
which the road to the Grimsel commences, immediately
after crossing the covered bridge over the Aar, most ofthe
mountain tops were enlightened.
On emerging from the forest clothing Mount Kirchet,
I came most unexpectedly in full view of the little valley
of Grund ; and I think I never saw a more delicious pic
ture than that which it presented at this early hour.
Directly to the south the gigantic rocks and woody
declivities of the Pfaffenkopf, partly illuminated them
selves, cast a deep and mysterious shade into the long
ravine leading up to the Grimsel, and over a portion
of the little mountain-encircled plain occupying the
middle ground.
The sun found an inlet for his beams through the

62 THE GRIMSEL.
entrance of the Gadmenthal to the E. and glancing
athwart the centre of the valley, partially lighted up the
low-roofed cottages of the hamlet, and the foliage of the
trees which thickened in their vicinity, over which the
grey mist was still hanging : they then fell full upon a
broad perpendicular buttress of rock attached to the
Burghorn to the right. Long lines of cattle and goats
were quitting the hamlet, and traversing the Aar by the
wooden bridge leading to the Gadmenthal.
Descending into the valley I passed through the alter
nate slips of light and shadow, crossed the river, and
entering into the shade of the mountains beyond, com
menced that ascent which was to continue with very little
variation for several hours.
By the time I got within half a league of the Handeck
and the Falls ofthe Aar, it was approaching nine o'clock.
The sun shone full upon the snowy points of the moun
tains on both sides of the deep ravine up which I had
long been toiling. I think I never saw tints of greater
brilliance opposed to each other than the deep blue of the
sky, the reddish purple of the rocks, and the dazzling
brilliance of the patches of snow above and among them.
At the chalet of the Handeck I threw off my burden for
ten minutes, and after visiting the falls, of which I may
say more some future day, proceeded to the last stage
of the pass, and reached the hospital a little before noon,
with no worse adventure than now and then a false step.
The gradation of natural scenery, from the smile to the
grave, from the grave to the frown, and from the frown
to the scowl, is well and distinctly marked in this Alpine
pass. In the Oberhaslithal and its little adjunct, the valley

THE GRIMSEL. 63
of Grund, the state of cultivation, the comfortable
cottage, the village spire, the pastures with their cattle,
all speak of man, not as the casual visitor, but as a part
of that bountiful creation which the hand of God has
lavished there.
Pass the hamlet of Hof, and the traveller enters the
forests. Their gloom it is true, is diminished by his
casually meeting with the woodman, or the scene of his
labour, or still more agreeably by a green pasture
chequered with cattle, their bells chiming at every step,
and the summer habitation of their master ; nevertheless,
the scanty rugged path bespeaks man more as an intruder
than the native of these wilds.
The flashing wave of the Handeck leaps down from a
course through a still more forbidding region. The
forest-tree will climb no higher, the pasture has vanished,
not a chalet is to be seen ; but above you rocks covered
with eternal ice, and around you chaos and desolation.
The most stupendous granite fragments lie hurled on
every side, over which the torrent boils and foams,
and between whose angles the devious and precarious
footway is cautiously carried.
Yet even this frown is not without its softenings. The
bright green herbage and dwarf shrub still cling to the
masses of rock in the vicinity of the stream, and the bil
berry and beautiful crimson flowers of the rhododendron
still nod on their top. The sterile and weather-stained
rock is decked with numberless lichens of the most
brilliant colours. The dizzy bridge still betokens the
hand of man, and the roughly-worn path his persevering
step. Then comes the episode of the Hospital, which we

64 THE GRIMSEL.
pass, and go to the summit. There all is waste and
desolate. The damp, drowned moss, at times clothing in
its decay the nakedness of the rocky pavement upon
which you tread, is now all that remains of the verdure
belonging to the earth. The track is ever confounded
with the furrows wom on every side by the torrehts, and
frequently, even in the height of summer, buried deep
under the unmelted snow-drift.
From this stage rise rocks and mountains, upon whose
precipitous and barren sides not a foot of earth can rest,
and not a green blade sprout ; on the slopes, and between
the pinnacles of which, lies the frozen glacier ; and
whose hollows are levelled by the accumulated snows
of centuries.
The hospital of the Grimsel * is not situated on the
summit of the Pass, but in a sheltered situation about
two miles below the highest point, at the edge of a small
lake called the Kleinensee.
It is properly one of those buildings, instituted for the
purpose of facilitating the passage of the mountain in
bad weather, and as a place of refuge, where the passenger
may find gratuitous entertainment and assistance.
Though by far the greater part of those who now pass
the mountain, are strangers, who pay for their entertain
ment, the master is still empowered to faire la quite
throughout the neighbouring cantons for its support,
and obliged, in case of distress, to assist the passenger
gratuitously. On my arrival 1 came in for some bad wine and bread,
but that sufficed ; and returning instantly into the
' Grimsel Hospital, 7016 feet above the sea.

THE GRIMSEL. 65
open air, I threw myself for an hour's repose upon the
fine short turf which covers this little oasis.
I had not been long seated before I found a source
of great amusement in a troop of my old friends, the
goats, that came up from a lower part of the mountain,
where they had been browsing, to allow the goat-herd
time for his dinner in the hospital. As they robbed me
ofthe noontide nap I had thought to enjoy, I shall
revenge myself by some further observations upon their
habits and characters, which are in truth amusing
enough. They might be between fifty and sixty in number,
and during their master's dinner were left, it appeared,
pretty much on parole. This indulgence I cannot
accuse them of abusing, at least, in the first instance.
They paced to and fro for about ten minutes, back
ward and forward, over a small wooden bridge, led by
their captain, a middle-sized goat, gifted by nature with
a very formidable pair of horns. I was takep with his
appearance, and found subsequently that he was no
goat, but one of the few Steinbocks, still found in the
higher Alps, which had been taken and domesticated
while young : the better reason why he should be con
sidered a ruler in his own native wilds.
This amusement, however, soon changed. I have good
reason to conjecture that the goat has an exquisite sense
of that species of honour and dignity, which is generally
attached to elevated positions. One of the herd had
found a kind of rocky protuberance in a small level
plateau, and took formal possession. A second observed
this, and quitting the troop, jumped up too. So there
they stood with their eight feet close together upon the

C6 THE GRIMSEL.
small flat surface afforded by the rocky pedestal. This,
however, soon became the object of envy to the rest, and
by a .simultaneous movement the whole herd moved
forward to the attack. A scene ensued which defies my
powers of description. Of course it may be inferred
that, when the two first occupants were ousted and
dethroned, the war raged with ten-fold violence for
the honour of the succession — in short, they made such a
clamour and scuffle, that the goat-herd came out with
a great piece of bread in his mouth, and a stick in his
hand, and drove them away from the stone of contention.
My own person then became an object of curiosity ;
for not many minutes had elapsed before I was alarmed
to see the whole herd coming at pas de charge up the
sloping bed of granite, which led to my position. How
ever, as they approached, they affected some respect
or timidity, and after eyeing me for some time, the
greater part began to browze, or to seat themselves in the
immediate vicinity ; while some of the younger and more
inquisitive followed the dictates of female curiosity,
by entering into a scrutiny of my accoutrements.
First, my feet, which hung over the edge of the frag
ment of turf-covered rock became the objects of
speculation. Then three jumped up behind me, and
I could perceive were very busily employed at the
back of my hat, and with my coat skirts. After a
minute or so, I began to think it possible that if I
did not give an eye to their operations, they might
perhaps browse the rim of the former, or one of the latter,
and therefore turned round. They meant no harm, poor
things ; all they wanted was to amuse themselves, and
I am sure they made me forget how many leagues I had

THE GRIMSEL. 67
eome, and how many more I had still to go, by the
harmless entertainment they afforded me.
I made many observations upon their habits while
lying in this pastoral state, but as they were probably
more novel to me than they would be to my reader,
I will finish the subject with only one remark ; that I
could not but admire how exactly they were constructed
with my own species in this respect, that each fancied
her neighbour's position and place of repose preferable to
her own, and left no means untried to get possession of it ;
though the attempts were not always successful.
There was a constant thumping either to the right or
left of me from the one driving her hard forehead bounce
against the eyes of another, to bring about this desirable
object ; till at last I got quite nervous, and began to
think seriously how bad a chance I should run, if any
of the individuals close to me were suddenly to forget the
respect due to a stranger of another species, and drive her
unfeeling forehead against mine, in sheer envy of the
seat I was occupying.
But it is time I quit the Grimsel. A steep and dis
agreeable walk over an acclivity covered with large
patches of snow in a melting state, brought me to the
top of the Pass ; and here, in pursuance of my plan,
I was no longer to avail myself of the mule-path which,
traversing this mountain, forms the line of communication
between the Canton of Berne and the Upper Vallais ;
but to find a dubious, and, according to report, a diffi
cult path-way over the side of the mountain to the
eastward, to tlie glacier of the Rhone.
Bending therefore to the left, I kept the north side
of a dismal looking lake ; and for half an hour remained
F 2

68 GLACIER OF THE RHONE.
in considerable doubt whether the direction I was taking
over large beds of untrodden snow would lead me
ultimately to the desired point.
However, having no choice, I kept steadily to my first
direction, and after slipping and sliding about two
miles, came suddenly upon the brink of a rapid declivity,
at the ledge of which ran the track I had been so
long in search of.
This I knew must be the Meyenwand, and a few
minutes after, no shadow of doubt remained, as I came
in sight of the Glacier itself, and the Rhone, a small
winding stream, flowing in the deep valley beneath
me. This noble glacier is an appendage to the Gallenstock,
a high mountain, situated at the head of the Vallais ;
and near the point where the two great chains of the
Helvetian and the Lepontine Alps meet each other.
A long winding descent brought me upon the little
foot-bridge that spans the Rhone shortly after its exit from
the yawning cavern at the foot of the glacier ; and after
a careful survey of the surrounding country from this
point, I fixed upon the track which I hoped would lead
me in a couple of hours to the summit of the Furca.
I then began what proved a very long, and I must in
truth add, a wearisome climb in the heat of the day.
What made it more than usually trying was, my being
every now and then attacked, by some whispering
doubts, whether this were really the Furca upon whose
side I was panting. However, my head was clear,
I knew my direction, and to that, path or no path, I was
determined to keep.
About four o'clock p. m. I arrived near the summit

THE FURCA fill
of the ridge,^ commanding from its elevation a splendid
view ofthe rocks and glaciers of the Finster-aarhom, the
highest of the Berne chain, and many other points in its
vicinity. A few minutes further toil, and I passed the
ridge over a bed of deep snow, and recognized far in the
distance, over the secondary mountains, which had still to
be traversed in descending into the canton of Uri, the
smiling vale of LTrseren stretching towards the foot of
the Gotthard.
This set my mind perfectly at ease. I soon cleared
the snow-drift, and advanced to a small mossy eminence
giving mean unobstructed view into the country below.
Here I threw off my burden, opened my bosom to the
fresh mountain wind, and sunk into the yielding couch
which nature had prepared for the weary.
There is something in the sudden and unexpected
change from fatigue of body and mind, to perfect com
posure, and in the almost instantaneous subsidence of the
thoughts from a state of restless and anxious activity to
complete calm, which tends to shed a serious and chastened
spirit over the inind and reflections. How little, thought
I, as I began to feel the sweets of repose, how little do
the busy crowds which swarm in the streets of the cities
beneath me, know the luxury ofa seat like this : how little
the rapture inspired by the clear spring, or the start of
thankfulness with which the crust of bread is put to the
lips ! who would not rojoice to be reminded of his
dependence upon the bounty, providence, and mercy
of God ; to feel, when far away from the crush and
trammels of a state of society, where man is too often
' Pass of the Furca 8300 feet above the sea.

70 THE FURCA.
tempted to forget it, that he is a creature dependent upon
his Creator, and upon Him alone, for guidance and
direction ; that from Him he has the breath of life, and
strength, and health and reason, and that to Him he
must look for their continuance. Manj'' a time have I
felt my heart glow with acknowledgment, and my eyes
fill with tears while bending over the clear spring, and
soaking my hard crust, under a conviction of the infinite
goodness of the Creator towards his creature, while
I have a thousand times sat down unmoved, if not
unthankful, to the plentiful provision which, though
equally his gift, came more immediately from the hand
of my fellow-mortal. And I have oftener felt the soul
of devotion glow within me, for the unspeakable bless
ings of light, health, and reason, when solitary on the
mountain head, where there is nothing to build a wall
between the God who gives and the creature who receives,
than ever, with perhaps particular exceptions, in the
assemblies of my species.
There is a spirit in these vast scenes of nature, where no
handy work but that of God comes before the eyes, which
speaks forcibly to the soul of that finite being, round
whose brief and temporal habitation they are spread.
The state of that mind must indeed be unenviable which
they cannot elevate, and prompt, for the time at least, to
shake off the cares and the follies that distract it in the
crowd ; and those thoughts indeed debased, which cannot
answer the impulse to flow in a purer and less impeded
channel. After musing came that vacancy which is often the
consequence of too much excitement either of body or
mind ; my ideas became broken and confused : the

VAL D'URSEREN. 71
mountains and glaciers, and the long drawn vista before
me, were only seen at intervals, and at length quite lost ;
my consciousness of the torrent's murmurs became less
distinct, and I believe I slept. I thought I heard the
voices of lavighing children, and the chiming of bells :
when, happily for me, as daylight was on the wane, the
fall of footsteps upon the hardened snow awoke me. The
two persons who had unwittingly done me this good
office were peasants ; we greeted each other, and both
passed on.
I soon got quite below the region of the snow, and
upon the upper pastures of the mountains. Further
down I overtook a Chamois-hunter. He had been un
successful, but a poor simple-looking marmotte was
hanging dead at his girdle. After some conversation, I
gave him a glass of Kirschwasser from my leathern bottle,
and proceeded.
Immediately on setting foot upon the plain of Urseren
toward the further extremity of which I hoped to find a
bed, the first object I saw was a little chapel and deco
rated altar, which reminded me that I had now quitted
Protestant Switzerland and entered the Catholic
cantons. A further and more convincing proof of this was
afforded by the first step I made in the village of Realp,
upon seeing a fat overgrown Capuchin friar, with his
back posted against the wall of the church, as if to
buttress it up, in close conversation with two lazy and
miserable looking peasants.
At dusk I arrived in good case at the sign of the
Golden Lion, in Hospenthal, a village at the foot of the
Gotthard ; and was welcomed by Mr. Miiller, with that

72 VAL D'URSEREN.
display of politeness and obsequiousness which tells you
at once that the house is not yet full.
July 15th. — The valley of Urseren which lies towards
the uppermost extremity of the long and mountainous
canton of Uri, is one of the most elevated among the Alps.
It was in ancient times not only independent of the
government of Uri, but quite unattached to the Confede
ration binding the Forest Cantons in the country below,
being dependent upon the Abbot of the Monastery of
Disentis, in the Grisons. The inhabitants took upon
them the responsibility of keeping open the pass into
Italy over the St. Gotthard, and had many immunities in
consequence. However in this they were always readily
assisted by the confederated cantons, whenever the
rapacity and robberies of the Italian nobles made force
necessary. Between five and six A. m. I paid a reasonable bill, and
set off with the sun full in my face, and above me a sky
of the most delicious blue it is possible to conceive.
Just below Andermatt, the largest village in
Val d'Urseren, the river Reuss makes its escape through
the well known defile, called the Schollenen. This,
with the Devil's Bridge under which it precipitates itself,
has been so often described by the pen and the crayon
of the traveller, that, as it yielded me no particular
adventure, I shall pass quickly forward.
At Gbschenen, a village situated at the opening of a
valley to the left, a good carriage road commences ; and
the vale of the Reuss becomes sufficiently wide to allow
of some scanty cultivation on either side. The peasantry
were occupied in housing their crops of hay ; but made
no scruple in laying down the rake, and coming to the

VALLEY OF THE REUSS. 73
road side to beg at the approach of a stranger. The
grasshoppers were astonishingly numerous, various, and
loquacious ; their song became towards the middle of the
day quite tiresome, almost as much as the whine of the
beggars. All the inhabitants of these vallies are zealous
Catholics, even as their forefathers were.
It is a curious fact however in the history of the ancient
confederacy, binding the Forest Cantons, of which Uri was
one, that the same independent spirit which revolted at
the bare idea of yielding up their liberties to temporal
sovereigns, prevented their exercising that blind and
servile submission to the sovereign Pontiff, who arrogated
to himself the spiritual government of the whole of
Christian Europe. For when about the commencement
of the fourteenth century, the Pope thought proper to
declare the Forest Cantons under the ban of excom
munication, on account of the assistance given by them
to King Lewis, one of the competitors of that period for
the Imperial throne, the old Swiss boldly put this
question to their priests — ' Whether they would continue
to read the service and sing the litany as usual, or
submit to instant banishment ? ' Of course they choose
the former alternative.
But this spirit is not to be looked for in their descend
ants. LTri is the poorest of the four Catholic cantons
bordering the lake, and as might be expected, the evil
produced by the tenets and govemment of the church of
Rome, is more evident and less concealed than in the
others. The eye meets every where with a fat thriving priest
hood, and a miserable ragged population.
I certainly do not mistake in stating that three-fourths

74 VALLEY OF THE REUSS.
of the individuals met with in one day's ramble of eight
or nine leagues in this valley, were beggars. This
practice prevails, from the old silver-headed man and
woman, to the child who can scarcely walk or hold forth
a hollow hand.
The cottages and their inhabitants seem equally
poverty-struck, and inconceivably dirty and miserable;
yet the churches and chapels are often splendidly deco
rated, and the clergy clothed with magnificence. The
money which may be gained by the sweat of the peasant's
brow, and the labour of his hands, (interrupted not only
by the occasional fasts and festivals, but by almost daily
attendance at the church at unseasonable hours,) does
not always go in the shape of food into their stomachs,
or clothes upon their backs, but into the pocket
of the well-fed priest, who no doubt knows its value.
What should be spent in soap to wash their faces, is
preferably bestowed as a donation for the whitewashing
of their souls.
The Roman Catholic religion, setting aside weightier
considerations, is no system calculated to improve either
the moral or physical condition of a poor ignorant
peasantry. The peasant is taught from his childhood, that the
duty of a punctual and ceremonious observance of all
the rites of his communion, is far above that of decently
providing for his family. He finds it easier to repeat his
given number of set prayers in the splendidly tinselled
temple, than to labour under a burning sun, and incle
ment sky, or in his wretched cottage. He finds it still
more convenient to beg, which he does both from
necessity and the love of idleness. And whence that

VALLEY OF THE REUSS. 75
idleness.'' Perhaps he had entered life with ideas
of diligence and cleanliness, and went to his labour with
an honest desire of providing for his family ; but finding
that considered quite a secondary affair by those whom
he respected as spiritual and temporal advisers ; that his
hours for labour were continually broken in upon to his
loss, by the frequent and imperative sound of the bell,
he must gradually get a distaste for what he cannot enjoy
or reap the benefit of. I look to the same cause, for
nearly the same effects, among the greater number of our
poor priest-governed Irish peasantry.
The situation of Amst'ag is particularly romantic, and
that of Altorf which I reached some time after, equally so.
Altorf, the seat of government of the Canton, bears all
the marks of a decaying and impoverished town : ruined
houses meet the glance in every part, many of them,
I doubt not, in the very same state in which they were
left by the revolutionary army of 1797'
It is moving to see the once sheltering home-stead laid
open to all the winds of heaven ; rafters, beams, and
lattices all gone, and nothing but the bare and weather-
stained walls remaining ; yes, and probably the very
remembrance of those who once were happy within it,
utterly lost from the face of the earth. But such are
the traces which the iron wheels of war leave behind
them. I remember once, in Germany, pausing in a wide plain
over the site of what had once been a smiling village,
but which, during the late wars, had totally disappeared
from the landscape : nothing remaining but the village
well, and some of the foundation stones of a single
cottage. It was with a peculiar start of feeling that I

76 ALTORF.
discovered, among the tangled weeds which sprung
about them, the wild and creeping branches of two vines,
about a yard apart. They alone marked the former
threshold !
Desolate and uninviting as Altorf appears, its history
will always render it a point of interest.
William Tell was born at the village of Burglen, a
few miles to the S. E. of Altorf. One chapel is built
there to his memory, a second upon the Tellenplatte, on
the lake of the Four Cantons, and a third at Kiisnacht,
where he shot Gessler. His portrait appears on almost
every sign-post in the Canton.
After the death of Herrman Gessler, Tell's name
only occurs once in the history of his country ; viz. in a
record of a general meeting of the commune of Uri, in
1337, about thirty years after the events which have
made his name and memory so popular. He is tradition
ally reported to have perished in an inundation which
befel his native village when at an advanced age.
His male issue became extinct in l684, and the female
not till 1720. As might be supposed, many popular
and fanciful tales are strung upon the thread of his
history and achievements. Though a tower stands upon
the spot where, according to the legend, Tell's little boy
was placed against a tree with the apple upon his head,
to await the adventurous shaft from his father's bow ;
that episode in his story, as well as others of a like
nature, may be . considered as mere popular embellish
ments, as they have no sufficient evidence, either
historical or traditional, to support them.
I arrived early in the evening at my night's lodging in
the little port of Fliielen, watched the sun set over the

LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS. 77
glowing mirror before me, attended vespers, and went
to bed.
July l6th — A fine day in this part of my wanderings,
viz. for the aquatic pilgrimage to the chapel of William
Tell, to Riitli, and above all, for the ascent of the Righi,
had been often the subject of my aspirations ; and in
having it granted to my heart's content, I felt richly
remunerated for the uncivil treatment I had received from
the weather while among the Berne Alps. On awaking,
at an early hour, with the chime of the church bell for
the matin prayer, seeing through my window the lake
and mountains illuminated by the early rays of the sun,
I felt no inclination to turn round for another nap,
but dressing myself, breakfasted, and stepped into the
boat which had meanwhile been prepared. My
two boatmen pulled lustily at their oars, and the
skiff glided swiftly over the unruffled surface of the
lake under the shadow of the mountains on the east
bank. After rounding several rockj' head-lands at their
feet, we approached the little cove where the water
ripples upon the Tellenplatte, at the foundation of the
chapel of William Tell.
There is something in the grandeur and magnificence
of the scenes which surround you in this classic country,
which, gentl}', but irresistibly opens the heart to a belief
in the truth of the page upon which the events which
have hallowed them are recorded. Whatever a man
may think, and however he may be inclined to question
the strength of the evidence upon which the relation
of these facts rests, while in his closet, I should think there
are but few sufficiently insensible and dogmatical to stand

78 LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS.
firm, and bar their hearts against the credulity which steals
over them, while contemplating the spots themselves.
You feel that those deeds and those events are in strict
keeping with the scenes around you ; and are precisely
of the kind you would look for in the history of the
country, whose stern and awful features are presented to
your eyes. You feel that the air you breathe, the lofty
mountain pastures above you, those gloomy forests, the
blue unfathomable lakes, and the sweet smiling vallies
which ever and anon peep out from the deep recesses
of the mountains, must indeed have nursed and cradled
heroes. I own that this feeling was warm within me as
our boat touched the rock.
The lime trees, whose graceful branches surrounded
and partly shrouded the white walls and belfry of the
chapel, were in full blow. The wind scattered their
rich perfumes upon the water. The air resounded with
the hum of thousands of bees in motion among the
foliage. From a pasture, high up the mountain above,
burst the sweet and mellow catches of a female voice,
singing the Kuhrei, while the tinkling of the goat-bells
were only heard, when the gentle breeze freshened fi-om
the mountain-side. Even then its force was hardly
sufficient to disturb the image of the chapel with the
surrounding trees and rocks, brightly delineated upon
the water at their feet.
As soon as the boat-men laid down their oars they
vincovered their heads, and passing them, I entered the
little wicket of the chapel. It is built upon a rocky
ledge, jutting out into the lake at the foot of the over
hanging acclivities of the Axenberg, and lies quite open
towards the water. All the events on record signalizing

LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS. 79
the struggle of the three original confederated Forest
Cantons for their liberty in 1307-8, are blazoned in com
partments upon the interior wall.
Once a-year the altar is adorned and prepared for the
celebration of the mass, and a sermon is preached by a
Capuchin friar to a large and picturesque assemblage
of the peasantr}'', who come in their boats from the
surrounding cantons.
On resuming my seat, we bore straight across the lake,
for about three quarters of an hour, to the rocky cove
below the field of Riitli.
Some short time before the intolerable tyranny of the
Austrian bailiffs had driven William Tell to the act of
vengeance which history imputes to him, this small strip
of pasture, amongst almost inaccessible precipices and
forests, had become the secret place of rendezvous of three
men, Werner Stauffacher of Schwytz, Walter Furst
of LTri, and Arnold Melchthal of Unterwalden. They
had here passed many nights, in November, 1307, in
consultation how they might free their country from
the yoke which had gradually become insupportable ;
and finally repaired hither at midnight, on the eleventh
of the same month, each accompanied by ten friends
chosen from their companions in their several cantons.
Their forefathers had prayed to God, when quitting
their home in the north, that he would lead them to a
land like that which they had possessed, where they
might feed their flocks without fear of molestation or
oppression; and had swom, in His presence, never to
forsake each other. The solemn oath was now repeated
and renewed by their descendants, in the silence of the
night, on a spot in the centre of that land to which God

80 LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS.
had conducted their fathers of old, and where He had
granted and preserved to them that freedom which they
agreed to maintain to the last gasp.
They resolved, with one voice, ' That in the enterprize
upon which they now embarked, no one would be guided
by his own private opinion — none forsake his friend : that
they would jointly live and die with each other in defence
of their common cause : that each would, in his own
vicinity, promote the object they had in view, trusting
that the whole nation would one day have cause to bless
this friendly union : that the Count of Habsburg should
be deprived of none ofhis lands, vassals, or prerogatives :
that the blood of his servants and bailiffs should not be
spilt : but that the freedom which they had inherited
from their fathers, they were determined to assert,
and to hand down to their children untainted and
undiminished.' i
Then Stauffacher, Furst, and Melchthal, stepped
forward, and joining their right hands, raised the other
to heaven, and swore by the name of God, that they
would die in the defence of that freedom.
Rather more than a century after (1424), a deep soli
tude near Truns, in the Grisons, was, in the dead of the
night, the scene of a like confederacy, among a number
of noble and energetic men ; and both the field of Riitli
and the shade of the great lime-tree at Truns were the
birthplace of leagues which lasted for centuries.
Popular fancy has decorated the very identical spot
of turf upon which the three Swiss took their memorable
oath with a miracle, by splitting the water of a fine fresh
^ Planta's Helvetic Confederacy, Vol. i. chap. vi. p. 153.

THE CANTON OF SCHW\TZ. 81
spring rising in the little pasture into three small rills,
and stating them to be perfectly distinct, and to have
so issued forth immediately after that event. Of course I
winked at the barefaced imposition, and mingled the water
of all three, according to rule, before I put the tumbler
to my lips.
From Riitli I still made use of the strength of my
rowers to cross the lake once more to Brunnen, the port
of the canton of Schwytz. Here I betook myself to my
usual mode of travelling, and proceeded leisurely through
a most enchanting country to the town of Schwytz,
situated among delightful meadows at the foot of the
Mythen ; and, after a brief halt at the church, continued
my walk to the lake and village of Lowertz.
Though this canton is not free from beggars, the
greater opulence of the inhabitants, and the richness
of the country throws a veil over many of the disagreeable
traits of the professed form of religion ; and even a
zealous protestant must admit, that whether the old
faith adds to the inward happiness and comfort of the
peasantry or no, it adds much to the poetic character
and picturesque colouring thrown over men and things
in this delightful land.
Every part of the Forest Cantons which I have visited
affords numberless scenes for the pencil, of the most
exquisite colouring and detail. Besides that interest
which must always hang over a country rich in historical
and traditional allusion, there is a peculiar character in
the scenery, the style of architecture, the costume of the
peasantry, and the appearance and habits of the people
in general, which must strike every stranger.
Every where, on the public road, on the retired and

82 THE CANTON OF SChWyTZ.
lonely pathway, on the slope and on the summit of the
mountain, the little decorated chapel, the crucifix, and
oratory are to be found ; and you seldom meet with any
of these so neglected, that a fresh garland or a small
bouquet of wild-flowers has not been placed in the niche,
at least within the twenty-four hours. Here you see the
poor wandering beggar bending before them, with clasped
hands and moving lips ; and there the more gaily at
tired but equally devout family of the richer peasants,
passing from the town to their homestead in the moun
tains ; the sturdy peasant upright with bended uncovered
head ; the mother on her knees, one hand on her rosary
and the other upon the little girl kneeling at her side,
whose eyes and thoughts are wandering after the birds
chirping in the overhanging foliage.
The village and lake of Lowertz, the diminutive
islands, and castle of Schwanau and the mountains
around, form one of those simple pictures which are
always gazed on with delight.
The N. W. end of the lake was filled up by the
tremendous ehoulement from the Rossberg, i September
7th, 1806, which overwhelmed the village of Goldau and
other hamlets. It in a great measure choked up the valley
between the lake of Lowertz and the town of Art. Its
debris and the rent in the ridge and side of the mountain
are still striking monuments of this convulsion.
While making my way, in the course of the afternoon,
up the side of the Righi, * I fell in with a friendly family
of burghers from Schwytz, who were going to the cele
bration of high mass in the convent of Maria zum Schnee
1 The Rossberg, 4958 ft. 2 The Righi, 5800 ft.

THE RIGHI. S3
upon the side of this mountain. The father had witnessed
the fall of the Rossberg, and described its effect as terrific,
even at the distance of Schwytz. It was announced by
what seemed to be a sharp and isolated burst of thunder,
shortly after which, the whole side of the mountain
put itself in motion with a complication of the most
hideous sharp and grating sounds, which lasted some
minutes after the scene of ruin was shrouded in a cloud
of dust.
I parted with my companions at the gate of the
monastery. It seemed very singular to me that thej"^
had been some dozen times to within half an hour's walk
of a summit commanding one of the most extensive and
astonishing views in Europe, and that their curiosity
had never proved stronger than their devotion. But so
it was.
After securing a bed for the night at one of the inns
near the summit, I strolled to several parts of the moun
tain during the earlier part of the evening. The number
of visitors augmented every hour, and towards sunset all
began to congregate on the highest point, where I did
not fail likewise to take my stand.
The Righi does not owe its pre-eminence, as a point
commanding perhaps the most splendid and varied view
in Switzerland, to its height, but to its position, being
the last considerable eminence towards the north in this
part of the chain, and formed with very precipitous sides
to the N. and E. while the gradual manner in which
the back of the mountain inclines tothe south — towards
the central chain of the Alps, leaves the view unob
structed in that direction.
Instances, where the height, position, and formation
G 2

84 THE RIGHI.
of a mountain are all equally favourable for an uninter
rupted and extended view, are much rarer than might be
imagined. It would be presumption in me to attempt an analysis
and description of the vast picture spread out before the
eye of the spectator standing on its summit, or of the
effects produced over the whole by the last oblique rays
of a cloudless setting sun. It is truly bewildering.
Little by little the infinity of objects scattered over
the scene below became more and more indistinct ; and,
soon after the sound of the vesper-bell, rising from
innumerable chapels and villages, had ceased to strike
upon the ear, the lakes in the immediate vicinity were
alone distinguishable, gleaming ' misty and grey,' at a
depth which the eye grew weak in attempting to
measure. July llth. — Some time before day-light, I was not
sorry to be roused from a very uncomfortable bed, in
which I had enjoyed but little rest, thanks to the good
men and maidens who had kept up a dance over my head
to the scraping of a vile fiddle. This never ceased from
the moment I lay down till after midnight, and was a
sorry kind of preparation for the high mass in the convent
to which all were wending.
I took the road to the highest point, called the Righi-
Culm, for I had slept at Staffelns, about a mile lower
down, just as the twilight began to steal over the slope
of the mountain, following or passing several straggling
parties repairing to the same point. The summit was
already occupied by a considerable crowd, which by
sunrise had amounted to nearly two hundred, consisting
of individuals of many different nations, as well as of most

THE RIGHI. 85
of the neighbouring cantons. It was indeed a motley
assemblage. The mass of indiscriminate nature beneath us gradually
unfolded itself; the stars faded from the sky ; one pro
minent object after another in the vast extent of country
beneath started into shape and distinctness from the grey
surface ; and gradually the lakes, woods, mountains, and
rivers became distinguishable. Then the white chapels,
and towns, and hamlets, sprinkled among them, began
to glisten in the twilight ; till by the time the first yellow
sunbeam glimmered upon the peaks of the Finster-
aarhorn and his brethren, the whole of this astonishing
scene lay distinct, though cold and in shade, before our
ej'es. The eastern horizon brightened more and more, the
eminence upon which we stood next became illuminated,
and the sunlight stole gradually downward towards the
vast scene at our feet. It was a sight such as defies all
description, and which a man may deem himself favoured
to have been permitted to behold.
Shortly after the sun had fairly and fully illumined
the whole of the landscape, I began my descent to
Kiisnacht. The bells from innumerable chapels were
sounding as I descended the steep northem side of the
mountain, and parties of gaily dressed peasants were
moving in every direction in obedience to the summons.
Near Kiisnacht, I visited the third chapel erected in
memory of Tell, at the spot where he shot Herrman
Gessler. The road leading to it is still the ' hollow-
way.' The subsequent continuation of my ramble from
Kiisnacht to Lucern, along the border of the lake, and
thence over the country to Winkel, a village on one of the

SG THE CANTON OF UNTERWALDEN.
many branches of the same, though delightful in the
extreme, offered nothing sufficiently novel or striking to
claim a place among my recollections. Here I took a
boat to carry me to Alpnach in Unterwalden. The castle
of Rozberg, on the eastern shore of the lake of Alpnach, is
remarkable as the scene of the first attempt made by the
patriots of Riitli in their enterprizing project for the deli
verance of th6ir country. This was one of the castles
held by the prefects of the Dukes of Habsburg, and had
been shortly before consigned to the keeping of Wolfen-
schiess, an Unterwaldner, who, corrupted by the Duke,
had become the oppressor of his countrymen. He had
shortly before fallen a victim to the just vengeance
of Conrad Baumgarten, whom he had injured.
A custom, still prevalent through a great part of Swit
zerland, upon which even the vaunted morality of the
present day has had but little influence, viz. the
nightly visit of the lover to his betrothed, was taken
advantage of, as is well known, to gain possession of this
castle, in the first hours of Jan. 1, 1308. And the
successful issue of this first attempt was followed by a
series of simultaneous movements throughout the Forest
Cantons, which, by their complete success, in the course
of twenty-four hours, entirely put down the undue and
tyrannical power of the Dukes of Habsburg ; and restored
these hardy mountaineers to a full enjoyment of their
original and enviable freedom : a freedom, which by the
assistance and permission of the God whom they wor
shipped, and in whom they confided, they were enabled
to vindicate and to preserve for centuries.
From the landing place I took the taper spire of the
rhurch of Alpnach for my guide, and soon entered that

THE CANTON OF UNTERWALDEN. 87
village. After depositing my knapsack, &c. in the small
auberge, I entered the porch of the church. The after
noon service was just concluding ; five priests magnifi
cently attired, were making their final set of genuflections
at the high altar. The organ was concluding the service
with a few desultory chords, and the white smoke from
the censers hovered about the roof and upper flight
of windows for exit.
After the service was concluded, and the good Unter-
waldners dispersed, I undertook a more leisurely survey
of the church, paintings, sculpture, and gilding, which are
all in very good taste, and the plaster imitation of various
marbles, of a beauty, hardness, and polish exceeding any
thing I had ever seen. The only object which struck me
as in bad keeping with the general design and appearance
of the church was the small organ, which, painted and
enammeled like a snuff box, made but a sorry figure in
the large organ gallery.
It appeared to me to have been a high day for the
Virgin ; for her effigy, in the form of a great doll dressed
d la mode, had been brought forth, placed upon a movea
ble stand, and evidently carried about in procession.
However, it soon appeared that her day was at an end, for,
while I was standing beside the high altar, in comes the
Sacristan or some other officer attached to the church. He
advanced unceremoniously up to the figure, unstrapped
her from the pedestal, and then inserting his hands
between her shoes, (one of which I had seen a woman kiss
a few minutes before,) unscrewed a peg which' kept her
upright, let her fall upon his shoulder, and carried her
pick-a-back out of the church into the vestry : so that
the figure which one moment was deified, and prayed, and

88 THE CANTON OF UNTERWALDEN.
hymned to, and not approached even by the consecrated
priest without reverence, was the next taken on the back
of the unsanctified valet and shut up in a dark box.
On returning to the village inn to reclaim my travelling
equipage, I found the entrance, passage, tap, and bed
room all crowded with peasants in their shirt sleeves, just
as they had come out of church. Instead of bete fur uns !
(Pray for us J) beer ! was now the universal cry, and all
without exception seemed to agree, by the eagerness with
which they seized their mugs, that the mass had been dry
work. My road now led me intothe vale ofSarnen. I passed
early in the evening through the town of that name,
situated at the lower extremity of the lake of Sarnen, and
soon after came to the village of Sachslen, on its
eastern shore, where I intended to take up my quarters
for the evening and night.
Sachslen is a delightful village. The walls of its large
and handsome church are covered with votive offerings to
the saint whose bones lie, but do not repose, under the
great altar. The body of Nicholas von der Fliie, a brave
warrior, and what is more, a good man, who in evil times
saved the Confederacy the shame of dissolution from civil
dissentions among themselves, by his sudden appearance
in the Hall of Diet at Stanz, and by his exertions and
success as a peace-maker, was brought after death from
his hermitage in the Melchthal, and buried here. If the
blest could sorrow, he would sorrow grievously at the
honour taken from his God and bestowed upon his
memory. His hermitage in the Melchthal, a few miles from
Sachslen, in the mountains to the east, may be imagined

THE CANTON OF UNTERWALDEN. 89
from one of Spenser's many exquisite descriptions of such
retreats. A herraitage there lay
Far from all neighbourhood which annoy it may.
* * * *
And nigh thereto a little chapel stood.
Which being all with ivy overspread,
Deck'd all the roof — and shadowing the road ,
Seem'd like a grove fair branched over head :
Therein the hermit which his life there led
In straight observance of religious vow.
Was wont his hours andrholy things to bed.
And therein he likewise was praying now.
When as these knights arrived they wist not where or how.
* * * it
And soothly it was said by common farae,
So long as age enabled him thereto.
That he had been a man of raickle narae.
Renowned much in armes and derring do ;
But being aged now, and weary too.
Of war's delight, and world's contentious toyle.
The name of knighthood he did disavow.
And hanging up his armes and warlike spoyle.
From all this world's encumbrance he did himself assoile.
I have said he was laid, but did not repose, in his tomb ;
for his skeleton is continually raised out of the vault by
machinery, and shown to strangers, garnished with rings
and jewels.
Englishmen, who are accustomed to no mode of greet
ing in their own country, but the dry and unmeaning.
How do you do ! cannot fail to be struck with the simple
and patriarchal modes of salutation in the Swiss-German
Cantons.

jO THE CANTON OF UNTERWALDEN.
In the Canton of Berne, high and low, rich and poor
exclaim when they meet you, Gottgriiss 'euch (God salute
you) — Gott behiite euch (May God shield you), or Guten
abend geb 'euch Gott (May God give you a good evening) .
In the Forest Cantons, a mode of greeting, yet more
striking, is usual ; the one, touches his cap, and exclaims
Gelobt sey Jesus Christus (Jesus Christ be praised) , to
which the other responds. In ewigkeit. Amen (For ever
and ever. Amen) ! These are the relics of simple and
delightful days, which are but too quickly fading
away, even amongst the mountains.
But above all, one thing in this, as well as most other
Roman Catholic countries, has pleased and delighted
me ; a peculiarity which, I think, it was not necessary,
in laying aside Popery, to lay aside also : I mean the
perfect liberty, which there exists, to enter the house of
God at all times. Whoever you may be. His temple is
always open, and His altar free to be the place of your
supplication. I am sorry this is not so amongst Protestants, and that
there are those amongst us, to whom the sanctity of a
building, consecrated to the worship of God, would be
no protection from insult and spoliation. The Roman
Catholic places of worship contain moveables of far
greater value than the simplicity of our forms admits of ;
yet no one stands by to watch, while the poor muleteer,
or the more wretched travelling beggar, walks in to his
devotions alone and unquestioned. If it must be so, let
the beadle be there to watch, but let there be no bars
and bolts between the sinner and the sanctuary.
July ISth. — A morning's walk o^ erthe Kaiserstuhl,

MEYRINGEN. 91
by the blue and elevated lake of Lungern, and finally
over the Briinig, of which line of route more may be
said at a second visit, brought me early in the afternoon
to my old quarters at Meyringen. My good hostess, her
myrmidon Susiekateli, and even old one-eyed Toih, all
seemed glad to see me ; and I took possession of my
former apartment again for a couple of days.

CHAPTER IV.

The hills and mountains raised from the plains.
The plains extended level with the ground.
The ground divided into sundry veins.
The veins enclosed with rivers running round ;
These rivers making way through nature's chains
With headlong course into the sea profotmd ;
The raging sea beneath the vallies low.
Where lakes, and rills, and rivulets do fiow.
il -k * * * *
All these, and many more of His creation,
That made the heavens, the wanderer oft doth sec ;
Taking there in no little delectation.
To think how strange, how wonderful they be.
Framing thereof em inward contemplation.
To set his heart from other fancies free ;
And whilst he looks on these, with joyful eye.
His mind is rapt above the starry sky.

Julj/ 20th. — I cannot remember that it was ever my lot
to travel over seven leagues of country twice, with such
an exact similarity between times, lights, weather, and
circumstances, as happened to me in my first and second
passage of the Grimsel, from Meyringen to the hospital.
I left Meyringen at the same hour, laden in the same
manner ; passed the valley of Grund with the same
exquisite display of light and shade ; the Handeck, in the
same glow of sunshine, and arrived at the hospital of the
Grimsel about the same hour, more than ever enchanted
with the -many and peculiar beauties of this fine Alpine
pass. The whole of the defile leading up from the

THE GRIMSEL. 93
valley of Grund to the ridge of the Grimsel, a distance
of about sixteen or eighteen miles, may be described as
a deep channel, sunk between the gigantic flanks of the
two continuous ridges of the Alps, running from S.S.E.
to N.N.W. Numerous torrents of great impetuosity
rolling from the icy pinnacles and wastes among the
mountains on either side, pour down into this ravine,
augmenting the volume of the Aar, and bringing with
them vast accumulations of rock and stone from the
slopes and higher grounds. The constant recurrence
of these streams ; the occasional obstruction of free
passage in the bottom of the valley by rocky projections
at the foot of the mountains round which the river alone
finds a narrow and encumbered channel ; the forests in
the lower part of the pass, and the labyrinth of shivered
rock in the upper, give to the winding and narrow foot
way leading up to it the most singularly savage and
varied character it is possible to conceive.
Midway between Grund and the Grimsel lies the
sinall and lonely village and church of Guttannen at the
height of 3400 feet above the sea.
The falls of the Aar, at the Handeck, should not be
passed a second time, without a few lines descriptive of its
peculiar features. To this wild cascade, whose loud
commotion is heard long before you enter the forest
through which it has delved a passage, I give the prefer
ence above all the falls I have hitherto seen in Switzerland,
The great rush of water, and the deep, narrow, and per
pendicular chasm into which it is precipitated, give
it a character much more in unison with the scenery
around it, than either the Staubbach or Reichenbach can
boast of.

'I* THE GRIMSEL.
Just after they take the leap, the waters of the Aar
mingle in the descent with a powerful stream, which comes
dashing through the forest on the left, and plunges into
the same horrible abj-^ss. Upon this 'war of waters ' the
rays of the sun shot down with an almost insufferable
brightness ; and the beautiful Iris rising, expanding,
and falling with the draught of white spray thrown up
from below, was seen to perfection on both my first and
second visit. The average force of this fall has been
computed at 100,000 horse-power.
On mentioning to the vacher at the chalet of the
Handeck the idea I had entertained of finding my way
over the pass and glacier of the Gries, into the Val
Formazza, in preference to the more ordinary route into
Italy, over the Gothard ; he told me, that I might find
myself indifferently off^, for proper shelter and accom
modation, as there were no creditable places of enter
tainment in any of the remote vallies descending from
the Alps, till I should reach Crevola, or even Domo
d'Ossola. However, if I persevered and found it prac
ticable to cross the Gries and reach the village of
Formazza, he would advise my inquiring for, and making
use of his name, to one Pedlar William, who, he said,
was a trusty man, and would either give me a lodging
himself, or at any rate procure me a more credit
able one than that which a suspicious kind of cabaret
could aflbrd. I thought a friend in need was a friend
indeed; so carefully noting down the address of the
Pedlar, and thanking the Handecker for his good will,
I bade him Gott griiss 'euch, and continued my route to
the hospital. Hence, after brief sojoum, I made for thc
summit : and leaving my former route to the glacier

THE GRIES. r,i
of the Rhone to the left, followed the mule-path, three
leagues over the southem declivity of the mountain to
Obergesteln, the highest village in the Vallais.
About three o'clock, p. m. I entered the wide and
scattered hamlet, and immediately held a consultation
with myself, whether I should make a halt here or not.
Two alternatives presented themselves, either to stay
here quietly for the rest of the day and ensuing night
in any kind of lodging I could tind, or to push on eight
leagues further over the Gries to Formazza this very
evening. On counting the hours of daylight still
remaining, I thought I might venture a forced march ;
besides, former experience whispered in my ear that fair
weather was not to be trifled with. This settled, I had of
course no time to lose ; so, glancing back for a moment
at the Gallenstock, which rose high into the blue air
above the source of the Rhone, I crossed the small
bridge over the latter, and passing through Obergesteln,
reached the entrance of the Eginenthal leading up to
the Gries.
I then began my ascent, following a track on the
left side of the stream, and which brought me, after
between two and three hours' weary climb through a
desert and sterile valley, within sight of the head of the
pass, and the glacier which had still to be crossed ;
at an elevation which made me half dread that I had
chalked out too great an undertaking if not for my
strength of body, at least for the daylight which yet
remained. I had met with no living creature since I
entered the Eginenthal, and had to put up with one or two
unpleasant checks in my ascent, from having^rossed the
stream flowing through, too low down, and consequently

96 THE GRIES.
had had to drag myself over a very fatiguing tract of
loose broken ground, before I could repass it, and regain
the ordinary line of the pathway. Besides, I felt faint
for want of nourishment, and from having drawn upon my
strength a little too largely during the hottest part of the
day. However, nothing was to be done, but to press
forward courageously. I rested my shoulders for five
minutes before a picturesque bridge, thrown over the
stream, and then passing it, continued my route. A few
minutes after, I turned an abrupt ledge of rock which
had long bounded my view up the glen, and I shall never
forget the invigorating start of pleasure, which ran
through every limb, when I saw before me a little green
plain, lying snug and sheltered at the foot of the Gries ;
with two small clumps of chS.lets, and between sixty
and seventy head of cattle standing about them, while
the sweet chime of their bells mingled with the gay
voices of the peasants who were employed in milking
them. A bowl of new milk, and a quarter of an hour's
chat with the friendly and light-hearted peasants put me
in pretty good humour again ; and looking up at the
dingy masses of snow, rock, and ice, above me, I thought,
if I could only get past the perils of the waste of snow
and ice before sunset, and I would find a night's lodging
where I might, and be satisfied.
I entered upon this final ascent, following some kind
of track, repeatedly lost and found among the large
drifts of half-melted snow, and the ragged channels worn
in the earthy slopes by the torrents.
The climb proved long and fatiguing, and not un
attended with peril, from the faithless nature of the

THE GRIES. 97
footing aflTorded by snow undermined by rivulets, and
the water filtering through it in all directions. At
length I stepped upon the edge of the glacier which
occupied the ridge ofthe pass.
The surface was tolerably level in the part where I
traversed it, covered with fresh snow to a considerable
depth, and with few but deep and narrow clefts, through
which was heard the sound of water running in the
vaults beneath.
To the right the glacier was broken into ten thousand
fantastic and shapeless masses, with deep blue chasms
between them. The direction I had to follow, was now
indicated less by the track or footsteps of my pre
decessors, (which, in these elevated regions are soon
obliterated by the action ofthe sun, rains, or recent snow),
than by tall poles stuck into the ice at di-stances of several
hundred paces from each other. Many of these had been
blown down and lay half buried in the snow, and such
I thought it my duty to raise and fix again, that the
next solitary wanderer might not be destitute of that
assistance for which I felt so truly grateful.
The crest 1 of the pass took me about half an hour
to traverse. When about midway between the two de
clivities, the scene which presented itself was sufficiently
novel to make me pause a moment. I was far above the
level of all symptoms of vegetation. On either hand
the various snowy summits of the ridge rose from the
bosomof the glacier, which stretched too far to the N.
and S. to allow me the least glimpse of the deep vallies
in those directions, or of the pleasant and verdant slopes
ofthe mountains surrounding them.
1 The Gries 7900 feet.
H

98 THE GRIES.
But directly over the dazzling white plateau on which
I stood, I descried, far in the distance, the many
towering summits of the great chain of Berne Alps
sparkling in the setting sun ; and to the south, various
points ofthe chains at the head of the Levantine, aud
other vallies diverging from this point.
When I gained the southern edge of the glacier, I saw
below me the commencement of the precipitous descent
into the four small vallies of Bettelmatt, Kehrbachi,
auf der Frutt, and Frutval, alternating with very rapid
and long descents : all of which I must traverse, before
I could hope to see Formazza. It is well known that the
southern declivities ofthe Alps are in general considerably
steeper than the northem.
Upon this last, but not least fatiguing division of my
day's pilgrimage, I entered with pretty good spirits.
I was content to have made good my passage of the
ridge, and to suppose my future path too clearly pointed
out by the nature of the ground, to allow of much doubt.
Meanwhile, night was fast approaching, and a mass
of pale coloured clouds, rising to the south, began to
show symptoms of the nature of its burden, by occasional
broad and vivid flashes. Formazza was still very far
distant ; and I must confess, that the frontiers of Italy,
however they might awaken my ' classic raptures ' in
broad day light, did not make me particularly in
love with the idea of passing a night amongst wilds,
where the character of the peasantry was not the most
encouraging. I could not help feeling, that however unsuspectingly
and fearlessly I could lay down my head under the
roof of the Swiss mountaineer, it was not a matter

THE VALLEY OF THE TOSA. 99
of equal nonchalance to do it among the lawless inha
bitants of the frontier, who, if clean-handed themselves,
were many of them the children of parents to whom the
commission of crime had been a light matter.
Nevertheless, I kept steadily in motion. The shadow
of the mountain began to fall deeper upon the narrow
defile through which I was making my way, and one
star after another began to gleam from the sky. I
determined to go forward as long as I could distinguish
the next step in advance. My path could scarcely be
more rugged than it had been for hours, and might
possibly become smoother.
After descending the first two great declivities, I set
foot upon a little plain, at the further extremity of which
I could distinguish the bleached roofs of a number
of cottages ; and thought for a moment, that, if I could
find shelter here, I would not be fastidious, but accept
it, however rude and uninviting, I was surprised on
approaching them to see no smoke rising from any of the
roofs, nor any other sign of life in their precincts ; and
still more, on crossing the footbridge over the stream
of the Toccia, or Tosa, upon whose margin I had been
walking for some time, to find the whole hamlet per
fectly uninhabited, though consisting of nearly thirty
houses, and as desert as though the plague had been
there. A feeling, and I may say a disagreeable feeling
of my complete loneliness now lingered on my mind
and spirits for a few minutes, although I had the whole
day been passing, in silence, through the most pro
found solitudes, where a human face is seldom to be

H 2

100 THE VALLEY OF THE TOSA,
A second hamlet about half an hour's walk further
down was exactly in the same deserted state.
By this time the night had fairly set in ; though the
constant flare thrown out by the clouds in front, un
accompanied by any thunder, afforded sufficient light to
keep me in the rugged and precipitous pathway.
I was now on the left bank of the Tosa whose in
creasing rapidity, and a hollow murmur in the distance
intimated my approach to the great fall bearing its
name. This soon gave place to a loud rumble, which
swelled upon the gentle breeze coming up the valley,
and soon overpowered the gurgling and dashing of the
water in my immediate vicinity. A little white-walled
chapel, perched at the edge of the descent on the
left side of the fall, next came in view ; and I was soon
occupied in picking my way down the winding foot-path
which it overtops. I could spare but few glances upon
the torrents which bpiled over the edge of the preci
pice at my side as I descended ; having sufficient
difficulty in keeping my precarious footing among the
rough fragments of stone strewed over the path. But
when once arrived in safety at the foot of the long de
clivity, and on less awkward ground, I came to a halt,
threw off my knapsack to give a moment's ease tothe
blister which the heat of the preceding day and the
constant friction for so many hours had raised upon my
back, and sat down upon a rocky fragment to have what
enjoyment I might of my nightly visit to. this remote
and rarely seen cascade.
The lightning which had for sometime past covered
the southem sky with one incessant glow of brilliant
light ; threw its blue glare every instant upon the white

THE VALLEY OF THE TOSA. 101
and slowly-descending wreaths of foam in which the
volume of water came bursting over the sloping precipice
from a height of between 400 and 500 feet.
The form of the cataract is nearly triangular, spreading
out very wide towards the foot ; and its peculiar beauty
is in a great measure derived from the descent not
being perpendicular, the inclined and rugged face
ofthe precipice fretting its waters into one unbroken
and snow-white sheet of foam from top to bottom.
The body of water brought down by this fall, is, I
believe, only exceeded in this romantic country by the
Falls of the Rhine at Schaff^hausen, which are as much
greater in volume, as they are inferior in height.
I shall remember the singular circumstances under
which I saw the cascade of the Tosa, when the dripping
weather at the Staubbach, and the glowing sun-shine of
the Handeck, have alike passed from my memory.
With the hoarse music of the fall still sounding in
my ears, I once more resumed my pilgrimag-e. A maze
of huge fragments of rock, to whose head-long descent
from the mountain above, the echoes of the valley have
resounded in some long-forgotten hour, ushered me
shortly after into a dark pine forest, through which I
toiled with many a moment of obscurity, the fainter
flashes hardly affording me suflicient twilight to trace
the footway. However, before I emerged, my eye was
attracted by a thin stream of light gleaming athwart the
tall leafless stems of the pines, and by the time I came
into freer air, other lights in the same direction announced
my approach to an inhabited village. This proved to
be Formazza, which I entered about eleven o'clock, after
repassing to the right bank of the river. I mounted the

102 FORMAZZA.
steps of the first cottage I came to, and inquired for
Pedlar William. I was stared at, but attended to,
by a peasant who showed me his cottage. After long
knocking, a head was protruded from a lattice, and
I was asked what I wanted. This was soon explained.
But, alas ! — Pedlar William and his family were snug
in bed ; and he sent me word by his son, that His
most paternal majesty, Charles Felix, by the Grace
of God, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia had
forbidden him. Pedlar William, to harbour strangers,
and that I had better bend my way to the only house
where it was permissible to receive them. There was no
alternative ; so wishing Pedlar William good night, and
his Sardinian Majesty better advisers, I found my way to
the Royal place of entertainment. I cannot say that my
first impressions were in favour of the house. On
entering I found three men at supper in the kitchen ;
and after some demur, my question, whether I could
have shelter and refreshment for the night, was answered
in the affirmative.
I was shown an upper room with two gigantic dingy
looking beds in it. Every part of it was disgustingly
filthy. The furniture consisted of a table and a chair,
and neither the window nor the door would shut.
Now to tell the honest truth, my spirits and imagina
tion were rather upon the qui vive. I had taken it into
my head that my entertainers were not the most credit
able, and in some measure the warning of the Handecker
chimed in with the impressions produced upon my mind
by the manners of those among whom I was thrown : and
I might go on to give a romantic detail of the circum
stances which kept my suspicions awake. However,

VAL FORMAZZA. 103
as my reatler might feel eventually disappointed to find
that I was neither poisoned, pistolled nor stilettoed
myself, nor instrumental in making away with others in
self-defence, I will at once cut the night's adventure short,
by stating, that after having found a refuge from ill-fare,
suspicion, and wretchedness in several hours of unbroken
sleep, I met with no obstacle to my crossing the
threshold for the prosecution of my journey at early
morning. The evening's menace of storm had, it seemed, passed
ofl" without producing any bad effect upon the state
of the weather ; and the bright sunshine and fresh air
were additional inducements for me to quit my abomin
able quarters, which appeared to still less advantage by
daylight. The continuation of my route down the banks of the
Tosa, through Val Formazza, and Val Antigorio is
marked in my recollection as abounding with the most
exquisite scenery.
The savage grandeur of the deep defiles, down which
the river takes its passage in the former, and the delicious
region through which it rolls in the latter valley, cannot
be painted in too glowing colours. In these high valleys,
fully exposed to the power of the summer sun, there is
truly a ' blending of all beauties.' The vine, the fig, and
the broad-leafed chesnut, and other proofs of the luxuri
ance ofthe soil of Italy, present themselves every where to
the ej'e, intermixed with the grey blocks resting on the
flanks, and at the feet of the high granite ridges, out of
whose recesses you have not as yet escaped. Instead of the
weather-stained and simple habitation of the hardy
Vallaisan, sheltered by the bleak belt of forest, upon

104 VAL FORMAZZA.
which alone I had glanced yesterday, I now saw on the
southern declivity of the same range the substantial
Italian structure, with its regular outline, and simple, yet
beautiful proportion, and the villa, the handsome church,
or the stone cottage surrounded by its girdle of vines.
The vine, not in its stiff and unpicturesque Swiss or
Rhenish dress, but the true vine of Italy and of poetry,
flinging its pliant and luxuriant branches over the rustic
viranda, or twining its long garland from tree to tree.
Yesterday I had before me the rough-featured, but
manly peasant of the Alps ; and to-day the dark skin,
finely formed traits, the speaking, but sinister glance
of the Italian. Long before I reached Crevola, the
botany of the Alps had, in a great measure, disappeared,
and another succeeded.
I wandered among fields of Indian com, with its broad
leaf and flowering top ; the air in man)- of the close lanes
between the villages was loaded with the delicious per
fume of the cyclamen, which allured me by thousands
in the hedge-bottoms. The little chapels which bordered
the foot-path from time to time, multiplied in the vicinity
of the villages ; and many of the latter have very hand
some and spacious churches.
At Credo, the principal village in Val Antigorio, I
made a momentary halt before a large bone-house, with
the motto Mors ubique over the door-way ; and cast an
amused eye on the regular rows of fancifully disposed
bones and sculls in its interior. They had been all care
fully white-washed, and the inner wall was decorated
with a most appalling representation of the pains of
purgatory, al fresco. As I saw the church was open,
I walked in, and for a few moments contemplated one

DOMO D'OSSOLA. 105
of those beautiful scenes, which you are constantly
stumbling upon in a Roman Catholic country. A party
were engaged at one of the side-altars, and it appeared to
me that the sacrament of baptism had just been adminis
tered. The mother, clothed from head to foot in a long
white veil, was kneeling with her husband at the feet of an
aged priest. The infant lay asleep in its cradle on the
pavement, close at the mother's side, while an elder child,
apparently about two or three years old, was toddling
about the church, and scrambling on all fours up the
steps of the high-altar, with every sign of pleasure and
astonishment at the sight of the finery with which it
was covered.
After a long morning's walk, I arrived by way of
Ponte Maglio and St. Marco, at Crevola, and joined the
great road over the Simplon, just as it passes over the
well-known bridge under which the streams from Val
Vedro escape into the plain to unite with the Tosa.
A perfectly straight line of route now conducted me to
the town of Domo d'Ossola, where I took up my quarters
for the rest ofthe day, and the ensuing night.
The evening was spent with my sketch-book on
the Monte Calvario and its environs ; and what my
further route should be — I left for the morrow's dawn to
decide. The sultriness of the air during the earlier part ofthe
night seemed to take away the power of unbroken repose,
and I was perhaps on that account the more inclined to
leave my uneasy couch, when after midnight I became
conscious, by the glimmer on the wall, that the thunder
storms, of which we had had a portion during the
preceding days, were still sailing over the mountains.

106 DOMO D'OSSOLA.
A gently inclined roof upon which the windows of my
chambers opened, offered too great a temptation to be
resisted, and taking a cushion out with me I seated
myself in the open air. It was a calm, star-light night.
Profound silence rested on the town ; here and there a
faint light glimmered from a lattice ; and one very bright
and white spark rested upon the ascent of the Monte
Calvario. The o-utlines of the surrounding mountains
were scarcely definable, except towards the S. E. where
the distant and elevated ridge came almost momentarily
into harsh relief from the bright blue glare, which shot
and quivered and gleamed from behind. Ever and
anon, a distant rumble came swelling on the wind from
the same direction ; else the faint lulling murmur ofthe
Tosa passing through the plain was the only sound
audible in the intervals.
It was one of those scenes which make the heart beat
more audibly, and the proud spirit fee! no longer proud ;
when the natural and unsophisticated feelings of our nature
speak more distinctly, and are listened to more patiently j
when the thoughts, after roaming over past scenes of life,
and lingering over many a dear and long-neglected
image of departed days, recoil upon oneself, and
shed yet . once again, that tendemess and humility
over the spirit, which most of us think to have utterly
cast aside with the slough of childhood or of early
youth. The heart of a child is easily touched ; his spirit is
soon broken. There are many things which will bring
tears from his j-oung eyes. His feelings are as yet un-
benumbed by the chilling influence of the world, and
of society. The boy struggles against his feelings and

DOMO D'OSSOLA. 107
succeeds, partially at least, in stemming or choaking their
free and natural tide. Man, stern man, perfects what
youth has left undone ; and few and dexterous must be
the touches which bring forth from time to time the
long-forgotten sounds ofthe lyre ofhis early and natural
feelings ; well it is, if they are not all utterly warped
and dried.
After maintaining my position about an hour and
a-half, my eyes got weary of gazing fixedly at the spot,
where, after making a small circuit, the storm seemed to
remain stationary and to spend itself. The flashes had
become fainter and less frequent, and at last appeared to
cease altogether. Yet one more ! — It came, quivering
for an instant behind the ridge, and then left me in
utter darkness.
I now crept back into my chamber and enjoyed some
kind of broken rest, till between three and four o'clock,
when a rap at my door again roused me.^ — -I had given
the waiter his orders the evening before, that, in case I
felt in the humour, I might start in good time. The
morning had not yet dawned, but still I felt refreshed
and ready to begin another day.
Accordingly, after a slight breakfast, for, unfortunately
for the traveller, a good appetite cannot always be
bespoken at that early hour, I recommended the care
of my knapsack to the landlord, an honest Swiss, till I
should retum to claim it, and walked out of the inn-gates
just as the day began to dawn.
The earliest matin-bell was ringing on the Monte
Calvario, and in the cloisters at its foot, as I roundci
the knoll which connects it with the suburb : the next
turn in the road brought me in sight of the town of Villa,

108 VILLA.
two or three miles distant, at the termination of a perfectly
straight and level line of road.
Such a road is my abhorrence, either in the English fens,
on the plains of Germany or France, or in the Italian
vallies. Nevertheless, there was much at this early hour
to take my attention from its wearisome length, and my
eyes from the high and narrow quadrangular tower which
bounded it. The delicious sun-shine gradually descended
the mountains which surrounded me, lighting up, one
after the other, the white convents, and churches, and
villas, and cottages, with which their broken sides are
every where enlivened. From the vineyards on either side
the road, and the pathways leading to the various hamlets,
many of the peasantry issued as the day advanced,
bending beneath large baskets of ripe fruit for the supply
of the market of Domo d' Ossola. There was the village
lass leading her solitary cow or goat to gather its day's
nourishment from the grassy edge of the road, with her
distaff' stuck in her girdle, and her hands ever busy with
the thread ; so that, what with the amusement afforded
me by one thing or another, I entered and passed
through the dirty town of Villa without ennui.
Two long stretches of straight and level road, bordered
with thickets, brought me to the bridge over the Tosa,
now a stream of very considerable magnitude. I then
kept close under the shadow of the mountain on the left
bank, till I reached that part of the road beyond
Premosella and Vogogna, where I expected to find a
foot-path still closer to the westem edge of the vale, to
the village and lake of Mergozzo.
It happened, there were several bends to the left, and
I was in great doubt which to take. Just at that moment

MERGOZZO. 109
an old woman most opportunely hove in sight, advancing
along the road at some distance ; and I thought it
prudent to await her approach before I decided the
point. I accordingly seated myself upon one of the
edging-stones, which are a peculiar feature of this great
military road. During the interval of inactivity which
followed, I mused rather dolefully upon my deficiency
in the language of the country. My stock of French
and German was here of no use, for, though the first
was current coin in the inns, I did not suppose it would
pass with the old sibyl approaching.
Poco non allegro, said I to myself, Volti subito. Alle
gretto non troppo, that is nearly all the Italian I am perfect
master of, and out of that I can cobble no sentence to
make the old lady know what I want to consult her
about, twist and twine and intertwine it as I may. She
approached — the case became urgent, and I determined
to make an effort. Placing myself opposite one of the
turnings, as she came close up to me, I elevated my
pole, then placed it horizontally, pointing down the
footway, and exclaimed with raised eye-brows and in
quiring tone, Vid, per Mergozzo ? Si Signor, retumed
she. I instantly took that direction, wonderfully con
tented with my success, and noting down the words and
action as a formula which was often made use of in the
sequel. The heat of the day, for it was now between nine and
ten o'clock, was rapidly augmenting, and I felt the
comfort as well as the charms of the footway, for which
the heat and white dust of la grande route had been
exchanged. This lay, for the most part, through the vineyards.

uo MERGOZZO.
and under the high espaliers, over which leaves, tendrils,
and green fruit were thickly spread. Now and then a
small and dirty village had to be passed, and the wide
and sterile beds of mountain torrents, which, though
perfectly dry in the summer, descend from the precipitous
mountains in the winter with an impetuosity which
would cause serious damage, if the peasant did not
respect their utmost limit, and avoid throwing away his
labour upon the ground situate within it.
Plantations of hemp, Indian com, and fig-trees,
covered the ground in the vicinity of the hamlets ; and,
still closer to the rocky foot of the mountain, the shade
was yet more grateful, from the thick foliage of the
chesnut, which is the pride of the soil of Italy. About
eleven, I came in sight of the village and lake of Mer
gozzo, deeply sunk between two elevated and woody
ridges, and connected with Lago Maggiore by a canal.
In this village my person became the bone of conten
tion between two boatmen. I could not understand the
quarrel, but it was just as violent, theatrical, and
grimacious, as I could have imagined ; and though I
was under no alarm that bloodshed, which both appeared
to menace, would really take place, yet judging that
they would probably settle their difference by agreeing
to cheat me, I relinquished the idea I had for a moment
been induced to entertain, to take a boat here to the
Borromean islands, and giving both the slip, left them to
fight it out at their leisure. I rounded the left side
of the lake to the canal, and soon after entered Palanza.
The scenery of Lago Maggiore, and its superb
islands, has been so often and so fully described, that I
feel there is nothing for a passing wanderer like inyself

LAGO MAGGIORE. Ill
to add. I look back upon my tranquil passage of its
waters, and the delicious scenery which I then saw spread
around me, as a summer day's dream in the midst of a
day's toil. It was indeed too sweet to last.
I landed at Laveno, and after undergoing scrutiny at
the bureau de police, set forward towards Varese.
Four hours' walk, under a cloudless sun, in the hottest
time of the day and of the year, I found to be no trifling
matter. Indeed, I must own I had for some days back
felt some kind of exhaustion creep over me in the course
of the afternoon, less in consequence of the distance
passed over, than from the inadequacy of a slight
meal taken at a veiy early hour, to carry me through the
exertion of a whole day's march, especially under the
broiling heat of such a sun. Still a repast in the middle
of the day is a bad speculation for a pedestrian, and I
was not so much in love with inns, as to tum in for the
sole reason that there happened to be one at the road
side. When the body is low the mind has often a tendency
to be depressed likewise. As I trudged along under the
steep declivities of a range running from Lago Maggiore
to the eastward, where the sun had full play for its
beams, with eyes smarting from the white dust of the
road, I mused upon my wild neck-or-nought scamper
over the Italian frontier with less pleasure than ever
before or since. I looked back with some kind of anxious
feeling towards those two fearful chains of mountains
which were now interposed between me and all the friends
I possessed on earth. I recollected how many minutes
there had been in my solitary passage of these, when I
had had full employment for all the- strength and elasti-

112 LAVENO.
city of body and mind I could muster ; and reflected,
with some degree of awe, that all this would have to be
fought over again, before I could once more see a friendly
face. Alone too, without a single acquaintance or recom
mendation, or even credit, in a country full of those who
are ready enough to embarrass the stranger, and without
the present means of extricating myself, which might
supply their place if any casualty befel me.
There was nothing particularly consolatory in the
information that I was yet near two leagues from Varese,
when I was already in sight of the lake of that name to
put me in good humour.
However there was sufficient contradiction in my
nature to make me grow obstinate, in proportion to what
I conceived to be the badness of my case. I knew that
the cause of this depression was of easy removal, and as
the fault was not in my legs, pulled steadily forward. I
passed several hamlets, and the villages of Gavirate and
Comerio. But I had shortly to experience how strangely in
their turn the feelings of the body may be rendered
subservient to the passing temper of the mind. I re
member a point in my ascent of the Gries a few days
before, where, foiled and breathless, and bewildered with
the faithlessness of the ground on which I was climbing,
and the total uncertainty what step to make next, I felt
both body and soul fagged to a degree I cannot describe ;
when, casting my eyes a little on one side, they rested
upon a plant for which I had till then sought far and
wide amongst the Alps without success, and the emotion
of pleasure and surprise which was called forth in
consequence instantly turned the scale, and gave me

VARESE. ^13
strength of body and light-heartedness to do and to
dare. What the aquilegia alpinu was to me on the Gries, that
the sudden and unexpected view afforded by a turn in
the road, of the Monte Santo of Varese, with the shrine
of the Madonna del Monte on the summit, and the long
line of white temples peering over the green foliage of
the forest, was to me at this hour. From this moment
heat and fatigue were forgotten, my footsteps fell lighter
on the road ; and before sun-set I entered the old
town of Varese, situated about a mile from the foot
of the mountain.
The chapel of the Madonna del Monte, a sanctuary much
resorted to by pilgrims from all parts of the north of Italy
and the neighbouring countries, is situated on the summit
of the last eminence on the side of the Alps towards the
plains of Lombardy. Hither I had bent my steps, in
preference to Milan, for many reasons. I loved the
mountain better than the plain, and the works of God
rather than those of man ; and wished to look upon
Italy rather than in my present state of equipment to
enter it. For this purpose no point could be better
chosen than Varese. Among many inns, I fixed upon
one because I took a fancy to its style of building,
and spent the remaining hours of the day in the
vicinity with my sketch-book, restored to perfect good
humour by the necessary refreshment and the cool
of the evening.
At an early hour I found means to mount an enormous
bed, which looked, with its great coverlid of faded
damask, more like an old-fashioned bowling-green than
1

114 VARESE.
a place of repose, and soon lost recollection of both
the pleasures and turmoils of the preceding day.
July 9,3rd. — Upon opening my eyes, about four o'clock
this morning, I had the disagreeable view, as I lay on my
elevated couch, of a dark line of threatening clouds,
stretching over the country ; and heard from time to
time a low rumble, which made me dread that a change
of weather might be at hand, which would not only defeat
the main object of my coming hither, but might render
my retreat from this country doubly difficult and
harassing. I arose and broke my fast as usual, and then wrapping
my map and sketch-book under the breast of my coat,
these being with my staff and bottle all my luggage at
present, I left the inn, and proceeded to that part of the
town which appeared to me most likely to lead towards
the Monte Santo. For the position of the latter I had to
tax my memory, as all the eminences were enveloped in
impenetrable mist. I was not mistaken as it happened,
and soon arrived at the commencement of the avenue
leading from the town to the mountain.
I had been followed to this point by three mercenaries,
who had appeared determined to give me their service
and protection, whether I wished for it or not ; and had
just contrived to convince them, by keeping some hun
dred yards in advance, that they were really unnecessary
to my comfort, when the thunder-storm, which was spread
ing far and wide with a rapidity and denseness of vapour
I never saw equalled, sent an avant-courier, in the shape
of a violent shower; this in a few minutes rendered the

THE MONTE SANTO. 115
¦shelter of the trees bordering the road of no avail, and
wet me to the skin.
I walked for some time through the avenues, on a fair,
broad road, and then reached the foot of the hill, and
the commencement ofthe real santa via.
This forms a spacious and paved winding between
delightful shrubberies and vineyards, the different stations
for the halt of processions being marked by large and
well-built temples at every three or four hundred yards.
Here I entered the mist resting on the mountain, and as
is not unusually the case, found an instant cessation ofthe
rain. The first temple I approached must give me
occasion for a general description of their appearance and
appropriation. They are all Grecian, though not precisely of the
same plan or dimensions, with porticos, and in general
with small pediments and cupolas : very tasteful, and
even elegant, in form and proportion. The interior, into
which there is a full and free opportunity of prying for
both believer and unbeliever through the grated doors
and windows, is occupied by a number of plaster figures
of the natural size ; varying in number, according to the
scene represented, from five or six, to between twenty and
thirty. They are painted and clothed in character, and
much, though unequal genius, is shown in the execution
and disposition.
The first representation, that of the Salutation, I believe,
was not the best specimen.
The Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, Resurrection,
and Ascension, were very superior, from the number
of figures, and the art displayed in their arrangement.
Each of these temples had two qffiches upon its door-
I 2

•116 THE MONTE SANTO.
way ; the one a mere petition that the passenger would
contribute largely to the maintenance of the holy chapel,
and the second containing the notification frequently seen
at such privileged places of resort : that a perpetual
pleiiary indulgence had been granted by Pope Pius VI.
all to the devout pilgrims visiting the holy mountain and
shrine, who should pray for the peace of all Christian
Princes, the extirpation of heresy, and the exaltation of
the holy Mother Church.
I had proceeded for some time, from station to station,
when the storm which had never ceased for any con
siderable time together to bellow in the plain beneath,
appeared to be gradually drawing nearer, and when
I was in the vicinity ofthe chapel, in which the Scourging
was represented, the mist suddenly clearing off", gave
place to such a violent rush of rain, that I was glad to
take refuge under the portico.
Here I was kept prisoner for upwards of an hour, the
rain falling in torrents and streaming down the paved way
with great impetuosity, while the thunder rolled far and
wide. However only the skirt of the storm came over
the mountain. At the end of that time the air cleared,
and gave me a partial view of the summit crowned with
its church-tower and numerous buildings, and of the
green wooded eminence to the left. As soon as the rain
ceased, I quitted my place of shelter, and shortly after
arrived on the summit upon which the sun had begun
to cast a passing beam from time to time.
Here I passed another hour in full enjoyment, and
forgetfulness of many a weary step I had taken to arrive
at this, the further bound of my journey. However
beyond my flight of description, I would fain preserve

THE MONTE SANTO. 117;
some memorial of the scene which now opened before me ;
to prove that the end of all this toil was not disappoint
ment, but that I had, though midst the blackness and
wildness of storm and tempest, some reason to say that I
was satisfied.
To the northward lay the range of wooded eminences
(stretching between Lago Maggiore and Lugano) of which
that whereon I stood was the last towards the plain. In my
immediate vicinity were the various buildings which the
sanctity of the place, and the necessity of providing
entertainment for the concourse of pilgrims, had gathered
round the shrine, whose small but elegant tower rose
over the regular lines of roofing in its vicinity.
The foreground, as I turned my face to the south, was
occupied by the wooded ridge of the Monte Santo, de
corated with its long line of white Grecian stations, and
illuminated by the sparkling sunbeam, as it poured its
flood of light from above the vapours, which were
rapidly clearing from this part of the country.
Beyond this, lay the wide plains of Italy, not indeed
glowing under the deep blue sky and unclouded sun,
with which the imagination delights to associate them ;
but beautiful still, and majestic, under the rapid and
astonishing changes wrought upon their surface by the
shifting scenes of the mighty tempest. Towards Como
and the east, this assumed a blackness and gloom which
I never saw equalled'; and from the deep sonorous
tone which issued from that quarter, never dying quite
away, and often swelling on the wind with a depth and
power which caused an unpleasant vibration on the ear,
that seemed to be the main seat of the storm. More to the
south, towards Milan, the Po and the Appenines, the long

118 THE MONTE SANTO.
irregular layers of cloud, though wild and sombre, were
more broken. The thunder only burst at intervals in
loud explosions from their body, and the heavy lines
which marked the descending torrents were in constant
motion. This part of the prospect was particularly
beautiful. Mingling with the deep blue shade which the thunder
clouds cast upon part of the verdant plain stretching as
far as the eye could reach, came the sweet yellow sun
beam glancing upon woodland, and vineyard, and
white cities, and villas, ten times more beautiful by
contrast with the pale twilight lingering upon the parts
in shade.
Towards the west, all was exulting in the light,
freshness, and life of the morning. There lay Lago
Maggiore, and the mountains behind : still nearer, the
lakes of Monate, Gomabio, and Varese, and the descent
to them from the hills, sparkling with their paradise of
woods, and hamlets, and vineyards, as far as the eye could
distinguish. — Such was my glance into Italy, and I
would fain communicate to my readers a portion of the
delight and enthusiasm I felt while gazing upon it.
Around me were groups of pilgrims, and the village
girls tempting them to the purchase of their votive
garlands of everlasting flowers, wax-tapers, and rosaries.
Shortly after, I myself stood beneath the entrance of the
Holy Place ; dedicated, — not to the Lord of lords, and
King of kings ; not to the meek and lowly Saviour
of the world, through whose mediation and bitter
suff'erings in human form, we alone hope for reconciliation
with an offended God, and for a passage through the
gate of heaven ; — but to the Virgin.

SHRINE OF THE MADONNA DEL MONTE. 119
For this I had been prepared by the representation
contained in the last and highest temple, viz. that of. the
ascension of the holy Virgin Mary ; a subject which
seems to have called forth a greater display of talent
and enthusiasm, than any scene of the life and sufferings
of our Saviour. This is her sanctuary: here the lamp
and the taper are always burning, day and night, before
her altar ; and the prayers and vows of the pilgrim rising
continually before the shrine, from whence she is believed
to ' listen and save.'
The poor pilgrims, as they enter, exclaim : Santa Maria.'
Sancta Dei Genetrix, ora pro nobis ! miserere nobis ! —
and when sunk upon the pavement in deep devotion, the
same prayer may be seen in the mute motion of their
lips. — Devotion ! yes, and a devotion apparently so deep,
so unfeigned, so humble; — that, while standing by, the
tears have rushed into my eyes, and I have humbled
myself, and prayed too ; not to the Virgin whom I would
honour, but cannot worship ; not to the saints, the
martyrs, the cloud of witnesses for whose bright ex
amples I bless God, as so many testimonies to the
Christian faith I have learned to profess ; not to the
departed Just in whose song of praise I hope once to
join, but who can never be the propitiation formy sins: —
but to God the Judge of all, whose mercy and compassion
are held out even to me through Jesus Christ.
The very conviction of the error of those kneeling
around me, has often had the effect of bringing my
thoughts to the dust, from a feeling how little
worthy I am of the better light which directed my
thoughts while yet a child to a firmer and more satis
factory ground of hope, comfort and dependence ;

120 THE MONTE SANTO.
and how seldom, how very seldom, my superior
knowledge stimulates me to deeper devotion.
After having spent as much time at this celebrated
place of resort, as I possibly could in consonance with
my design of reaching Domo d'Ossola again before night ;
I took another brief glance at the splendid and peculiar
scene around me, and then retraced my footsteps towards
the foot of the hill. In descending rapidly over the
paved way, from station to station, I indulged in a
feeling of great satisfaction, for two principal reasons :
First, that I had really fought my way hither, to the
utmost limit of that plan, which, projected in a moment
of enthusiasm, had been almost condemned by my cooler
thoughts as impracticable ; and had not been disap
pointed. Then, from a source even more delightful ;
which was, that I was now once more on my return
towards Switzerland, whose bare and lofty mountains
and sweet vallies could never lose their charm, even in
the sight of the luxuriant plains and the vineyards and
villas of Italy. I felt it was something, for one in a
strange land, to turn his face to that point of the compass
where his friends dwelt.
I had experienced, in the midst of the natural riches
which the profuse hand of nature had lavished upon this
land, that Italy was no country for a solitary wanderer :
and I preferred my seat upon the rude summit of the
Furca, though the sun beat upon my head and my feet
were soaked with the snows, to the verdant bank which
now offiered itself to my repose, where the overhanging
vine and the fig-tree yielded a luxuriant shelter from
the sun-beam.
I cannot bear to be bothered and questioned by the

DOMO D'OSSOLA. 121
gens d'armes and douaniers at every town in the road, and
to feel that I am under the surveillance of a rascally
police, who are at liberty to treat me well or ill according
to the humour they may happen to be in.
The day turned out as fine as the preceding, and quite
as hot. Happily for me, however, the hottest part was
spent upon the cool unruffled surface of Lago Maggiore.
Palanza, Mergozzo, Ponte Masone, and Villa, were
successively passed without any observation or adventure
worth detailing, and about two hours after dark, I
entered the gateway of my inn at Domo d'Ossola, A fine
mute exhibition of lightning over the mountains to the
E, came very opportunely to keep me in good humour
during my passage of the disagreeable stretch of road
between Villa and the last-mentioned town ; though I
certainly found it more wearisome at the end of a long
day's march than at the beginning.
July ^ith. — I may be allowed, as a pedestrian, to
consider myself fortunate in being able to say, that,
in whatever degree I may have felt my bodily or
mental powers depressed at nightfall by exertion, heat,
hunger, thirst, or any other trial incidental to the mode
of travelling to which I have long habituated myself, I
can scarcely remember an instance when two or three
hours' repose, even supposing I enjoyed no unbroken
slumber, did not yield me the power and the will to
resume my active operations.
This morning was not an exception, and I awoke about
four o'clock in perfect spirits and vigour ; but having
made up my mind the preceding night to take my time,
and hearing the rain pouring down in torrents, I dozed

122 THE SIMPLON.
another hour and then rose. It was to be sure a dreary
look out ; the sky and mountains were covered with
dense clouds, and though the rain had ceased, there was
little or no probability of a permanent improvement.
However, about seven o'clock, a, m, on counting the
hours of daylight which remained, I determined to make
a complete day's work, in spite of the rain, and get fairly
across the Simplon to Brieg, in the Vallais, Accord
ingly shouldering my goods and cha,ttels, I sallied forth,
just as the church-bells were ringing for the early mass,
and the good Catholics were elbowing each other at the
entrance of the chapel doors.
As far as Crevola, the road off'ered nothing novel, as I
had passed it some days before in emerging from the
Val Antigorio. Before I reached the great bridge, the
rain recommenced ; and I may mention once for all, that,
with variations for the worse, (of which more presently,)
the storm that now began kept me company for full
ten hours, that is to say, till I was within six or seven
miles of Brieg.
As the narrative of my passage of the Simplon must
therefore of necessity be confined to the description of an
alpine storm, through the violence and disadvantages
of which the distant scenery was invisible, and the
surrounding points of interest seen thiough a very gloomy
medium, it cannot be supposed that much writing should
be expended upon it.
The bridge of Crevola, and the villages of Davedro,
Isella, and Gondi, were now behind me, and still the wind
blew and howled among the pines and rocky inequalities
of the surrounding scenery. The storm pelted more and
more, and no shadow of hope could be indulged that it

THE SIMPLON. 123
would change for the better. On the contrary, between the
last-mentioned hamlet and the village of Simplon it began,
with the country around, to assume a much more savage
and bitter aspect. From the Cascade Cavern to Simplon,i
where I might have found shelter, if I had thought
1 could not have forced my way, the tempest treated
me very roughly ; but I may say cruelly, from thence to
the highest ridge of the mountain.
The passage of the Great Scheidegg, from the in
clemency of which I can abate nothing, was but little
in comparison to what I had here to endure. It is
true, I was but thinly clothed ; for who, trudging on
foot, under the burden of his wardrobe, can be expected
to provide himself with both summer and winter cover
ing, A light coat and waistcoat, and lighter pantaloons,
were all that I had to oppose to the fury of a blast against
whose piercing sleet and wind the box-coat and all
its accompaniments would have aff'orded insufficient
protection. When I say that mingling sleet and rain,
driven on by a witheringly cold and powerful wind, hour
after hour, had left not a dry thread upon my person — I
say but little. There was hardly a fibre or a nerve in my
frame which was not aff'ected and quivering from the
effects of the blast, which seemed to have annihilated the
principle of heat within me, in spite of the rapid motion
which I opposed to its power.
After passing Spital, and veering towards the highest
ridge, I felt all the bitterness of my situation. My
right-hand was without feeling and stiffened round the
pole which it bore, and the left almost without sense ;
' The Simplon 6450.

124 THE SIMPLON.
indeed I was not at one time without a flying sensation
of doubt, as to the ultimate consequences of this struggle
with the elements, (to which none beside myself seemed
inclined to expose himself, the road being as desert as
the rocks above it) — when I perceived symptoms of the
cramp in my limbs. As long as I have the power of
motion, thought I, as I quickened my pace to a desperate
bound, so long shall I keep life within me, were the
sky of Greenland above my head — but, that once taken
away, where I fall, there I must lie !
Proceeding at this pace, I gained the ridge, passed it,
and, after descending some time on the leeward slope of
the mountain, came suddenly upon a small ch&let crowded
with people, whom the fury of the tempest had driven
thither for shelter. I halted for a moment in the door
way, and asked for some slight refreshment. They put
the wine to my lips, my hands being still too weak and
stiff to be of service. After paying themselves .aad,
depositing my purse in my pocket again, I started afresh,
not wishing to run the risk of inaction even for a short
period. Descending rapidly for a considerable time, I got
among rocks and forests which gave me shelter from
the wind, as well as below the region of the moun
tain where the violence of the storm was most felt.
About Persal the rain ceased to persecute me, and I had
for the remainder of my journey' more civil treatment,
though, from the state of my clothing, I did not think it
well to slacken my pace. At length, about seven o'clock,
I entered Brieg, thanking God for the possession of health
and spirits, in spite of my rough day's work. There
had been no rain in the Vallais.

BRIEG. la.-j
All the contents of my knapsack were again in thc
most woeful plight ; but so I was obliged to let them
remain for the present.
The road over the Simplon is a noble monument of
Napoleon's genius and enterprize. The Italian engineers
have coped with the greater difficulties on their side
of the mountain, in a manner highly worthy of them.
Yet, one may be permitted to inquire, if the peace lasts
twenty years longer, what will the road over the Simplon
be at the expiration of that period ? A ruin — unless a
regular sum be set aside for its maintenance and repair
by the powers interested in its preservation. Without
taking into account those casualties to which it is always
exposed — the overwhelming torrent, the fall of rocks, the
avalanche — the masonry supporting it will, ere many
years, want extensive and solid repair ; and if this is
neglected for any length of time after it has become
necessary, the destruction of many of the most difficult
parts of the passage will be the inevitable consequence.
July 25th. — I quitted Brieg, and, passing through
Glys, joined the great road again. During the earlier
part of this day's march nothing worth mentioning
occurred. The weather was fair, though dull. I was
much amused with the costumes of the Vallaisans, and
still more with their patois ; was surprised at the num
ber of goitres, and shocked at meeting so many
cretins. Just before entering the bourg of Leuk, I crossed the
Rhone, then passing through the village, began to mount
the ravine leading to the Baths of Leuk or Louesche
situated at the foot of the Gemmi.

126 BATHS OF LEUK.
Though we had had no rain in the course of the day
in the vallies, I had all along suspected, from the appear
ance of the higher ranges of mountains, that the upper
country was, as yesterday, the seat of storm ; and the
aspect of the higher parts of the ravine up which I was
now proceeding, convinced me that I was right, and
that I should, in all probability be again the sport ofthe
elements, before I could arrive at the elevated point
where the baths are situated.
Accordingly, no sooner had I traversed the bridge to
the west side of the ravine, than the rain began to descend
first by stray drops, and then gradually more and more
violently ; so that by the time I had passed through the
hamlets of Varen and Inden I was again wet to the skin.
On marching up to the first of the five inns built in
this singular spot, for the accommodation ofthe numerous
visitors, whom the virtue of the mineral springs, or
curiosity, induce to resort here in the summer, I was
informed that it was full to overflowing ; and that, what
with the regular visitors, and the travelling parties pre
vented by the unfavourable weather from crossing the
Gemmi, and accumulated here at the foot, all the other
inns were in the same condition. This was unwelcome
intelligence : I went round to each, but was informed by
the landlord or landlady that there was no chance
of entertainment, as every nook, from the ground floor to
the false roof, was crammed.
However, at the last of these I grew sturdy, as I saw
that the landlord was willing enough to pocket my batzen
if he could make room for me. I told him I knew it
was impossible that every truss of straw and every six
foot of floor under his roof wae occupied, and as long as

BATHS OF LEUK. 127
he could give me these, I wanted no better entertainment.
This brought him to, and he said, he would give me
shelter for one night ; so there I made my home. As
for the baths, I own I cared at that moment nothing
about them, and felt no curiosity to go and see them. I
had had so much bathing against my will, that I disliked
the very name.
At the general supper-table, to which all the household
repaired for their evening meal, I met a drolly mixed
company. Country people from the upper and lower
Vallais, Catholic cures, a number of German burschen ;
various invalid visitors from the Catholic cantons ; one or
two dignitaries from the seat of govemment at Sion, &c.
and a Capuchin friar, who eat more bonbons and uttered
more good jokes than all the rest put together. You
saw immediately in his appearance that he was perfectly
aware of the diff"erence between a fast and a feast day.
The mineral springs and baths dispersed throughout
the whole country in Switzerland, are to all ranks just
what the fashionable watering-places are in England,
Here resort those whose disease has received a name, and
those whose malady is indescribable and perhaps quite
imperceptible by their medical attendant ; the pleasure-
hunter, the fortune-hunter, and the newly married
couple; the wife and daughter of the better class of
peasants come here for their summer excursion, and the
half-pay officer, whom long service in foreign parts has
rendered impatient of the quiet reigning in his homestead,
here finds a mess and a mixed society, which may help
to dispel his ennui.
Bed time arrived, and a wretched mattress received
my wet person, for, as I had entered, so had I to sit all

128 BATHS OF LEUK.
the evening. However, as I felt no pain, I cared for no
inconvenience, and slept soundly on my miserable couch,
till awakened at break of day by the cold ; when, finding
further repose out of the question, I rose and went
down stairs.
At the general breakfast-table, plentifully but plainly
provided (all the household, master, mistress, servants,
and guests being herded unceremoniously at the scramble
general), the weather was the topic of conversation, just
as is usual at one of the English watering-places. I
employed myself in laying in my provision, and had no
time for wordy speculation.
The prospect, however, was to be sure dreary enough.
The snow had fallen heavily on the mountain all night,
and was still falling, as we could see from below, I
soon discovered that there was no idea of trudging in
any mind but my own,
I believe I too should have been forced to stay from
a feeling of prudence, and not attempt the passage,
if two or three reasons, such as they were, had not kept
me steady to my purpose. First, certain indications,
both in the sky and barometer, that a change of weather
was at hand ; secondly, I had no lodging, even if I did
stay ; and thirdly, I had noticed, by the help of a tele
scope, two peasants preparing to scale the precipices, in
spite of the snow, and in the trail of these I was
determined if possible to strike, before it should be
obliterated, I therefore made my arrangements for
starting ; gave my shoes, which, in spite of their
tremendous soles and iron defences, were gradually
yielding to the extraordinary tear and wear of the
preceding days, an extra buttering (such being the

THE GEMMI. 129
fashion among the mountains), paid my bill, and pre
pared to depart.
When my purpose was known in the common-room,
each had a word to say upon the matter ; and some
forthwith commenced the usual mode of intimidation,
by the relation of fearful stories in point.
Pre-eminent among these was a Vallaisan priest, the
colour of whose face, evinced that 'ne knew the
taste of every vintage in the Vallais. Accompanying
his rhetoric with no little gesture, he related that when
he was last at Leuk, a man in precisely such weather,
though perfectly conversant with the pass over the Gemmi,
got bewildered in a snow-storm by the Daubensee on the
summit, and was found cold, stiff, and dead, having
perished in consequence of his temerity. This was, to
be sure, rather disheartening : but, when it was discovered
upon mentioning the name of the poor man, to give his tale
more effect, that he was at that very moment in sound
health in the kitchen, a general laugh succeeded, during
which I made my bow and departed.
After half an hour's walk, I reached the foot of that
gloomy line of precipices which form the front of the
Gemmi on this side, and over whose dizzy ledges and
gloomy rifts the winding pathway is carried. I had
toiled for about three quarters of an hour up these rocks,
rendered slippery by the rain, (for I had not yet reached
the region of the snow) when I came unexpectedly
upon the rear of a party of peasants climbing in like
manner up the mountain.
This was no unpleasant circumstance ; for, to tell the
truth, though I made no doubt of being able to reach
the top of the precipices, it being next to impossible to

130 THE GEMMT.
make a mistake, where only one foot-way existed ; I was
not without apprehension respecting my further progress
when once on the summit. There I should have the
mist and the snow-storm to contend with, and must traverse
flats whwe the fresh snow would lie deep and in drifts,
and the footsteps of foregoing travellers would be
quickly obliterated.
Some time still elapsed before we gained this part
of the passage, as, towards the top of the precipices
the snow often filled the hollow way and rendered
advance difficult. However, this was at length eff"ected ;
and by common consent we all retired out of the driving
wind and sleet, into a small shed, to breathe a little, and
to take such refreshment as each had provided, as
well as to put ourselves into the best state of defence
against the storm, while crossing the head of the mountain
to the little hospital at Schwarenbach, on the northermost
brow of the pass, i A moderate use of my stock of
Kirschwasser, a crust of bread, and securing my old white
hat on my head with a pocket handkerchief, was all the
preparation in my power.
The last-mentioned article, common-place as the
subject sounds, really demands a word, and shall have it.
It had become, in consequence of its share in its master's
adventures, the most wonderfully shaped figure con
ceivable : neither oval, nor conical, nor pyramidical, nor
a cube, nor even a parallelopiped, and I much question
if even Lloyd's catalogue could match it. It was a kind
of conglomerate, in one part or another of which you
might detect an approximation to almost any given figure.
' Pass of the Gemmi, 7460 feet above the aea.

THE GEMMI. l.'^l
I had the same kind of affection for it, and have still for its
memory, as we entertain towards any old friend, animate
or inanimate, who has been firm and faithful in storm
as well as in sunshine, and of whom we cannot think
without being reminded of many a day's adventure.
But I must forward !
The journey from the summit to the Schwarenbach
along the shores of the elevated lake termed the Dau
bensee, was rapidly and merrily performed in about
three quarters of an hour, though the snow blew
without intermission upon our heads, and lay between
one and two feet deep upon the rocks and marshy
flats. At the hospital, the peasants seemed inclined
to rest, and take their time, I therefore bade them
farewell, and descending got very shortly out of the
region of both snow and rain into that of bright
warm sunshine, which was truly welcome, I had now
amusement enough among the beautiful verdure of the
higher alps, * and the fine views upon the neigh
bouring glaciers, to cheat the hours occupied in
descending through the higher valley of Kander, and the
lower vale of Frutigen, till I reached the large village
of that name. After some refreshment, I calculated I
had still time to finish my present journey before a very
late hour, and accordingly resumed my march to proceed
four leagues further to my home in the Simmenthal. With
what delight did I gaze upon the Niesen, though covered
with snow ; upon the blue lake of Thun, and the far distant
Jura upon the horizon. This feeling was augmented on
' It should have been earlier remarked, that the term alp is fre
quently made use of in these pages, in the sense usually conveyed by
it in Switzerland, viz. a wide extent of mountain pasture.
K 2

132 ERLENBACH.
my coming within sight of the white castle of Wimmis,
and the Bar guarding the entrance of the Simmenthal,
and reached its height about nine in the evening, on
arriving at Erlenbach, and approaching the friendly
threshold, 'Tis jweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark.
Bay deep mouth'd welcome as we draw near home !
'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark
Our coming : — and look brighter when we come.
Old Coquet was the first to notice and welcome
me. She, poor dog, had conceived a great aff'ection for
me, ever since I happened to superintend the salutary
operation of amputating the lower joint of the tail of her
only surviving puppy, and gave him the name of Stumah
on the happy occasion, which he bears to this day, I
believe she took me for a dog-doctor, and reposed con
fidence in me accordingly. And, so much may I be
permitted to say, that no where in my wanderings have
I seen a more charming retreat ; no where a more peaceful
valley ; have no where heard a mountain-torrent whose
waters made sweeter music than the Wildebach which
now sounds in my ears ; or seen mountains upon whose
green sides the bells of the cattle chimed more melo
diously ; and more especially, have never, and can never,
out of my own country and immediate circle of relatives,
find more disinterestedly affectionate hearts, whose wishes
seem to anticipate the slightest desire I may form.
This is not only sufficient to make me forget mishaps,
difficulties, and dangers, but would almost make me
forget those scenes where I imagined myself most happy,
and where my imagination and senses seemed to reap the
fullest and most unalloyed enjoyment.

CHAPTER V.

In the mid-days of Autumn, on their eves
The breath of winter coraes from far away.
And the sick west continually bereaves
Of some gold tinge, and plays a roundelay
Of death among the bushes and the leaves.
To make aU bare before he dares to stray.
From his north cavern.

A WEEK'S respite from the labours of my pilgrimage was
not to be grudged me after so many days' unbroken
activity. — During this interval, however, my acquaintance
with many objects in the vicinity of my retreat became
more complete, and every advantage was afforded me
of rendering it as much so as possible.
I made my second ascent of the Stockhorn, and
was fully remunerated, by the clearness of the weather,
for my former indifferent success. The botany of the
mountain had suffered from a twofold cause. The
inclemency of the days preceding my arrival, had
sprinkled all the heights above 5000 feet, with a
coating of snow, which had injured the blossoms of
many plants ; while the presence of the cattle on the
highest range of pastures was another cause of many
of the most beautiful among them having almost
vanished from the more fertile slopes of the mountain.
Of course all was grist that came to their mill, and the
poor illiterate animals had cropped, ruminated, and

134 THE NIESEN.
digested the rarest as well as the most common plants,
never dreaming that they were disappointing any living
creature by so doing.
The Niesen was the next mountain of any magnitude
which attracted my curiosity, and as I had no subse
quent opportunity of ascending it aga^n and again,
as was the case with that above-mentioned, I think it
deserves a few pages of description.
Its position has been already pointed out, as the termi
nation of a range of mountains running to the northward
from the central Alps. Though by no means the most
elevated in the chain, its position gives it a decided ad-
vantageas a point of observation ; and I donot remember
to have seen a mountain that can compare with it for
imposing form, and beautiful proportion, when seen
from the country about the lake of Thun, above
which it rises to the height of six thousand feet.'
Our party left Erlenbach for the Bourg of Wimmis,
at the foot of the mountain, some time after sunset
August Qnd; and the cool and still hours of the ensuing
night were spent in slowly ascending the deep ravine
between it and the flanks of the Bettfluh,* by the pale but
clear light of a waning moon.
I should not be doing justice to the fair sex in general,
if I did not make mention, that the difficulties of our
obscure and precipitous road were shared by my hostess
and two of her female friends, with a good humour,
patience, and perseverance, which might well put their
male attendants to the exercise of all the wit and
' The Niesen 7816 feet above thc Sea.
2 Bettfluh 8000. The Mannlifluh, in the centre of the chain, 8727.

THE NIESEN. 135
sprightiiness that nature had more sparingly bestowed
upon them.
Between two and three A. M. we bivouacked for half an
hour in an unoccupied chalet, situated on the slope of the
mountain, I would gladly give my reader an idea of the solemn
scenery of these elevated regions, during the calm hours
of a summer night. As to sounds they are but few, at
least when the air is still. The vicinity of Man, produc
tive in general of any thing but repose, has caused almost
profound silence to reign among these wilds, where once
the cautious tread of the bear rustled nightly among the
dry needles of the pine .forest, and the howl of the wolf
re-echoed from the waste. As I stood upon an elevated
knoll wide ofthe chalet, through whose interstices gleamed
the fire over which my companions were amusing them
selves, my ear was struck from time to time by an abrupt
and indistinct sound from the upper parts of the moun
tain ; probably caused by the crumbling rock, or the
fall of rubbish brought down by the cascades. An
equally dubious and sudden sound would occasionally
rise from the deep valley beneath ; but else nothing fell
upon the ear, but the monotonous murmur of the moun-
tain torrent working its way over stock and rock in the
depth of the ravine. The moon barely lighted up the
wide pastures sufficiently to distinguish their extent or
the objects sprinkled upon them. Here and there a tall
and barkless pine stood conspicuously forward on the
verge of the dark belt of forest, with its bleached trunk
and fantastic branches glistening in the moonshine.
The valley beneath was marked by the light haze
hovering over it, and across and above this the eye faintly

136 THE NIESEN,
caught the outline of the vast white precipices of the
Giinzenen, and the line of rocky summits in the neigh
bourhood of the Stockhorn.
As we proceeded, it often happened, that the irregular
eminences on the flanks ofthe mountain, which bordered
the comparatively narrow ravine, in which we were toiling,
diminished our field of view very considerably, as well as
cast our pathway into deep shade. This was particularly
the case about half an hour before the earliest dawn, when
we were near the head of the ravine, and ready to turn to
the left upon the open and steep side of the mountain.
However, just at this time some light and transparent
bodies of vapour began to float over the surface of the
mountains. These as they passed swiftly over our heads
threw into the deep dell a most singular and opportune
twilight, from the reflection of the silvery rays which the
moon still cast on them.
A second ch&let, high up on the side of the mountain,
received our party just as all objects began to emerge
from their obscurity, and the air to freshen with the
approaching sun-rise. We were here still nearly two
leagues from the summit ; and it was not till near six,
that all of us had gained the highest point. The sun had
then risen some degrees above the horizon.
Here we exulted in the splendid view displayed around
us. The steep apex of the Niesen overhangs a vast hollow
to the N, E, Over this we looked down upon the bourg
and castle of Wimmis, at the edge of that tract of broken
country through which the Simmen and the Kander work
their way from the mountains to their point of junction
with one another, and with the lake.
More to the right lay that diversified and smiling

THE NIESEN. 137
region which, for its fertility and beauty, was by old
writers termed La petite Bourgogne, with the castle of its
ancient capital, Spiez, The golden Court, glistening
on the edge of the lake which stretched in a curve from
N.E. E. to E.
Thence the eye followed the valley of the Aar from the
castle and town of Thun further and further into the
distance, beyond Berne, and over the Uchtland, lying
between the Alps and the Jura ; a cultivated tract of
country, containing innumerable villages and hamlets, up
to the very base of the latter range dividing Switzerland
from France.
But this wide vista, beautiful as it was, could not
long detain the eye from the other less smiling but
more magnificent parts of the panorama. Directly
to the N, W. rose the Stockhorn and his neighbours
glistening in the sunshine. To the right and left we saw
the vallies of Frutigen and the Simmen, with their two
offsets, the vallies of Kander and Diemtigen, stretching
like pieces of embroidered green velvet for leagues into
the mountains on either side.
In the direction of the lake of Brienz, a white body
of mist had arisen from the flanks of the mountain very
shortly after our arrival, and kept its position during the
whole two hours of our stay, though happily its marring
influence was confined to that quarter alone.
The opposite horizon to that of which I have been at
tempting to give a sketch, was fortunately unobstructed,'
Over the intermediate mountain-ridges and summits,
forming our middle ground to S,, S. E., and S,W,
soared the vast glaciers of the central chain, sparkling
in the white light of the newly-riseii sun. The

138 THE NIESEN.
Altels ' at the head ofthe Kanderthal, the Wild-Strubel,*!
at the junction of the range of the Niesen with the
main chain, the Blumlis-Alp, ^ with its long waste of
glaciers and singular Stock rising from their bosom,
the Jungfrau, and the two Eigers, were all particularly
imposing from their comparative proximity.
But now that I have dwelt upon the romance of the
scene, I should not omit to mention the accompanying
circumstances, in which there was none.
It was desperately cold, and on the summit itself the
east wind blew so keenly at intervals, that few of the
party had courage to buffet the breeze on that point
long together.
The temperature was indeed sufficiently cold to have
chilled any one's enthusiasm. It will be recollected, that
the preceding hours had been spent in exertion ; that our
feet and clothes were saturated with the dew, and that
especially the female part of our number were but little
accustomed to these nocturnal expeditions, A small
hut, or rather hovel of shingles, had been constructed
on the leeward side of the summit, and we had brought
with us the elements of a fire from the last chalet. This
of course was our withdrawing-room ; and 1 have
still before me the picture of the woe-be-gone interior
and its occupants. The fire would not burn, and the
shoes and flounces would not dry ; cold and fatigue
brought on drowsiness, and drowsiness entailed a lack
of wit, if not of good temper ; in short, there was an
' Altels 12,186 feet above the sea.
= Wild-Strubel 10,900.
3 Blumlis-Alj) 11,637.

THE NIESEN. 139,
inconceivable difference between the bright face of nature
without, and the pale faces and heavy eyes of the lords
and ladies of the creation within.
But another natural exhibition was still in reserve for
us, which made us forget the cold, and assemble once
more on the very highest point of the mountain. This was
the appearance of that beautiful phenomenon, the circular
iris, not unfrequently observed among the Alps, since the
ascent of the loftier ridges has become of more common
occurrence. A portion of the before-mentioned white
vapour was hurried by the wind from the east side of
the sharp point upon which one or two of us were stand
ing, into the hollow of the mountain to the westward,
and after some time became a tolerably dense body.
We found, that whenever it happened that the sun
shone brightly upon our backs, as we faced this vapour,
so that our shadows were faintly depicted upon it, the
circular iris was instantly formed round the head of
the figure. The brilliancy, and even the diameter of this
reflection, varied constantly, according as the rays of the
sun fell more or less vividly upon the mass, for small
portions of the mist were continually rising and inter
cepting his beams for an instant ; much also seemed to
depend upon the body of vapour upon which our shadow
was cast having a certain density. Once, and only once,
the -iris was doubled, all the elements necessary to its
production being unusually favourably disposed, it then
formed two complete and most brilliantly coloured con
centric circles. Of course, each individual had his own
exclusive iris, which moved as he moved, and remained
stationary when he did so ;; while it was quite invisible
to his neighbour. When the sun rose to such a height

140 THF, NIESEN.
above the horizon, as to make a renewal of this beautiful
and amusing exhibition hopeless, we commenced our
descent. I believe the whole party, without exception, hailed
the low shingle roof of the first chalet, on our downward
path, with considerable pleasure. It is situated on the
high and precipitous side of the mountain, near a strag
gling and weather-beaten group of pines, the very last
towards the summit.
Truly, however the mind may be animated with
enthusiasm for the wild and stern features of the
magnificent scenery of these mountains, and exult in the
peculiar feelings to which their contemplation may give
birth ; there is something in the approach to the neigh
bourhood of the rude but convenient homestead of the
hardy peasant, which, without destroying these feelings,
awakens others equally dear and cherished. — We feel
that— The shepherd and his cot
Are privileged inmates of deep solitude ;
Nor would the nicest anchorite exclude
A field or two of brighter green, or plot
Of tillage ground, that seemeth like a spot
Of stationary sunshine.-^
After a brief sojoum here, we continued our descent
into the long ravine between the Niesen and Bettfluh,
and passing through the same scenes by bright sunshine,
which some hours before we had scarcely discerned by
moonlight, we finally reached Wimmis about noon ; and
in the cool of the evening returned up the valley to our
quiet home.

ZWEYSIMMEN. 141
August Sth. — Six days had now elapsed since the
expedition last mentioned, and I was once again
equipped for a fresh departure. After lingering to
exchange still one more adieu at the wicket of the
garden, I put myself in motion, but instead of crossing
the church-yard, and descending the long flight of
covered steps, which forms an inclined bridge from the
knoll on which the church stands, over the gully of the
Wildebach to the village ; I turned short to the right,
and following a foot-way leading obliquely over the
hill-side, fell into the main road leading up the Sim
menthal. My purpose was now to retum to NeuchS.tel
by the circuitous route of the Vallais, the Great Saint
Bernard, Ch^mounix, Geneva, &c, A summons which
I had received, but a few days before, to repair to
Neuwied, on the Rhine, in the course of the ensuing
month, to meet with a near relative, rather limited me as
to time. However, as will be seen presently, two-thirds
of my intended route were left untrodden for the present.
My friend saw me on my way, in the good old-fashioned
style ; then bidding me Gluck zu ! left me in posses
sion of pole and pack, a bright morning, and clear
road, to my own fortune and meditations.
My fortune conducted me, without playing me any
left-handed trick, up and down over the diversified
ground forming the bottom of the valley, for five leagues
onward to the large village of Zweysimmen, in the
Ober Simmenthal, Here, instead of pursuing the course
of the Simmen towards the head of the valley, I turned
into the line of a small tributary stream of the same
name, flowing from the eastward, and traced it for several
miles to its head in the Saanen-mooser, a flat, spongy

!42 GSTEIG.
tract of country, among the mountains in that quarter.
After traversing this marsh, I descended to the valley
of Gstaad, upon the river Saanen, a few miles above the
bourg of Gessenay, and then turning to the southward,
followed a footway leading directly up to the foot of the
higher Alps, through the Gsteigthal, and arrived at
Gsteig, a small village situated close under the lofty and
precipitous Mittaghorn, and near the foot of the Sanetch
Pass, the most westerly of the Passes over the Berne Alps
to the Vallais, early in the evening. Here there was no
lack of accommodation at the Bear, The most con
spicuous figure in the armorial bearings of the canton,
is of course a favourite sign-post within its limits.
There is no wisdom in being nice and delicate with re
gard to the quality of refreshments in the mountains ;
and after a walk ofa dozen leagues without a halt one is
not inclined to be so in general. Nevertheless when my tea
made its appearance, I was constrained to entertain con
siderable doubts as to its authenticity. It was so utterly
different in its aspect from any thing I had been hitherto
accustomed to call by that name, either at home or
abroad, that I did not know what to make of it, I first
thought that it- might be peradventure camomile-tea,
then a certain detestable compound, a decoction from
all the herbs on the alps, called Schweitzer the ; but I
was mistaken in both surmises. The good wife, told
me it was Chinesesher the, (China tea) and as such I was
determined if possible to believe it, and, what was more,
to drink it. My thirst made it less a penance than I had
anticipated, in spite of its unpleasant colour, and yet
more unpleasant flavour. I found, however, its operation
in deranging the stomach uncommonly speedy, and had

GSTEIG. 143
to take a dose of Kirschwasser, as an antidote, I dis
covered subsequently that it was a mixture of saffron
leaves and tea, and a common and approved beverage
in this corner of the world ; so I bore my hostess no
grudge, as she gave me the best she had, and seemed
to have no suspicion that the coats of my stomach
were, or might be, less insensible than those of her
neighbours and her own.
The people who inhabit this retired valley speak
purer, and more pleasantly-sounded German, than the
inhabitants of any other part of Switzerland, as far as
I have heard ; and It may be here remarked, that the
language of the inhabitants of the mountain districts
is in general better and far less disagreeable than the
dialects of the cantons in the lower country,
I was happy to have it in my power to vary and to
render my evening here more entertaining and instructive
by a visit to the clergyman of the village to whom I had
an introductory note.
The pastor of an Oberland viUage is, as may be
supposed, in general the only man of liberal education
and pursuits in the parish. His situation, as to the
advantages of occasional society, are of course very
unequal, according to the particular position of his
cure, A few leagues may make all the difference between
a post, where, to a smiling and delightful country,
the vicinity of other parishes, and an open and unin
terrupted communication with the capital, may leave
but little necessity for self-denial ; and others where
there must be a superior and powerful stimulus for its
exertion. Many of the latter, situated in the higher and
more remote vallies of the Alps, under the shadow of the

144 GSTEIG.
mountains forming the central chain, where, according to
the saying ofthe country, the inhabitants enjoy niwe months'
winter and three months' cold sun (sonnesk'alte), are, by the
accumulation of the snows in winter, often cut off from
all facility of communication with the world below, for
many weeks together. There the good pastor may
remain for months, buried as it were with his flock ;
watching by day the red sunbeams shifting from peak to
peak, from one white and sparkling mass, high above
his head, to another, while the snows around his dwelling
are never enlivened by them ; and hearing by night the
wintery tempest howling among the precipices and ragged
pine forests ; while, hour by hour, the snow settles deeper
and deeper on his roof and ever and anon the crash
of the falling rock, or the thunder of the distant avalanche
swells the chorus of indescribable sounds which fill
the air.
But what matters it .' Is he a true soldier of Christ ?
Has he indeed given up his heart and his way to God,
to be made the instrument in his hand of temporal
guidance and spiritual support to his flock ? Here is
his post of honour ! He feels that to be cut off from the
rest of the world, is not to be cut off from the presence
and help of his Maker ; that, where his field of view and
of action is bounded, there his duty becomes more clearly
laid down ; that, where man is most impotent, there the
power and mercy of God is most evident ; and where
the creature is most humbled in the sense of his own
nothingness and dependence upon the Creator, it is there
that God manifests himself most clearly, as the Parent
and Preserver of all living,
I was welcomed with much kindness by the Rev.

GSTEIG. 145
Mr. G. His motives for contented activity in his secluded
parish are such as must win the esteem of all. Three fine
rosy-cheeked children, the co-operation and society of an
excellent wife, and a very well stocked library, are the
sources from which he draws his recreations and pleasures,
when unoccupied with the duties of his station. An
invitation to pass a few days with them was declined,
in consequence of supposing myself pressed for time ;
and, wishing to pass the Sanetch with the early
dawn, in case the morning should prove at all favour
able, I retired, at an early hour, to my inn. There I
should disturb no one by the unseasonableness of my
departure. The Mittaghorn, and high rocky summits in its
vicinity, abound with the chamois, I have often heard
their whistle, but have never been able, by the minutest
examination of the rocks, to discover the animal from
which it proceeded.
I believe bears have been almost entirely driven from
their former haunts in this chain. Nevertheless, every
now and then, a stranger comes on a reconnoitering
journey from the Vallais or Italian Alps, and, as might
be expected, seldom or never returns to tell his tale.
The moment he is discovered to be in the country, the
tocsin is sounded, and the poor fellow pays for his
restlessness or curiosity with his life.
Last winter, as Mr, G. informed me, one was observed
to be in the vicinity of Gsteig, by the ravages committed
on a flock of sheep ; and of course the hue and cry was
raised by the villagers. Unfortunately there happened
to be no snow, and it was no easy matter to light
upon his trail. After long search, however, a party

146 GSTEIG.
of the peasants thought they had discovered his footsteps
in a sandy pathway, and traced them into a forest to the
east of the village. In this was a deep gully, with a
cavity in the rocks at one side. While beating the
bushes, one of their number incautiously descended to
the bottom of the ravine, to drink at the stream running
down it. While he was busy, with his nose in the water,
the party above saw the bear make its appearance from
the rift just mentioned, and scramble down, with furious
haste towards the man, who was too busy to notice him.
They shouted, but the rush of the water prevented his
hearing them ; meanwhile no time was lost by the
assailant, who was not within shot, till he got too close to
the man to allow the carbine to be used with safety to their
companion. The peasant, having quenched his thirst,
raised himself up, and there stood Bruin ready to ad
minister that squeeze for which his species is celebrated.
The poor fellow, dreadfully shocked at the idea, and
giving himself up for lost, had nevertheless the good sense
to recollect that he had intended to shoot the bear. So,
without further ceremony, he fired his piece, but in
too great a hurry to take correct aim, for the bullet
whizzed over the bear's head, instead of through it.
Nevertheless, Bruin seemed not to relish the singeing
of his whiskers and turned tail, when a second shot, from
one of the party above, brought him down.
August Qth. — Between three and four, a.m. I rose, and
hastened to depart, as I had no firm faith in the signs
of the weather, and wished to cross the pass before I
should be prevented by the rain.
A few minutes' walk over the little plain forming the

THE SANETCH. 147
head ofthe Gsteigthal brought me to the steep break in
the breast of the mountain, down the lower part of which
the Saanen rushes, after leaping from the brow of a
precipice to the right, in two parallel slips of water
of considerable volume. In an hour and a half I had
climbed upon the head of the mountain, the passage
of the greater part of which is rather tedious, as its
breadth allows of no wide extent of view either to the
N, or S, The ground was covered with hoar-frost, and
the air so cold that I found it impossible to hold my
pencil. The mountains piled on either side of this pass are
of an unusually savage character, exhibiting for the most
part an undulatory surface of utterly barren rock, un
enlivened by a single green blade of any description.
Unfruitful solitudes, that seem to upbraid
The sun in heaven !
The Sanetch i pass, though long, steep, and tediovis, is
not dangerous, unless in very bad weather indeed. The
Rawyl, to the eastward, the intermediate pass between this
and the Gemmi, is at times frightfull}' so, and accidents
occur not unfrequently.
When I at length gained the ridge overhanging the
southern declivitjr, the clouds, .which had been dispersing
for the last half hour, interposed no screen whatever
between me and the noble view which there presented
itself. From the Cima di Jazi to Mont Blanc, all the
summits ofthe Italian Alps rose on the southern horizon
in unobscured majesty, Mont Cervin, was particularly
' Pass of the Sanetch 7500 feet above the sea.
L 2

148 THE VALLAIS.
conspicuous among the long range of glaciers by its
position exactly opposite me at the head ofthe Eringer-
thal. Of the whole length of the valley, from the
noble glacier Tourmente, at its upper extremity, to its
junction with the great valley of the Rhone, my position
commanded an entire view.
After descending for some time, I joined the Morge,
as it came tumbling sideways over an inclined bed
of shale, from the mountains to the east. My further
progress, for about three hours, offered nothing particu
larly worthy of note, except the views, which opened from
time to time into the Vallais, down the centre of which I
descried the Rhone, running like a long thread of silver,
A picturesque chapel stood at the termination of my
route down the savage defiles of the Morge ; and turning
the angle of the mountain to the left, I made my way
over the lower hills gradually toward the Rhone, and the
old town of Sion, lying at the foot of its trebly castellated
bills. It was not my plan to make any long sojourn'here, but,
descending to the outskirts, I turned aside, just as the
bell of the Jesuits' church tolled noon, into the vestibule
ofa little chapel without the walls, where the deep and
cool shade of an ancient lime afforded a luxurious retreat
from the power of a scorching sun.
After eight hours' uninterrupted march, I thought I
had earned half an hour's repose, and dozed away my
given time at full length upon the low wall, lulled rather
than disturbed by the buzz from the gate of the town,
and the hum of the insects among the foliage. However,
long before one o'clock I had resumed my burden, and
was once more tramping upon the white, even, and dusty

MARTIGNY. W.i
surface of my old ungracious acquaintance, the great road
ofthe Simplon,
I should vainly attempt to depict my state of feeling
some time after, when, having crossed the Rhone a few
miles below Sion, I came in sight of the tower of Martigny,
perched up at the extremity of a perfectly straight and
level line of road, stretching for above eight miles before
me. Even if I were to attempt and succeed in giving
a vivid sketch of my disgust and perplexity, while
marching for above two hours through a vile marsh with
this object always before me, I fear I should not meet
with much sympathy or compassion among my own coun
trymen at least. For I have seen with much pain, for some
years back, that our national taste in roads is generally
sacrificed to convenience, and that nobody will now-a-days
vote for a crooked road, however picturesque, when it
happens that a perfectly straight, one is practicable.
Added to the cause of ennui, and bad temper just
alluded to, there was yet another. Long before I reached
Martigny, I had ceased to be sanguine about the prose
cution of my proposed journey ; auguring no good from
the rising wind, which, as evening drew near, sung
fitfully and dolefully amongst the rushes and willows
which bordered the stagnant pools on either side of the
road. The utter darkness of the night which followed,
after I was housed at the Three Kings at Martigny, did
not mend my hopes. This portentous obscurity, however,
was not without a beacon ; for high on the side of the
mountain opposite my windows, some roods of the pine
forest were in conflagration, throwing deep red flame and
smoke far to the leeward.
All the evil omens were, alas, but too prophetic, Wheij

150 NEUCHATEL.
I left my apartment at five o'clock, (August 10th.) the day
seemed hardly to have dawned. The vast mountains, in
whose angle Martigny is situated, were cut nearly at their
base, by heavy grej' clouds, and before another hour had
elapsed, the tempest burst, and put an end for the pre
sent to my project of either visiting the Great Saint
Bernard or Chamounix.
Though so far disappointed, I did not remain in
Martigny to mope about it, but started shortly after for
the Pays de Vaud, and was rewarded in the sequel by
many a bright gleam of sunshine. The route by St,
Maurice, Bex, Villeneuve, and Vevay, to Lausanne, is
so well known to all the world, that there is no reason to
dwell upon its details here.
Like most travellers, whether pedestrians or not, I got
sprinkled with the spray of the Pissevache ; was challenged
by the douanier at the bridge of St, Maurice ; gazed
with delight upon the broad lake of Geneva ; quoted
Byron in the dungeon of Chillon ; thought of Rousseau
as I passed Clarens ; got miserably scorched in the road
among the vineyards from Vevay to Lausanne, and finally
execrated the bad paving and uneven streets of this
town, while my eye lingered with delight upon the mag
nificent view it commands. From hence au evening's
walk brought me to Yverdun, and the following morn
ing's by the shores of our blue lake, to my old and
agreeable quarters at Neuchfi.tel.
In this town I made but a brief stay at that time. The
rays of the sun falling full upon the rocky slope of the
Jura, where the trees and verdure, which no doubt once
softened their glare, have yielded place to the walled and

THE JURA. 151
arid vineyard, added to the glare from the lake, renders
Neuch&tel as hot as a stove during the summer months.
Accordingly all the Neuchatelois and Neuchateloises who
can (and that is a large proportion) retreat to their
country houses and farms, in some cool and sequestered
corner of the adjacent mountains, or take an airing at
the baths of the country for some months, till the town
becomes habitable again.
The town was just in this deserted state when I set
foot in it, and after spending a few days in the neigh
bourhood amongst those friends who hacl not retreated
beyond reach, I proceeded across the Jura towards the
northern frontier of Switzerland.
In spite of the tameness of its outline, the Jura is far
from being uninteresting, even while the magnificence
of its elder brethren the Alps is fresh upon the memory.
There are the traces of a wild and overwhelming convul
sion within its recesses, which almost surpass in kind any
thing that I have hitherto seen in the latter. The scenery
of those profound and savage defiles, where some undeter
mined and fierce engine of God's power has in ages past
ploughed deep and narrow chasms through the substance
of these mountains, from the ridge to their foundation, is
very peculiar and well worth a more detailed examination
than it is consistent with my plan to give them here.
Among these, that through which the Birse flows
towards Basle, generally known under the name of Moutier
Grand Val, is perhaps the most remarkable.
The traveller enters the valley of the Birse from Sonce-
boz, a village at the confines ofthe spacious Val St. Imier,
over a rocky ridge, and under the well known Pierre

152 VAL DE MOUTIER.
Pertuis, This remarkable rock was in all probability
perforated by the Romans, in the third centuiy, when
Aventicum and Augusta Rauracorum on the Rhine were
at the summit of their prosperity ; thus completing the
line of communication between the two, so temptingly
suggested by the two vallies of the Birse toward the north,
and the Suze towards the south.
The Jura consists of a number of interrupted and
parallel ranges, with intermediate vallies. Accordingly,
on descending from the ridge, on the top of which the
Pierre Pertuis is situated, the traveller enters the valley
between it and the next ridges of the chain more to the
north. After passing Court, a large village, the river Birse
turns abruptly towards the mountain, and enters the first
compartment of this wonderful defile. It appears to be a
groove or furrow driven through the very heart of the
chain. The convulsion which produced this has thrown
the strata of the mountain into eveiy possible state of
confusion, not only in the immediate vicinity, but in the
whole part of the ridge where it took place.
In the twilight at the bottom of this profound chasm
the river foams and murmurs over an uneven and
obstructed bed, while the eye looks up to one line of grev
precipices after another to many hundred feet above the
road. The pines which seize upou every tenable position
among the disjointed fragments, both in the depth of the
chasm and up the sides of the precipices, and hang
balanced in air, in positions where the eye can distinguish
no source of nutriment, add to the gloom of the com
pressed ravine.
At the village of Moutier you traverse another open

VAL DE MOUTIER. 153
valley, and then enter the second part of the defile, ter
minating at Courrendelin.
The third division into which you enter, after traversing
the plain of Dfilemont, though less savage than the pre
ceding parts, is still uncommonly romantic, and continues
for many leagues without any great break, till within a
few miles of Basle.
The latter part of this route is chequered by many a
delightful coup d'oeil breaking the uniformity of the long
horizontal lines of grey limestone rock, stained and
glazed by the calcareous matter exuding from their veins,
and the forest scenery which is sprinkled above and
below them, A ruined tower, or white chapel perched
upon the rocks ; patches of pasture-ground with cottages
seen half-way up the mountains ; hamlets, villages, and
mills upon the banks of the stream, often catch and
detain the eye. Even the two first wildest divisions of the
defile are not without their softenings, as in several of their
most secluded nooks, mills or forges are posted, and many
bold and well-constructed bridges span the boisterous
mountain torrent. The vicinity of Soyeres is peculiarly
delightful. But I did not mean to detain my reader
here. From the summit of a bold and trackless ridge which
I traversed on my route frora the forges of Reuchenette
on the Suze to Court in the valley of the Birse, to avoid
a long round which the regular road makes, by passing
Sonce-Boz, Pierre Pertuis, and Tavannes ; — I took my
last view for the present of the Alps. The sun had set
some short time before I gained the summit of the
ridge, and they appeared, a long, white and cold
range against the fading sky behind them. But I

154 VAL DE MOUTIER.
felt satisfied that I saw them once more, I will not
attempt to enter into a picture, or an analysis of that
species of clinging affection which it is possible for the
heart to feel towards objects of this nature ; and the
pain which steals over the spirit, when the idea intrudes,
that all things are uncertain on this earth, that what you
turn your back upon may never again come before the
ej'es : and though I intended to return again, and yct
once more, at least, feast my eyes and my imagination
with their beauty, and yet once again see the faces, and
hear the voices of those friends whom God had given me
in this land ; yet there was a possibility, if not a proba
bility, that I was now bidding all farewell.
When all had faded from the horizon, and the darkness
which was fast gathering round me, with the rising
blast which sighed dolefully among the pines scat
tered over the mountain side, warned me to think
of descending towards Court, whose lights I saw glim
mering from the deep valley beneath ; I turned once
more to the north, and pursued my way.
The recollection of the very suspicion and sensation of
doubt which had crossed my mind at that hour, added to
the feeling of pleasure and exultation, when one fresh
morning, someweeks after, the Alps once more appeared
upon the horizon. It was from the summit of one of the
multitude of hills, which compose the country generally
termed the Black Forest, situated between the villages
of Diybach and Fbrenbach, remarkable as giving birth
to the very remotest source of the Danube, which
' welled away ' a small and guggling spring from the
foot of the hill towards the distant town of Donaues-
chingen, where it first becomes dignified with the name

THE BLACK FOREST. 155
it bears through so many provinces, to its bourn in the
Black Sea,
The intermediate time had been strangely chequered
by equally unexpected disappointment and unexpected
pleasure ; alternate vexation and anxiety of mind, and
of surprize and complete contentment ; by circumstances,
in short, serving to show me more forcibly than ever, how
man proposes, and God disposes ; and to confirm my
belief in a particular providence. The details of these
events, however interesting to myself, would heire be out
of place.
At Drybach I left all the world busy in preparation
for the duties and pleasures of a Michaelmas fair, in
which straw manufacture seemed to be the staple
commodity. The country between this town and Fbrenbach is
very hilly, and a few outlines of its appearance, I
think may give a general idea of the aspect of this
district. The whole of the Black Forest, as far as
I have traversed it, consists of a jumble of roundish
hills, rising about 2000 feet, on an average, above
the Lake of Constance, and with deep sequestered
vallies between them. The pine forests to which the
country owes its popular name, are sprinkled in patches
of greater or less extent over its surface, sometimes cloth
ing the tops and sides of the mountain with a wide
and dismally unbroken mantle, and more often spot
ting the landscape in every direction with clumps of very
limited size, and of every possible figure. In the interior
of the country, there are but few vallies of considerable
extent ; but towards the Rhine there are several of great
length and beauty. The main portion of the face of the

166 SCHAFFHAUSEN,
country unoccupied by forest is of course pasture-land, and
there is great resemblance between the manners, domestic
arrangements, and cottage architecture ofthe inhabitants,
and the Swiss.
As I crossed the mountains between the villages just
mentioned, I met many straggling parties of the peasan
try repairing to the fair. The bright colours of the
female costume forms a singular contrast with the sombre
hues of the landscape. It consists of a straw hat dyed
of the brightest yellow, a short pink jacket over a scarlet
vest, a dark gown over a scarlet petticoat, and bright
scarlet stockings displayed to the knees. Their hair is
tied behind, and flaunted a yard and a-half in the rear, in
two long plaits intermingled with black ribbon. Many a
long league in the afternoon and eveningof this day, after
passing through Donaueschingen, brought me some time
after sunset to the first village over the frontier of the
grand Duchy of Baden, and into a corner of Switzerland.
The following days were spent in making my way
from Schaffhausen bj' way of Zurich, Baden, Arau, and
Soleure, to Neuch&tel, and of this, I offer no uninter
rupted detail, as I have nothing very novel to relate.
The hues of autumn were stealing over the landscape,
and though they added considerably to the beauties
of the fair and varied countiy through which I passed,
the season had its inconveniences ; shorter days and longer
nights, and what was still worse, the morning mists, which
generally accompany fine weather at this season. These
seldom dissipated before noon, and worked me no little
annoy. Then, to be sure, there was an increase of beauty.
As they vanished, and melted into the sky, and against
the mountain side, the sun glistened with tenfold

CASTLE OF HABSBURG. 157
brilliancy upon the damp surface of the landscape, and
sparkled upon millions of dew-drops on every bush.
If there be one spot, on my homeward route, which
claims « word in preference to any other, it must be the
old time-worn and weather-beaten castle of Habsburg.
Three powerful streams, the Aar, the Reuss, and the
Limmat, draining all the northern acclivities of the Alps
from the Pays de Vaud to the Grisons, form their triple
junction in a small plain in the heart of Argovie,
Between the two former, a little to the south of this point,
rise the grey walls of the monastery of Konigsfelden ;
and on a hill a mile or two further up the right bank
ofthe Aar, the castle of Habsburg, a rude and unsightly
stronghold, has peered over the foliage of the forest for
eight long and eventful centuries. It was built by a
grandson of Guntram ; a nobleman, who, driven from his
fair domains on the Rhine, took refuge in this part of
Helvetia, where he still possessed some small hereditary
estates. Its early possessors lived, like the other rapacious
and warlike nobles in their vicinity, upon the spoil and by
the oppression of the weaker, and trusted in the strength
of their castle and the hardihood of their character
for their existence. Assuredly, while gazing from this
commanding position upon the countiy beneath, and
lusting for this or that fair village or fertile tract upon its
surface, they never, in their wildest dream of ambition,
glanced at that pitch of greatness and dominion, which,
ere many generations, was to be the lot of their house.
While one noble and ancient line after another,
whose fame and prowess had been the theme from time
immemorial in this country, were quickly fading from
the face of the earth, leaving the perpetuation of their

158 CASTLE OF HABSBURG.
name and deeds to the genealogist or wandering minstrel ;
the house of Habsburg was gathering strength year by
year, and, in the time of the great Rudolph, rose to a
degree of stability and greatness, which it has maintained
through good and evil even to this day. At the birth of
Rudolph, every thing seemed to combine to clear the
theatre for the field of his action, Berthold, Count
of Zaeringen, of a powerful and ancient race, founder
of the city of Berne, died the same year, and was buried
with his shield and helmet as the last of his race.
The house of Lenzburg was no more, and their
possessions and influence had devolved to the Counts
of Kybourg. Ere many years, while Rudolph was yet
in his prime. Count Hartman, the last of this line,
was also consigned to the dust. Even where these
circumstances did not increase his extent of territory,
they never failed to augment his power and conse
quence ; so that, before the lapse of many years, from
the limited dominion of which he could see the whole
extent from the great hall of this castle, Rudolph
became the lord of extended territories, and finally
occupied the throne and crown of Charlemagne with
honour and dignity, for thirteen years before his death.
I have been in no edifice where the grey walls give
rise to an equally long and interesting train of historical
musing, as that which is excited in the Rittersaal, or
hall of the knights, in the castle of Habsburg.
In tracing the history of the family from the death
of Rudolph, the mind is soon led to a scene of
deep tragedy, and the place of its occurrence lies
before the eyes. Upon the spot where the high altar
ofthe convent of St. Clara at Konigsfelden is raised.

CASTLE OF HABSBURG. 159
expired the emperor Albert, under the weapon of his
kinsman. But this first scene of the tragedy is far
exceeded by the dreadful and vindictive retaliation upon
the supposed abettors of the conspiracy ; during which,
it is computed that upwards of 1000 men, women, and
children, were murdered by the sons and daughters
of the deceased monarch. Konigsfelden was founded
by the principal actress in this massacre, Agnes of
Hungary, and here she subsequently took up her abode
and occupied herself in the duties of her religion.
As I drew towards my journey's end, I found the
whole country busy with the vintage. The landscape
was every where checquered and enlivened by the active
figures and cheerful faces of the peasants and their
families ; and the diflerent operations connected with their
harvest, afforded me much amusement. The grapes are
here crushed by large mallets or pestles, immediately
after being taken from the rows and thrown into the tubs.
This is a cleanlier and more alluring, though perhaps
less ancient and poetical mode of proceeding (and cer
tainly less amusing) than that of treading the wine press,
which to my great astonishment, I saw literally performed
in open day-light, last autumn, near Basle. There, the
same end was brought about in the manner here
mentioned. At about the distance of every hundred
yards, as I suppose, opposite each peasant's vineyard,
two or three large tubs were placed, each surmounted by
a smaller, the bottom of which was perforated like a
strainer. Into the latter, the baskets of fruit were
emptied as they were brought from the rows ; good, bad,
and indifferent ; dust, stalks, and spiders ; while on them
stood an old woman or little boy, perched on high, with

1 60 NEUCHATEL.
bare legs and feet, stamping, and treading, and mashing
the contents, which came oozing out below into the
great tub, N'importe. — I am told the wine is just as
well flavoured and as pure the one way as the other ; and
it is my interest to think so : for it ill-becomes a pe
destrian to feel squeamish about any thing.

CHAPTER VL

For so it falls out
That what we have, we prize not to the worth
Whiles we enjoy it : but being lacked, and lost,
why then we rack the value ; then we find
The virtue that possession would not show u.s
Whiles it was ours.

It may have been observed that, during these wanderings,
I not only, as much as possible, avoided towns, but have
shunned the description of them whenever they may have
come in my way. For this, many reasons may be as
signed — one I will mention here. That very state
of mind and of outward equipment, that rendered me
capable of meeting all circumstances, when among the
wilds of the Alps, which not only made me the more
susceptible of every enjoyment, but indifferent or
superior to all the discomforts, privations, or even perils
of my solitary pathway ; these very things disqualified
me, in a measure, from entering upon the examination
of the abodes and of the works of man, with that spirit
and enthusiasm, without which little could be enjoyed at
the time by myself, and still less recorded by the
memory, for the amusement of others.
Man, and his works, were not, at that time, the objects
of my study or pursuit ; and though I took pleasure in
M

162 NEUCHATEL
them, as far as they formed a part of the delicious
pictures I had before me, I could not bring myself to
linger among them at that time more than was necessary.
I grudged every moment that robbed me of the contem
plation of those majestic scenes which were then within
my grasp, and, I did not know how soon, might pass
from my sight for ever.
Yet, now that the white Alps have long faded from my
horizon, and I have ceased to occupy a place in that little
world, in which it pleased God I should spend a portion
of my life, my heart tells me that there should be one
exception. At the end of October I had retumed from Berne and
the Oberland, whither I repaired again for a few days
subsequent to my journey through the N.E. of Switzer
land ; and now settled seriously and quietly down in my
old winter quarters and to my winter occupations at
Neuchatel, On my arrival the vintage was over ; and the vineyards,
lately the scene of so much life and gaiety, now lay
brown and unsightly, upon the flanks of the moun
tain and border of the lake. The forest trees in the
neighbourhood of the town, and the brush-wood on the
wide and steep acclivity of the Chaumont, were still
decked in that splendid but transient livery which one
frosty night's keen and motionless breath, or a few hours'
tempest, must strew on the earth.
There is something strangely moving in the few last
short and tranquil days of autumn, as they often inter
vene between a period of tempestuous weather and the
commencement of the frosts. The face of nature is still
sunny, and bright, and beautiful ; the forest still yields

NEUCHATEL. 163
its shade, and the sun glistens warm and clear upon the
flower and stained leaf.
Then there is the gorgeous autumnal sunset closing
the short day ; and, in this land of the lake and mountain,
it is indeed a scene of enchantment. There is the rich
tinge of the broad red sun, stealing over and blending the
thousand hues of the hill and forest ; and the flood
of glory upon the sky above and lake beneath ; while the
snows of the Alps are glowing like molten ore — I see it
still — audit warms my heart's blood.
A few more days, and then rises the blast, howling
through the pine forest, and over the mountain side ;
shaking from the tree its fair foliage, roughening the
surface of the lake, and drawing over the sky a
curtain of thick vapours, that narrows the horizon by
day, and shuts out the stars by night. And I too, however
unwillingly, must bid adieu for the present to the fairer
portions of the j^ear, to the songs of spring, the bright suns
of summer, and the fair but fleeting beauties of autumn.
I have done with wandering, for some pages to come ;
and though I may occasionally peep out of my quarters,
allured by a sunny day, or even undeterred by a stormy
one, in the quest of a little wholesome exercise, to get rid
of a trifling indisposition, or to shake from me a heavy
thought, and may perhaps give my reader a glimpse
of what meets my view, I could wish him to share the
quiet and the rest which this season of the year again
brought me.
Neuchitel is situated at the southern foot of the Jura,
on the margin of a lake of about eight leagues long, and
averaging two in breadth. It has often struck me as sin-
M 2

164 NEUCHATEL.
gular, that, search the whole northern shore of this lake,
and you will hardly find another spot, equally ill-suited
forthe position of a town. There is scarcely a point where
the mountains descend more abruptly to the water's edge ;
while, either to the rightor left, the country is comparatively
open, especially below Boudry, and beyond St. Blaise.
I am inclined to think, considering all circumstances,
that the site was determined in the same manner as that
of many other towns and villages, by the neighbourhood
of a castle ; and for the erection of such a structure,
especially in the middle ages, the chief requirements, as
far as locality is concemed, were, as may be readily
understood, facility of defence and difficulty of approach.
Nevertheless, however ill-calculated such a position
might be for the site of a town, when the strong-hold was
once there, there was always sufficient allurement in the
promise of protection or of gain which it held out, to
induce th(! inhabitants of the open country to flock by
degrees to its more immediate neighbourhood.
The Roman town of Noidolex is supposed to have been
situated a little more to the N. E. Here the lake has
encroached considerably on the former shore, and no
remnants of its existence are to be traced.
The present town principally occupies the slopes of
two hills. Between these the river Seyon issues into the
lake, from a narrow gully in which it runs for about a
mile, after passing from the Val de Ruz through the very
heart ofthe advanced ridge of the Jura, in the deep defiles
of Vallengin and Vaux-Seyon, The summit of the
western and larger eminence was occupied in the twelfth
centuiy by two convents and a castle. Of these no rem
nant is traceable, to my knowledge. The present church

NEUCHATEL. 165
and castle are erected on thcir site. The castle consists
ofa quadrangle of some antiquity, with other buildings
attached, ami, towards the north, directly overhangs the
deep gully of the Seyon.
The church is a large and handsome edifice, apparently
built at various times. The nave is the Gothic of the
fourteenth century, while the east end is allied in form
and detail to the singular style known in these countries
under the term Byzantine, from its eastern origin. It
is said to have been founded towards the end of the
twelfth century, on the ruins of a very ancient chapel
dedicated to the Virgin.
After the church and castle, three towers, of greater
or less antiquity, the Tour de Diesse, the Tour des
Prisons, and the Tour des Chavannes are the most
prominent and venerable objects.
I believe that, even within the memory of man, Neu-
cluitcl consisted solely of the buildings upon the steep
slope of the castle-hill, and on that of its neighbour,
including the space between them; that is tosay, ofthe
street called la Grande Rue, la Rue des Moulins, la Rue
du Chdteau, and la Rue dc.i Chavannes . the tower at the
upper extremity of the last mentioned forming the eastern
tiefeuce of the town. At that time the lake occupied
almost all the intermediate space. Little by little, how
ever, a large ixtcnt of ground has been rescued from its
\vaters, partly from the depositions of gravel and
earth brouglit down from the mountains by the Seyon
and left in the neighbourhood of its csUuuy, and
partly by driving piles into the lake, aiul fiUing
up the intervals. In this manner, tlie greater part
of tlie eastern and lower portions of the town, of its

166 NEUCHATEL.
fauxbourg and promenades, have been added, from time
to time.As to the buildings, there is nothing very remarkable
about them in general ; and, as I am not writing a guide
book I shall mention none, except casually.
Though the appearance of Neuchatel, at a distance,
cannot be said to be peculiarly striking, as the height
of the ridges immediately behind detract from the other
wise commanding appearance and position of the castle-
hill, yet it is far from being tame and uninteresting.
Nothing could exceed the general quiet and tranquillity
of this little town during the winter months. Frequently
one day after another passed over my head without my
attention being enticed away from my occupation, by any
sound betokening the neighbourhood of my fellow crea
tures. To be sure, one day in the week there was an extraor
dinary bustle upon the steps of the H6tel de Ville, near
which my quarters were situated ; from the numerous
members of Le grand conseil, distinguishable by their
swords and cloaks, repairing to or from their council :
and then, perchance, the town crier would, from time to
time, parade the quiet streets with his drum to announce
some article found, lost, or missing ; and I always noticed
that the less important the affair to be announced, the
heavier fell his blows during the prelude by which he
solicited attention.
The police was well-ordered, and peaceably inclined,
which is a matter of some consequence if they are to keep
the peace. The lower orders, as far as I could judge,
gave but little cause for their interference,
Thursday however, being the market day, never failed

NEUCHATEL. 167
to Ije an exception, and the racket, bustle, and crush
which distinguished it, formed a curious, and not
unamusing contrast, to the ordinary tranquillity just
alluded to.
By an early hour of the morning, the market-place,
and other more open parts of the town on the edge of the
lake, presented a very lively and bustling scene. Nume
rous boats crowded the little port, having for the most
part crossed the lake from the opposite shores of Freyberg
and Berne, which almost entirely supply the canton of
Neuchatel with vegetables and poultry. The groups
of peasantry thickened in the neighbourhood of the
landing place, with their burdens or articles of traffic
spread out before them. One part of the open area near
the port was allotted to the peasants of the Jura, who
descend the steep sides of the mountains with their rude
vehicles drawn by oxen, and supply the market with
beech and pine-fuel, charcoal, &c. The vociferation
of the buyers and sellers, and the lowing of the poor
oxen, to whom the termination of the first part of their
day's labour brought no relaxation from the heavy yoke
which fastened the heads of the couple immoveably toge
ther, predominated during the earlier part of the morning.
But as the day advanced, these sounds were invariably
overpowered by the pigSj whose unceasing cries and
screams of sorrow and perplexity, puzzled me not a little,
till I found out the cause, I never happened to buy a
pig myself, but I think I have seen many bought and
sold, and some few killed, before I quitted the north, I
do not recollect, however, that in the English markets
any particular kind of' pomp and circumstance' attends
the purchase ofa pig. As far as I can recollect the buyer

168 NEUCHATEL.
thumps it a little to see that the animal is solid, and the
seller pinches its ear or tail, to show that it has sound
lungs ; then a bargain is struck, and the purchaser con
veys it straightway to his home, and kills it privily or
publicly, just as it suits him.
But not so here. I had noticed that, some hours during
the middle of the day, the air was burdened with the
cries of this animal, with hardly a moment's intermission ;
and that these sounds proceeded from a certain Maison de
Peage not far from my dwelling. To unravel this mystery
I at length directed my steps to this building, and there
soon came fully to umlerstand the whole matter. Pigs
are here bought by the weight — that is part of the
mystery. Consequently all that are brought for sale,
whether big or little, are tugged off in full vigour to the
public scales, tumbled into them, and weighed before
purchased. Further, all animals of this species which
the pleasure of the possessor may consign to the knife,
are put to death in one and the same building, on the
border of the lake, by order of the magistrates. Both
these operations of killing and weighing are often carried
on together ; and it will be understood that of the two
animals, that which is only weighed screams much longer,
if not much louder, than the one whose last hour is
come. The din defies all description. Towards evening
the boats begin to leave the port, and to stretch for the
apposite shore, and little by little the town resumes its
tranquillity. Four times a year, fairs, each of several days' con
tinuance, are held, and, as might be supposed, these bring
bustle enough in their train. The centre of the market
place is then occupied by a double line of substantial

NEUCHATEL. 169
booths, erected for the purpose, and let out to the different
speculators, who flock in from every part of the neigh
bouring cantons. It appears that there is a class of
tradespeople, or rather pedlars on a large scale, who have
no fixed place of abode, but make the round of all the
fairs, and bring their ventures to each market in tum.
Amusing as a scene of this kind must be in any small
town, the generality of other Swiss fairs are infinitely
more striking and gay, from the prevalence of different
and peculiar costumes, which are but sparingly mingled
with the throng in Neuchatel. The canton itself has no
national costume.
One annual Festival of the citizens of Neuchatel
deserves a particular description, as it is of no ordinary
character ; and though I am unable to give any very
authentic history of its origin, it may possess interest
enough to excuse introduction here. It is termed La Fete
des Armurins ; and commonly takes place towards the
conclusion of the great November fair. I have heard
the following circumstances given as the cause of its
institution : that during the course of one ofthe Burgun
dian wars, anterior to that with Charles the Bold, the
burghers of Neuchatel were instrumental in detecting
a stratagem of the Burgundians to surprize and take
possession of the castle. The discovery was effected in
the following manner : though the Neuch&telois had
great objection to giving the troops of Burgundy entrance
into their town or castle, their enmity did not go so far
as to exclude the wines of that country, and on one
occasion a number of large puncheons were bought upon
the frontier, ^nd conveyed into the town and into the

170 NEUCHATEL.
castle-yard. It happened that there was a day-school at
that time within the walls of the fortress, for the edu
cation of the children of the burghers, and in the course
of the day some of the children playing in the open area
of the castle, were attracted to the hogsheads, by hearing
what seemed to be whispering ; the report spread, the
attention of the garrison was aroused, the puncheons
opened, and each found to contain a couple of Burgun
dian soldiers, who were to have acted during the following
night in concert with a concealed body of the enemy from
without, and opened the castle to them. It need scarce
be mentioned that the plan miscarried ; and the Counts
of Neuchatel in acknowledgement of the service rendered
by the children of their burghers, instituted this festival,
during the course of which the latter were permitted to
enter the castle in full armour, to receive the thanks ofthe
Castellan. This annual festival has survived the wreck
of the revolution, or rather, I should say, has been since
revived. The season of the year at which it takes place is the
most calculated to give effect to the pageant. After
various signs of preparation during the course ofthe day,
the inhabitants begin to collect gradually a few hours
after sunset, at all points from whence the procession may
be commanded, principally in the square before the
H6tel de Ville, and the castle-hill, the elevated area upon
which, in front of the church, overlooks the last stage
of the ascent, to the great entrance of the castle.
Between eight and nine in the evening the great doors
of the Hotel de Ville are thrown open, and the procession
defiles into the open square before it. After a small body
of gens d'armerie follow a long line of burghers, two

NEUCHATEL. 171
and two abreast, each preceded by a boy with cap and
feather, as torch-bearer. They are all clad in suits
of armour, of the ponderous construction of the times
of chivalry, and armed either with gigantic halberds, or
the great two-handed sword of the middle ages. They
pass through the various streets in the lower part of the
town, and then commence the steep ascent of the narrow
Rue du Chateau,
It is from the upper part of the town, especially from
the elevated area before the church, that the scene is the
most picturesque and imposing. It happened that at the
three several times I witnessed it, the weather was of the
same dull, still, autumnal character, neither moon nor
stars being visible ; but that kind of haze hung over the
landscape, which without obscuring objects, serves to
render a strong light of any description far more glaring
and widely spread than it would otherwise be. The
glare cast up from the lower part of the town as the
pageant moved slowly through the inferior streets, and
shining brightly against the eaves of the houses,
announced the gradual progress of the crowd.
By degrees, after long winding right and left, the
light from the numerous torches begins to glimmer upon
the leafless branches of the old trees before the church,
and upon the fagade and tower of the building, and
grows broader and redder, as they defile round the foun
tain at the corner of the Rue du Chateau, and pass
directly under the high walls facing the church-area.
Setting aside the peculiarity of the spectacle, which
cannot fail to bring to the remembrance many a page
of romance and history in which our boyhood delighted ;
there is another consideration which makes this display

172 NEUCHATEL.
and imitation of the pageants of old uncommonly
interesting. Most of the armour, and the weapons in
the hands of the burghers, have either been borne by the
ancestors of the men who wear them, in the cause of their
countiy, or been won from the enemy in the day of battle.
The victory over Charles the Bold, at Grandson,
yielded a large proportion of the suits still in use on this
occasion ; and many a bruise and dent, in both the
offensive and defensive weapons, bears witness of their
having seen hard service.
When the armed burghers and their retinue have entered
the archway, and formed in the quadrangle of the castle,
the governor comes forward, and a palaver ensues. A
short complimentary address is made by the spokesman
among the former, expressive of their loyalty to the
reigning family ; and the usual response made on the
part of the governor, giving assurance of the good will
of the prince, &c. They then give three cheers (but no
nation understands that art like the English), and send
about the goblet; the procession is once more put in
motion, and returns in the same order to the H6tel de
Ville, where the burghers disarm, banquet, and then
return to their respective homes.
Besides the church just mentioned, there is a se
cond in the lower part of the town, termed L' Eglise
en-Bas ; a spacious, but ungainly building, with no
pretensions to style, or architectural beauty or propor
tion, and of but comparatively recent erection. The
church government of the canton is quite separate from
that of any other part or community in Switzerland ;
and what is more singular and uncommon, entirely

NEUCHATEL. 173
independent of the government. The highest dignitary
of the church is the dean, who is at the same time the
president of the general conference, whereby all the
spiritual affairs of the canton are arranged.
The reformation was introduced into the country about
the year 1530, by the well-known William Farel, who
died in the year 1565, and lies buried here.
Amongst those, who since his time have distinguished
themselves among the clergy of this canton, is Pastor
Osterwald, a man whose works were better known in
England, and in Protestant Europe, a century ago,
than at present, and whose memory is justly venerated
by his countrymen, as one of those whose ministry was
blessed by God in a particular manner. He lived at a
peculiar time in the history of protestantism ; when
the sincere Christian of the day began to suspect that
something more than the external profession of orthodoxy
was necessary to the attainment of salvation, and to seek
eamestiy after it. To such, both in his own countiy,
and in England, where many of his works were printed
and published, he was avowedly useful. His edition
of the Bible, with introductory observations on each
chapter, and his Catechism are still in very extensive
circulation in many parts of France and Switzerland,
He died in 1747, aged eighty-four years, and was deeply
mourned for by the whole community, over which he had
been pastor for a period of nearly sixty-five years.
Other individuals among the Neuchatel clergy have
been more or less extensively known. I believe it may with
truth be said, that this province has never of late been
without a proportion of faithful pastors, who, in stillness
and obscurity, have acted up to their principles, and given

174 NEUCHATEL.
the best example to their flocks, both in doctrine and
practice. There is nothing very peculiar in the form of
public worship in Neuchatel, The clerical costume is
simply a black surplice and band. Nothing has struck me
more forcibly and more favourably in the discipline of the
church, than the extreme care and attention given by the
pastors in preparing and instructing the youth of both
sexes for the participation of the holy sacrament, and the
solemnity and importance given to the act of confirmation.
To the faithfulness and feeling with which this duty is per
formed, and the impression, often a lasting one, made
upon the candidates, I can, as a stranger, bear most decided
and willing testimony. Confirmation takes place but twice
a year. The interment of the dead is conducted with order
and every attention to decency : yet to one accus
tomed to the impressive accompaniment of a regular
burial service, it cannot but appear deficient in solemnity.
The bell tolls, and a funeral sermon is delivered in one
of the churches ; but the remains of the departed are
taken to the cemetery, which is some distance from the
town, and deposited without any service in the grave. I
believe the attendance of a clergyman is not even re
quired. This I could never get reconciled to. There
are but few Roman Catholics in the canton. When the
protestant form was adopted by the inhabitants of the
Principality in general, those of only two villages,
Cressier and Landeron, at the extremity of the canton,
adhered to the old faith, and do so to this day.
The govemment of the canton is, as may be supposed,
of a very mixed and singular form. The king of Prussia

NEUCHATEL. 175
as prince of Neuchatel and count of Vallengin, has a
resident governor at the castle, the nomination of the
mayor and of a resident chaplain. The governor may
be a Prussian, at the king's pleasure ; the two latter must
be natives of the canton. He has not the power of put
ting any foreigner in office in the country : and except the
presence of his governor, a yearly levy of a certain number
of men for military service at Berlin, and a few trifling-
imposts ; there are but few marks of his sovereignty.
As a member of the body of confederate cantons, the
Neuchatelois send a representative to the Diet. The
weightier processes are determined at general councils,
called Les Trois Etats, held periodically at Neuchatel
and Vallengin. The districts into which the open
country is divided, are governed for the time being by
bailiffs or chatellans, who decide all trifling causes. The
town itself has its Grand and Petit Conseil, the former
holding its sittings at the Hotel de Ville, under the
presidency of the mayor ; and the latter at the castle,
under that of the governor. The population of the
canton is computed at between fifty and sixty thousand,
of these one-fourth part, at least, are the descendants of
refugees or foreigners, settled in the country.
During the latter months of the year, the great roads
through the country, and the town itself, are rendered
more than usually lively, by the number of wains pass
ing from the French frontier to that of the canton of
Berne, at the Pont de Thiele, laden with the wines
of Lower Burgundy and the neighbouring departments.
Though free passage is given to these speculators, the
strictest watch is kept up by the police, that none of the

176 NEUCHATEL.
wine is unladen and disposed of in the canton; as that
would materially injure the sale of the wines of the
countiy, which, as it is, hang heavy enough upon the
proprietors of the vineyards.
The Burgundian carriers generally collect in a con
siderable body at Les Verrieres on the French frontier,
enter the canton with their train of waggons under the
surveillance of the police ; and proceed through the Val
de Travers to Brod, a small village at the crest of the
pass, over the advanced chain of the Jura. Here they are
obliged by law to pass the night, and to proceed the
following day down to the shores of the lake, through
Neuchatel, and to cross the frontiers at the Pont de Thiele
before sunset. The canton of Berne is at present the prin
cipal market for these wines, which are for the most part
vin ordinaire. These Burgundian waggoners are dis
tinguishable by their dark blue smock-frocks, and horse-
furniture. It is very enlivening to see their long train
moving up and down the rocky shores of the lake, and to
hear the continued jingle of their team-bells.
But I approach the close of the year ; a season which
cannot be described as possessing any very distinct
feature in this country, any more than our own. The
first winter I passed in Neuchatel, that of 1824-5, was
uncommonly mild, and so particularly free from thick
vapours or fogs, that there were but few days during the
course of it when the greater part of the chain of the
Alps was not to be descried from our shore, morning,
noon, or night.
This winter was distinguished by terrific storms in the
north of Europe, and vast quantities of rain must have

NEUCHATEL, 177
fallen at intervals both in the Jura and in the Alps, as all
the lakes at the foot of both chains were in the course
of the year more or less swollen, and poured their surplus
waters down into the low countries with such violence,
that for a considerable time we heard of little but devas
tation and disaster in the countries bordering the Rhine
and the Rhone. At this period the lakes of Neuchatel,
Morat, and Bienne, formed one wide extended and
irregular sheet of water, all the morasses lying be
tween them being covered. During the whole course
of the winter months, as far as I recollect, there was only
one short frost, with a single fall of snow.
The following year, 1 825-6, we had a winter of more
severity. The Bize, or N. E. wind set in early in Jan
uary, and prepared the way for a severe frost in the
course of the following month, which continued till
the surface of the lake exhibited a mass of irregular
and disjointed fields of ice. With the close of the
month, however, the winter seemed this year also to
have spent its force. During the early part of the
season the prevailing wind was that called the Vent,
from the S, W. a mild, steady, but strong wind ; and
towards the close, the Bize blew more or less violently',
almost without cessation. The former was generally
attended by an overcast and troubled sky ; it came
sweeping over the entire length of the lake, which, during
its continuance, put on its wildest and most imposing
appearance. One line of white breakers after another
might be descried in the distance, bearing past the head
land of Colombier, and advancing upon the moles and
quay of our little town ; and day and night their ceaseless
dash was heard against the piers and jetties, and the
N

178 NEUCHATEL.
splash of the water thrown high over the barriers erected
to withstand and repulse them. Still the Bize was the
wind which produced the most beautiful effect upon
both land and water, as it was usually accompanied
by unclouded skies, and bright clear atmosphere ; though
agitated, the lake was less turbulent, and nothing could
exceed the intensity of the blue which overspread the
whole body of water, or the sparkling brilliancy of the
little white breakers that wandered, and rose, and sunk,
and reappeared upon its agitated surface.
The depth of the lake of Neuchatel i varies greatly. It
is greatest off" the shore near Bevais, being upwards of 490
feet (82 fathom) ; off the mouth ofthe Reuse 71 fathom;
and generally speaking, the deep line runs very near the
Jura shore, Midway, the depth is comparatively incon
siderable, for instance, between Bevais and Portalban it
shallows to six fathoms.
The extreme rapidity with which this considerable
body of water is observed to rise in height after any
continuance of rainy weather, may appear rather sin
gular, considering the comparative insignificance of the
streams which give it its ostensible supply, — The Orbe,
the Reuse, the Seyon, and the Broye, are the only streams
of any volume falling into the lake, either from the side
of the Jura, or of the cantons of Freyberg and Berne,
The Thiele, it is true, is the only outlet, and it cannot
be disputed that this, though a deep and rapid stream
would be hardly sufficient to carry off the accumulation
of water, with rapidity proportioned to the visible means
of supply in very wet weather, though perfectly adequate
1 Lake of NeuchAtel, 1435 feet above the sea.

NEUCHATEL. 179
in ordinaiy seasons when the Seyon, for instance, becomes"
either nearly or quite dry. Yet even allowing that in very
wet weather, the influx is considerabl}' greater from these
streams than the volume carried off by the Thiele,
and that the general level of the lake will in conse
quence be raised ; yet I do not conceive it possible to
account for the uncommon and sudden rise of its
waters, if the agency of these feeders alone be taken into
account. Between the ISth of April and 25th of May 1824, the
lake rose four feet. After retiring by the end of Sep
tember to an ordinary level, it again rose four feet before
the end of the year. Itis always observed to rise much
more rapidly than to subside, whence there can be no
doubt ofthe much greater inlet than outlet.
I should be inclined to suspect that the lake is sup
plied principally by feeders under the general level of the
waters ; and there are many facts known relative to the
interior organization of the Jura which render this more
than probable. I believe it is understood that the whole
mass of high limestone mountains rising over the lakes
of Neuchatel and Bienne, contains numerous and vast
natural excavations, which form the reservoirs of all the
waters falling or springing in the higher ranges of the
chain, and their intermediate vallies. The streams of
these higher parts are always found to make their exit
below the surface ; and beside these facts, there are many
other phenomena known to occur from time to time
among the mountains, which prove beyond a doubt the
existence of such subterranean reservoirs. I might
offer many facts in proof of this, but none appear to me
more obviously clear than the simple result of an exami-
N 2

180 NEUCHATEL.
nation of the sources of most of the larger streams in the
countiy. They are chiefly found to burst out of the
rubbish at the foot ofthe higher and more central ridges
of the Jura, with a strength, clearness, and invariable
flow of current, which could never be the case if they were
not fed bjr the overflow of extensive reservoirs situated on
a higher level. Again, in rainy seasons the water is
observed in many instances to rise up in bubbling
fountains through the grass and rubbish in the bottom
of the combes, and torrents to rush out from the bowels
of the mountains. The surplus waters of many of these
caverns, in parts of the chain where their existence cannot
be doubted, from the fact of the waters on the surface
being precipitated into the bowels of the mountain, as at
La Brevine, Le Lode, La Chaux de Fonds, and in the Val
de Sagne, are ascertained with considerable certainty to
form the sources of many of the streams of the lower
country.'^ To return to the lake : I am inclined to look to this
peculiar interior organization of the mountains bordering
upon it, for a clue to the true causes of the extraordinary
rise of its waters, by favouring the introduction of vast

' In this manner it is probable that the waters of the tarns and
streamlets of La Clusatte, and La Brevine, after passing through the
caverns and interior channels of the mountains to a rauch lower level,
join with others to give rise to the sources of the Reuse in the defiles
of St. Sulpice : those in the Val de Sagne losing themselves in the earth
in the same manner, to form upon their re-appearance the torrent at
Noiraigue ; and I might mention those of Le Locle, and La Chaux des
Fonds, supposed to make their re-appearance near the Doubs ; — but
refer the reader to M. de Luc's Geological Travels in the Jura, for
better proofs than I can give, and for much more information.

NEUCHATEL. 181
supplies of water escaping from the base of the mountains
below its level.
The distant view ofthe Alps in the depth of winter —
when not only the glaciers, properly so called, but both
the main chain and the advanced and varied ran^e of the
o
Freyberg mountains are covered with snow to their very
base even at times when a comparatively open winter
leaves the rest of the landscape free from it — is at sunset,
especially from a point like that yielded by this town and
vicinity, one of the most glorious spectacles in nature.
During the course of the winter, I ordinarily set apart
one afternoon in the week for the purpose of taking a
stroll to one or other point of interest in the neigh
bourhood ; and to this end I generally made use of the
after part of the market-day. One principal reason for
this selection was, the life and interest thrown over the
road, the mountain paths, and the lake, by the groups
of market people returning from the town. The
direction of my stroll was commonly decided by the
weather. If it happened that it was stormy and tem
pestuous ; the deep longitudinal dells which furrow the
side ofthe mountain immediately over the town in three
elevated and distinct stages, afforded a sheltered and
diversified stroll. The second of these, the Pertuis du
Soc,i situated directly above the Fauxbourg is remarkably
beautiful. There the passenger might pause, or ramble
for several miles along the forest-path, unexposed to the
tempest of wind which agitates the tops of the trees,
showering down the withered bough, or the stiff brown
' Pertuis du Soc, about 428 feet above the town.

182 NEUCHATEL.
leaves of the oak, and howling among the pines that clothe
the ridges above him. Even in deep snow, the sledges
of the peasantry wore a commodious pathway along the
open roads, so that it seldom, or never occurred that the
roads were rendered impassable.
But the remembrance of this class of rambles must
give place to one connected with another state of the
atmosphere. When the sharpening air and reddening
sunlight gave token of a clear frosty sunset, I al
ways felt tempted to tum my steps up the Chaumont,
or highest ridge of the mountains at our back. The
footway up this mountain, runs diagonally over the steep
flanks, passing alternately the three just mentioned
sheltered breaks or dells in its breast. These are formed
by vast tabular masses of the limestone-strata having
slipped down over each other towards the hollow of the
lakes. Above these the main ridge of the mountain rises
to a great height, for the most part covered with a tall
brushwood, interspersed towards the summit by pines,
increasing in number and size ; here they continue
to intersect the pastures by patches of greater or less
magnitude. From the part of the ridge called the
Signal, elevated 2300 fieet above the town, the spec
tator looks down upon the whole extent of the noble
sheet of water stretching far to the S, W, and bounded
at the nearer extremity by the dark brown and level
line of morasses, extending in three divisions towards
Morat, Anet, and Landeron. Here and there, one or
other of the market-boats appears, a moving speck
upon its bosom, slowly advancing across the lake to the
opposite ports of Cudrefin or Portalban, or following the
bend of the nearer shore towards the village of St. Blaise.

NEUCHATEL. 183
To the right appears the town, with its castellated hill,
and busy little port ; and to the left, the villages of St.
Blaise, Marin, Thiele, and Landeron, &c. the latter on
the shore of the lake of Bienne. The latter, with the
island of St. Pierre, and the lake of Morat, are perfectly
distinguishable. Morat appears beyond the Vuilly, a
singular hill rising towards the N. E, extremity of the
lake of Neuchatel. Beyond all these intermediate objects,
and the wide stretch of varied country between the Jura
and the Alps, which, even in winter, preserves much
of the peculiarity of its character, though partially
covered with snow, from the broken and varied nature
of the ground and sprinkling of forest which covers
every height, it is needless to mention that the wide
horizon is formed by the long and glowing line of snow
mountains. These, as the beams of the setting sun
slowly retire from the intermediate country, glow with
a brightness and brilliancy of colour which no words
can describe, and no painting imitate.
Are they really belonging to this earth .'' is a thought
which has arisen to my lips, time after time, as 1 gazed
upon them, balanced, as it were, in the air — so distinct,
so bright, so beautiful, so exquisitely glorious, while
the rest of the earth lies enveloped in dusky and grey
obscurity. With the commencement of a new year, the inhabitants
of Neuchatel fall into their usual course of evening
parties and sociitis, which continue without any consid
erable break till Easter. These seem to supply the
necessary quantum of winter amusement in a general
way to the Neuchatelois, without there being much

184 NEUCHATEL.
desire for more public amusements ; and it speaks well
for the character of the people. The magistrates have
long denied their consent to public theatrical representa
tions, and thereby done themselves much credit, for, in a
small town like this, their influence could hardly fail
to be more than commonly pernicious.
A series of amateur concerts has been usually got up
during the first months of the year, by a number of the
gentlemen of the town and its vicinity, under the direc
tion of an associate of the King of Bavaria's chapel,
and afforded a source of much amusement to the
inhabitants. The mountaineers of the canton of Neuchatel have
long been renowned for their skill in mechanics, and
particularly in the manufacture of watches and mathe
matical-instruments. Of late years the canton has been able to boast some
of the best artists in Switzerland. The works of Lory
Max. de Meuron, Moritz, and d'Ostervald, are well
known to tourists, and each possesses his peculiar claims
to talent and excellence. Robert, a native of these
mountains, and a young artist of great genius, at
present at Rome, is becoming celebrated on the con
tinent. Many of his pictures are distinguished by
great originality of conception and truth of colouring.
It appears to me that the style and colouring of the Swiss
artists has hardly had justice done to it in England, I
would not pretend to maintain that Swiss views, magni
ficent as they are in themselves, are as well calculated,
with their freshness of tone, astonishing display of minute
detail, and often rude and harsh brilliancy of colouring,
to form fine pictures, as the mellowed and deep hues

NEUCHATEL. 185
and voluptuous outline of an Italian landscape ; yet this
I do maintain, that many of the works of the best class
of artists are faithful, spirited, and clever copies of the
natural features and peculiar tone of the region they
profess to represent, and as such have their value.
There is really but little to be remarked with regard
to the temper of the various classes of society. It has
seemed to me that the noblesse have in general more
aff'ection for that part of their government which is
monarchical, and the burghers to that which may be
called republican : the foitner priding themselves on
being Prussian subjects, and the latter members of the
Helvetic Confederacy.
The occupation of the majority of the lowest class
is the culture of the vineyards. They inhabit the Rue
des Chevannes and the parts adjacent at the back of the
town. Instances of the commission of serious crime are very
uncommon, and the regulations of the town are well cal
culated to prevent the frequent occurrence of minor
offences. Inebriety may be common, as elsewhere, but it does
not walk as often in open day, or startle the good Neu
chatelois from their first sleep so frequently as in most
other towns. Now and then, at the close of a market-day,
a straggler may be seen tacking slowly homewards, and
proving, by his frequent bewilderment, the potency of the
vin ordinaire of the canton, or the weakness of his own
head and struggle against temptation. In general, how
ever, I may assert, that I have seen more intoxication in
a single day in many an English town, than in six entire
months here.

186 NEUCHATEL.
The growth of wine, and the dull market for its ex
portation, entail one evil upon the canton and town,
that of every facility being given for the consumption
in the country itself. The consequence is, the authori
zation of a vast number of so-called pintes, where the
wine of the different vineyards is disposed of to the
lower classes. Still it is but justice to add that the
regulations to which these are subject are a great
check against their abuse. All pintes and cabarets,
being first emptied of the individuals sitting in them,
close at nine o'clock in the evening, when what may
be termed the curfew-bell tolls from the Tower of
Diesse, In speaking of the lower class of this town, I should
not omit to make mention of two important classes
of functionaries, formed among the female part of their
body, for the general convenience of the town at large —
I mean the blanchisseuses (the washerwomen), and the
repasseuses (the laundresses). The operations of the
first mentioned are carried on in all seasons upon
the beach, to the right of the Seyon and of the
pier which runs down the side of the river till its
stream comes into a more open part of the lake.
The shore here bends considerably off to the west,
forming a sloping, semicircular, and pebbly beach, sur
mounted by a promenade with limes and sycamores,
fronting the Grande Place de Marcht. Here they may
be seen, in fair weather, in summer and winter, from
moming to night, with their tubs, and lines, and linen,
I may mention what had drawn my attention to them
in particular. When, either from the state of the weather

NEUCHATEL. 187
or from settled occupation, but a few minutes in the
course of the day could be devoted to needful air and
exercise, the pier just mentioned offered a drj', airy, and
agreeable promenade. It commands a very fair view
of the town and its castle and church, with the Place
d' Armes on one side, and the little bay just mentioned,
with its groups of women, and clothes-lines pendant from
tree to tree. And from the very first day I made choice
of this for my brief quantum of exercise, to the very last
time I perambulated it from end to end, I never failed
to reap amusement, and to find a stimulus to my aston
ishment, from the continual and surprising hubbub of
voices, that rose from this legal field of female labour and
vociferation. I should never have had a true idea of the powers of the
female voice, or the strength and durability of female
lungs, if I had never had the opportunity of witnessing
the performance of the blanchisseuses of Neuchatel. And
when the wind was tempestuous, and set full upon the
shore, so that I was glad to button my coat up to my
throat, and take wary steps, lest a sudden gust might
drive me over the edge of my narrow path-way ; and
the lake was boiling and bursting incessantly on the
beach, and the boughs of the trees on the promenade
clashing and swaying to and fro, and the linen on
the lines fluttering and flapping in the gale, — instead
of holding their mouths shut to keep the wind out,
the zeal which filled the hearts of this bevy of fair
dames was such, that their shrill and powerful clack
always rose above all the tumult of sounds which filled
the air.
The other class do not, it is true, perform their duties

188 NEUCHATEL.
in public ; but I have been informed by more than one
mistress of a family, who, having just had her great wash,
had been compelled to employ each corps in turn ;
that the repasseuses are not a whit inferior to the other
body in strength of lungs and glibness of utterance ;
and that for the day of their sojoum in the premises,
any hope of quiet or of decent silence must be entirely
relinquished. As far as I can recollect, these two branches of the
community are the only ones which strike a stranger as
peculiar for their organization, appearance, manners, or
conduct. Perhaps I might still add the corps of watch
men, whose singularly lugubrious and mournful mode
of announcing the hours has made an impression on my
memory, which I shall hardly ever lose. Seek the whole
gamut through, you will scarcely find a set of sounds
more thoroughly disheartening and gloomy, than those
which have been chosen from time immemorial by this
worshipful and useful race of men, to give token of their
vigilance and the swift lapse of time. The deep and
sepulchral note breathed from the horn of the watchman
of many German towns for the same purpose is nothing
to it.
The vineyards occupy all the earthy slopes at the foot
of the Jura, and such parts of the mountain to a con
siderable height, as afford sufficient depth of rubbish to
give root to the vine. The class of lands, adapted by
their soil and position for this culture, are divided into
three divisions, the terres fortes producing the greatest
quantity, the terres moyennes yielding the best quality,
¦md the terres legeres. The vineyards are not measured

NEUCHATEL. 189
by the acre, but by the number of labourers required to
keep them in perfect cultivation ; and are valued di
versely, from 800 and even 1000 Swiss francs, to 150
francs per ouvrier. The labourers are also paid very
differently, according to the contract made with the
proprietor ; some by the day, the week, or the year,
others by a certain proportion of the produce of the
vintage, whether above or below an average crop. The
red wine of this canton, of the best growth, and of good
years, is an excellent Burgundy, and fetches a high
price. The first summer after my arrival in the country, the
metallic conductors termed paragreles, were almost
generally adopted in the vineyards of the canton ; and
placed at intervals throughout the whole tract bordering
the lake. The supposition was, that by acting upon,
and drawing off the electricity in the atmosphere, they
prevented the formation, and the consequent fall of hail
upon the part of the country where they were erected.
They consist of a tall pole, pointed with a metallic
spike, which communicated with the ground by a wire
running down one side.
During the first and second year, accidental circum
stances conspired to make the proprietors sanguine in
the hope, that the good effect, said to have been expe
rienced from their adoption in the Pays de Vaud and
elsewhere, by their warding off the hail accompanying
the thunder-storms passing over the countiy, would also
be experienced in this canton ; and I remember many
proofs were brought forward at the time, to show that
this was really the case, and that the hail was actually

1 90 NEUCHATEL.
observed to respect that part of the country which was
under the protection of these wands, and to fall elsewhere
in less favoured districts. But I am sorry to hear that
in subsequent years very great and even unusual devasta
tion has been caused by the hail in these very portions
of the canton ; so that it would appear, that these con
ductors are by no means to be considered as an infallible
preventive of the damage resulting from this species
of electric phenomena.
A short walk from the west gate of the town, following
the road to Boudry and Yverdun, lies the little village
of Serri^res. Arriving at this point, over the moderate
undulations which mark the inclined slope of the moun
tain towards the water, the stranger is surprised to find
himself at the brink of a profound but confined hollow,
running about a furlong into the breast of the acclivity
above him, and below terminating with the lake. Over
this the road is carried by a stone bridge of a single
arch. At the bottom of this dell rolls a strong and
powerful torrent, turning many mills, both above and
below the bridge, and soon ending its brief but vigorous
course by falling into the lake. This is one of the
most remarkable streams of the singular class be
fore alluded to. Its visible source is at the extremity
of this dell, certainly not ten minutes' walk from the
lake. There the water bubbles up from the earth in
many distinct jets, covering several square yards of the
bottom, and flowing off with a strength sufficient to tum
a mill within a couple of hundred yards of its first
appearance. Nothing is known as to the earlier course
of this stream in the mountains above, or from what
source it gets its never-failing supply.

NEUCHATEL. 191
M. de Luc and others have entertained the idea that
there was a connection between it and a torrent, now and
then bursting out of the mountain side, near St. Martin,
in the Val de Ruz, many leagues higher up the country.
Of this I shall speak in another place.
On the brink of this remarkable dell stands the
beautifully situated Chateau of Beau Regard ; and
above it, the hill-side swells into a knoll of considerable
elevation, planted with fir, from which I think the eye
commands one of. the most enchanting views of the
neighbourhood, Sunday, the day of rest, possessed many distinguish
ing features in this canton, to a much greater degree
than in most of the Protestant towns in Germany, where,
except in the short interval of moming worship, trade
and shopping may go on much as usual. Here no
such thing is permitted ; and, during divine worship,
the town is kept perfectly quiet by the barriers being
closed, and no vehicles being allowed to pass through
the streets. Both the high church, and that in the
lower part of the town are made use of at different times
in the course of the forenoon and afternoon for public wor
ship. The moming service is in the former, and consists,
as in the Protestant church of Berne, of a short service
and sermon.
The organs of both churches are large and good,
especially that in the lower one. The style of psalmody
resembles in some respect that of the kirk of Scotland,
excepting the accompaniment. In Neuchatel this part
of the service is well conducted, but in many of the sur
rounding villages, the singing might vie with that of many

192 NEUCHATEL.
village churches in England, for want of harmony and
taste, I could mention two or three villages where the grievous
nature of the psalmody defies all description, and yet I
was often assured that it had changed vastly for the
better within a few years before my abode in the canton.
In illustration of this, I was informed, that on one
occasion, a stranger like myself making his appearance
in the church, the clerk or some other individual of the
congregation, was so far conscious of the peculiar nature
of the village singing, and so considerate of the nerves
ofthe stranger, that stepping up to him just as they were
going to strike up, he whispered in Swiss German, Seyd
ihr nut erschrokke, wir werde bald singe, which answers
in English to ' Dont be frightened out of your wits, we
are going to sing.'
In addition to the terms cure and vicaire, the former
of which corresponds to our vicar, and the latter to our
curate, I cannot avoid mentioning that the common
people of this neighbourhood have a term to designate a
still lower degree of ecclesiastical honour. It happens
that the curate may be now and then assisted in his
duties by a young candidate for the ministry, or proposant,
as they are properly termed. To this class the common
people have whimsically enough given the name of
L'apotre-: and though I do not understand that any
ridicule is implied by it, I must own I do not think that
any increase of respect is attached to the designation ; for
to a question put to one of the peasants as to the rank
of the preacher, it is not unusual to get for answer, II
n'est qu 'Aj>6tre !
Not far from the Pont de Thiele, about five miles

NEUCHATEL. 193
distant from Neuchatel, on the route towards Berne, lies
the Chateau of Montmirail, formerly the property of a
branch of the noble family of de Watteville. It has
since been transferred to the church of the United Bre
thren (or Moravians) , who have here a large and flourish
ing establishment for the education of females.
As the members of that church residing here are far
removed from any regular settlement of the Brethren, they
conform to the ritual and services of the church of the
canton in which they are situated, and attend the
parish church at Cornaux, about two miles distant.
There is always however a clergyman of the Brethren's
church resident in the chateau, who superintends the in
stitution, and instructs the young people in the doctrines
and practice of Christianity.
This is one of those bright spots, which, in looking
back as I often do to the scenes of past days, are as the
beacons that yield my memory the light to trace the
events of many a day, and the thoughts of many an hour,
else disposed to fade from the recollection : in thinking
and in writing of which, I must bridle my feelings and
my pen, because no individual would do either well or
wisely to protrude his feelings and sympathies before
an indifferent reader.
The view of the Alps from this end of the lake, though
essentially the same as that from Neuchatel, is in one
point at least yet more splendid. The Jungfrau and the
Eigers which are from all points the fairest portion of
the panorama, from their comparative exquisite outline
and proximity, are seen from Montmirail to yet more
advantage than from Neuchitel, where higher portions
of the opposite shore obstruct the view in some measure.
o

191 NEUCHATEL.
Here, the level middle ground afforded by the raarshes
allows of an unobstructed view even to their base.
How often, and with what unabated admiration have I
watched the progres.s of that brief but exquisite half-
hour at the close of day, when, at the same time that the
glooms of coming night were fast gathering in the broken
countiy to the north and east, and the twilight creeping
up the steep escarpment of the Jura ; the golden sun
still blazed upon the sides and snowy scalps of the Alps
before us, soaring in such splendid distinctness above the
shadows thickening round their bases. And even long
after the last red gleam had ceased to paint the peaks
of the Finster-aarhom among the Berne Alps, and
the whole of the landscape to the eastward had become
blended into one indistinct and fading mass, the eye
still rested upon the broad head of Mont Blanc, gleaming
like a watch tower above the southem horizon, from a
distance of a hundred miles. Still later, when the full
round moon rising over the Jolimont, and throwing its
calm light upon the extremity of the lake, and the still
and treacherous Thiele, (which passes at the edge of the
morass below the chateau), afforded me the promise of a
cheerful road homewards, it was my custom to com
mence my retum to my quarters.
The details of that line of road I may well remember,
for, during the whole course of my abode in Neuchatel,
I scarcely ever omitted taking it as my Sunday after
noon's journey, after attending the morning service in
the High Church, and returning by it in the evening.
On that solitary road I have witnessed many a
glorious display of the beauty, majesty, and grandeur
with which God has decked this earth, both by day and

NEUCHATEL. 195
night. The gorgeous sunset — the silver moon shedding
its tranquil beams on the lake and mountain — the clear,
sparkling starlight-heaven, with the occasional gleam
of the passing meteor darting across it — the snow storm —
the fearful tempest sailing in the twilight over the dar
kened country, its strange and awful shades shifting on
the surface of the water — and the bitter winter's gale,
when the Bize noire covered the lake with dense fog, out
of which the dim and swollen surge came heaving on to
the frozen beach — to such scenes the memory must long
remain faithful.
At St, Blaise, a considerable village between Mont
mirail and Neuchatel, the shore trends considerably to
the S, E, and, in consequence, a large tract of open
country intervenes between the lower end of the lake and
the foot of the Jura, In this interval lie six or seven
villages and hamlets, besides Montmirail and Cornaux
already mentioned. Landeron and Cressier the two
Roman Catholic villages of the canton are both upon the
edge of this open tract. The church of the latter is
exquisitely situated, on a knoll at the termination of a
long wooded defile passing through the rocky eminences
at the back, towards the open country.
In the winter of 1824-5, alluded to in the first chapter
of these sketches, it was difficult to determine if there
were really an interval of any duration, between the last
protracted signs of autumn, and the earliest indications
of the approach of spring. For, I remeraber, that far in
December, I still saw the pale flowers of the wood pink,
(Dianthus sylvestris,) and the gentian (Gentiana ciliata)
gemming the moist borders of the forests ; and on one of
o 2

196 NEUCHATEL.
the earliest days in January, I plucked the first sweet-
scented violets from a sheltered situation, as the delight
ful harbingers of the swift advance of a reviving season.
The greater severity of the second winter, [that whose
blank this chapter is properly designed to fill up), did
not afford an opportunity of observing this in the same
remarkable degree : yet, no sooner had the violence of
our February's frost and snow-storm subsided, and the
earth began to loosen in the succeeding thaws, than the
signs and promises of an early spring were perceivable
on every side.
The first breaking up of the frosts is perhaps the most
disagreeable period in the whole circle of the seasons,
accompanied, as it frequently is, by windy and rainy
weather. While the surface of the ground is soft and
wet, the frost still reigns below, and forms a crust through
which none of the water floating on the surface can
sink into its natural channels,
I often pitied the market people, who, after a grievous
tossing on the surface of the lake, came to post themselves
in the wet and comfortless streets ; whence, after a heavy
drenching, and probably a bad market, they betook
themselves again to their boats, to row for their lives, in
the twilight, to the opposite shore. Then there were the
oxen with the heavy yoke on their horns, lying upon the
street, while the stream rippled hour after hour against
their sides : it even appeared to me that the porkers sung
in a more melancholy key during a thaw, than at
other times.
The only part of the animate creation that really seemed
to consider this kind of weather as provided for their
benefit and enjoyment, were the mews, a race of birds

NEUCHATEL. 197
attached to the lake, of which I must therefore make
mention. Some hundreds of this species seemed to con
sider our portion of the shore as their provision ground ;
for, after watching them very narrowly, I could never
find that they built their nests on this side. I think that
the steep, soft, and sandy line of beach on the opposite
shore contains their habitations. However, it matters little
where they nestled, I know well where they fed. The
slaughter-house of the town is situated on the Pont des
Boucheries over the Seyon, and, as may be readily sup
posed, the point where that river issues into the lake was
the favourite resort of this little carnivorous tribe. A
thaw brought down a heavier body of water through the
river, and consequently a larger andmore speedy supply
of tit-bits for their entertainment was carried into the
lake ; and the more impetuous the flood, the greater
seemed to be their enjoyment..
When the lake was in the greatest agitation, assaulting
the sides ofthe pier, and leaping incessantly over its ter
mination ; and the Seyon swept along with a swollen and
turbid current, which might be traced by its colour far
out into the blue reservoir ;— then some hundreds of
these birds might be seen in constant motion on the
surface of the water just beyond the pier; hovering, and
sailing, and dipping, and tacking to and fro in the air,
with ready claws and eager beak, prompt to dart upon
their food as soon as descried. It was really beautiful to
see their grace and agility, as they swayed backwards
and forwards on the wind, in unison with the rocking
wave, with their glistening black eye intent upon the
water. When they discovered their prey, a sudden swoop
and an instant's flutter on the surface, brought the object

198 NEUCHATEL.
within their power. This species resembles the sea-mew
in every respect except size. At night-fall they all vanished
from our line of coast, as though by enchantment.
But to return to the season, A few days passed over
— no sooner had the thaw becorae really effective, and
the ground freed frora the superabundance of moisture,
and the sun able to evince his increase of power by the
dispersion of the vapours, than the whole spirit of the
scene, and the feeling throughout both animate and
inanimate nature, seemed to undergo a sudden and total
change. If no very severe check occurred from morning frosts,
a few weeks strewed the open spots in the woods with
thousands of hepatica, (Anemone hepatica) ; the broken
rocky ground near Cornaux put forth its profusion of the
Scilla hifolia, and the drip white Leucojum vernum ; and
the woolly ca\vs. ofthe Anemone pulsatilla appeared on the
rocks impending over the Vallengines, I could go on
leaf after leaf to detail the gradual development of the
numberless beauties of this season and country, but must
not multiply pictures, as, before I turn my steps and
observation towards the Alps again, there are several
points in this canton which should be adverted to.
Following the line of the Chaumont, to the north-east,
the eye is soon arrested by the long elevated ridge of the
Chasseral, ' soaring over the lake of Bienne, to the height
of 3860 feet. On the north side of this mountain lie the
sources of the Seyon, and in following the course of
this river the traveller is conducted to the back of the
' Chasseral, 5295 feet ahovc the sea.

VAL DIo RUZ. 199
Chaumont, and its adjoining ridges, to the fair and
spacious Val de Ruz, without exception the most fertile
tract of cultivated land in this portion of the Jura.
Through the greater portion of this valley the river
passes before entering the deep defiles of Vallengin at
the back of Neuchatel.
The Val de Ruz contains upwards of twenty larger
and smaller villages, besides the small town and castle of
Vallengin. It is surrounded on all sides by the ridges
of the Jura. In the range opposite the pass of the
Seyon at Vallengin, the T6te de Rang i rises upwards
of 3000 feet above the lake of Neuchatel.
Vallengin was at onetime a place of considerable strength
and consequence, and the capital of a territory perfectly
distinct from that of Neuchatel. The castle is used as a
prison and court-house, and though the [)rincipal build
ings are comparatively modern, there are portions of an
erection of old date still remaining.
While speaking of this vale, I should not omit to refer
again to the torrent of St. Martin, situated near the
village of that name, in the higher extremity of the
valley. This is an intermittent stream, of great strength
and volume, which every now and then bursts out of the
side of the mountain at the back ; fills a bed of consider
able width and depth, for a longer or shorter period, and
then gradually fails and ceases to run. Its irruption
commonly takes place after great rains, or on a sudden
melting of the snows, and rarely occurs more than twice
a-year. Sometimes entire years elapse without its
re-appearance. For a very ingenious and amusing des-
' Tfite de Rang, 4682 feet.

200 LES VALLENGINES.
cription and sol ution of this phenomenoii, I should refer
the reader to M de Luc's observations, in the 99th and
following sections of the first volume of his Geological
Travels in France, Switzerland, and Germany, Though
I was several times at St. Martin, I never had the good
fortune to see the torrent in a state of irruption. The
appearance of the water-course which it has forraed
indicate the long intervals that elapse between its
visits. The passage of the Seyon, from Vallengin 1 to Vaux
Seyon, is one of the most singular of the many remarkable
scenes of this kind found among the Jura. After flowing,
as j ust mentioned, through the main portion of the Val
de Ruz, it turns short, after passing Vallengin, and
enters the narrow and profound cleft, which some mighty
force has here produced, through the heart of the ad
vanced chain separating the Val de Ruz from the lake,
and runs deeper and deeper through its recesses, till it
escapes into the open day-light again, at the opposite
flank of the mountain. It then turns at right angles to
the line of its previous course, and forcing a passage
through a short collateral valley almost parallel
with the shore, escapes round the foot of the castle
hill, and through the town into the lake. The high
road from Vallengin to Neuchatel runs over a shoulder
of the mountain, above the rocks on the east of this
profound chasm,
I was once tempted, with a companion, to adventure
the passage of the defile in the bed of the river, and
succeeded in diving through the whole length of that
savage recess. This portion of its course cannot be, I
1 Town of Vallengin, 2140 feet above the sea, and 700 above the lake.

LES VALLENGINES. 201
think, raore than between two and three miles ; but such
were the obstacles thrown in the way of our progress, by
huge fragments of rock which every where obstructed
the passage, the deep and dark pools among them, and
the tangled rock and forest that choked up every wider
part of its course, that the same number of hours were
hardly sufficient for the completion of our task.
There, however, we saw many a choice and beautiful
patch of the wildest mountain scenery. It was a bright
evening towards the end of May, and nothing could
exceed the freshness of the tints of the forest trees and
brushwood, that rose in and about the hollow, wherever
a break in the rocks afforded place and depth of soil ;
or the mellowed light reflected upon the smooth surface
of grey rock, from the blue sky and the clouds sailing
over us.
There was one point in this gulf, where we felt our
fancy roused by rather a singular circumstance. In a
gloomy covert, in the very deepest recess of this solitary
and untrodden pass, where, surrounded by the most wild
and savage scenery, our eyes only diverted to the different
forms and groupings of the rock, the foaming stream, the
pool and the forest, or to the clouds flitting over the
narrow slip of blue above our heads; where, except the
trout in the stream, and the falcon, whose cry we heard
from tirae to time among the rocks, we saw or heard no
trace of any living thing, — our attention was suddenly
arrested by the remains of a rude hovel constructed
among the brushwood.
Though evidently long deserted, the first glance at its
construction tended to convince us both that it had been
posted in this solitude for the purpose of concealment ;

202 VAL DE TRAVERS.
and by a being driven to the depth of misery : a fugitive,
an outlaw, perhaps a criminal. It was coraposed entirely
of branches and brushwood, and rested principally
upon the steras of two or three large trees, which there
found root between the stream and the rock. Against
the latter were the marks of fire. From this point a thin
wreath of smoke might rise without any danger of its
being seen in the first period of its assent, and would be
entirely dissipated before it could reach a height to be
visible from the mountain road above,
I could get no clue at Neuchatel, as to the individual
who might have been the inmate, though our discovery
was considered a singular one.
The passage of this gorge, in wet weather would be an
utter impossibility. This fracture, through the whole
mass of the chain is well suited for the purposes of the
geologist, and affords the best opportunity of studying the
formation of this singular ridge.
One very peculiar feature of these raountains is the
immense boulder-stones of primitive rock, spread in every
direction over their surface. They are most commonly
gneiss and granite, and occur every where in the forests
and on the slopes near Neuchatel. One of those in the
forest, at Pierre k Bot, a farm several hundred feet above
the lake, and directly behind the town, is, I believe,
considered the largest in the range, containing above
14,000 square feet of solid stone in the portion above the
surface of the ground.
Two several roads leave the western gate of Neuchatel.
The lower keeps near the surface of the lake, and at
the base of the mountains, and passes through the prin
cipal villages on the N. W. shore to Yverdun, at the

VAL DE TRAVERS 203
further extremity. The upper runs higher and higher
up the country, branching off to the superior vallies
ofthe Jura, on the one hand, and, on the other, through
the Valde Travers into Franche Compte,
The road first mentioned passes many points of interest ;
none more so than the hallowed field and grey turretted
keep of the castle of Grandson ; but the other being far
less known, and at the same time more romantic, I
prefer occupying a few pages with a description of its
principal features.
In the view to the S, W, of Neuchatel, the object
which immediately arrests the attention as the raost
striking and unusual feature, is the vast break in the
outline of the Jura, between the mountains of Boudry
and La Tourne, forming the entrance into the Val de
Travers, From the long low headland which stretches
far into the lake below Boudry, the country is seen to
sweep upwards for many miles to the base of these two
mountains, each of which is near 2800 feet above the lake.
The road from Neuchatel passes through the villages
of Peseux and Corscelles, and afterwards ascends through
the forests over the undulating surface of the country to
the village of Rochefort at the foot of La Tourne.
From this point it cuts across a large rocky buttress
resting against the southem angle of the mountain, and,
turning the corner, approaches the brink of the hollow.
The traveller here finds himself on a ledge half-way up
the steep, overlooking a defile of great breadth and depth,
at the bottom of which the river Reuse flows, in a
deep, narrow and tortuous channel, towards the low
country. The opposite raountain of Boudry presents to
the defile a long line of rocky heights, bare and rugged

204 VAL DE TRAVERS.
towards the top, but feathered lower down with pine
forests. On the wooded summit of the rocky projection just
mentioned, as attached to the angle of La Tourne,^ stood
in olden time the castle of the Barons of Rochefort,
commanding this important passage into Prance. Their
fame, as far as I can leam, was but indifferently acquired
and maintained, by the continual robberies of the pas
sengers, and the imposts levied upon the richer and
more powerful subjects traversing the raountains ; till
their constant depredations brought down upon them the
vengeance of the neighbouring nobles, who took and
demolished their castle. Its situation was worthy of a
castle of the old times of chivalry and romance. Over
the slopes of this hill, and through the entrance of the
deeper parts of the defile, appear a portion of the lower
country, the lake, and the chain of Alps on the horizon.
Up the gorge, the view is bounded at several miles
distance by a turn of the valley to the right beyond the
haralet of Brod,^ and the eye rests upon the Creux du
Vent,3 and its vast crater, rising above the forests. The
whole line of route from this point to Brod, about three
miles distant, affords a series of views in which the
objects just enumerated appear by turns more or less
prominent, according to the change of place, or the
position of the traveller, alternately ascending the ridges
on the side of the mountain, or dipping into the woody
hollows between them. Near the hamlet, the road
' La Tourne, 4250 feet,
¦ The Hamlet of Brod, 2810 feet above the sea.
3 Creux du Vent, 4800 above the sea.

THE CREUX DU VENT, 205
attains its highest point of elevation, of about 1400 feet
above the lake ; and from thence descends the steep side
of the Clusette, into the Val de Travers.
The Creux du Vent, exactly opposite which Brod is
situated, is too remarkable a feature in a sketch of this por
tion ofthe Jura, to be passed over with the mere notice of
its name and situation. The broad and spacious head of the
mountain rising 3400 feet above the lake appears hollowed
out into a vast and profound cavity upwards of 500 feet
in depth, surrounded by an amphitheatre of limestone
rock from the top to the bottom, though the lower
extremities are hidden by the fall of rubbish which forms
a slope up about one-third of the height. This vast
opening fronts the defile of which we have been speaking.
The diameter of the semicircular amphitheatre is, accord
ing to M. de Luc, near three-fourths of a league.
I have seen the Creux du Vent from Brod at many
different times, and frequently when exhibiting the sin
gular meteorological phenomenon for which it is peculiar.
At times, when a change of weather is impending, the
crater of the mountain is often seen to become suddenly
filled with a cloud of white vapoui', working, and rising,
and falling, with an easy but perceptible motion, till the
whole hollow presents the appearance of an immense
cauldron of boiling vapour, which seldom rises above the
edge. If any escape, it is by the opening towards the
defile and from this I have seen it repeatedly issue in a
thin white line, and float gradually upon the atmosphere
down the centre of the valley for several miles till im
perceptibly diminished and dissipated. This phenomenon
never lasts longer than between one and two hours, when the
vapour in the mountain disperses, and leaves the cavity

20lS ST, SULPICE.
perfectly clear. The brow of its impending precipice would
be a fitting situation for a temple to the winds ; for, with
one single exception, I never was in this part of the defile
without being caught in a tornado proceeding from the
mountain. That single exception was as remarkable to
me in another respect, as I barely escaped a fever from
the burning heat of the sumraer sun falling upon rae for
several hours in the interior of that wonderful hollow,
and on the flanks of the mountain. The botanical
riches of this spot are greater than that of any other
mountain in the Jura.
The Val de Travers through which the Reuse passes
in the earlier part of its course, is a spacious valley,
containing many villages and hamlets, St, Sulpice, the
highest of these, is situated in a hollow, for the greater
part shut in by high mountains, the most westerly of
which. La Tour, is traversed by the high road to France,
passing through a narrow aperture in the rocks, only
admitting the passage of a single vehicle. To this
aperture, which is elevated 1200 feet above the village
of St. Sulpice, considerable interest is attached both by
the lover of historical record, and the lover of the
marvellous. In the veiy narrowest part of the cleft, the ponderous
links of a massive iron chain covered with the rust
of several centuries, are seen riveted to the rock. The
popular rumour states that this chain was placed across
the pass to prevent the passage of artillery and stores,
during the preparations made in the winter of 1476, to
withstand the threatened attack of Charles the Bold,
This may be the case, for though it is kilown that Charles
himself, with the greater part of his army, made his

ST. SULPICE. 207
irruption into the country in the line of Besangon and
Orbe, in the spring of this year, yet it is hardly to be
supposed that he would not attempt to secure this im
portant pass into Burgundy ; the more so, as in the
preceding year, a body of the confederated Swiss had
pushed across the Jura in this direction, taken the town,
and burnt the castle of Pontarlier, and after defeating a
body of Burgundians sent against them, retired over the
mountains again in perfect security. Sorae are inclined
to consider it, however, as a relic of yet greater antiquitj'.
This frontier has often been attacked and defended in
subsequent wars, and even in our own times, though the
assistance of, the chain has been dispensed with.
The other fact (if indeed such I may venture to call
it) that renders this spot remarkable, depends for its
existence upon a yet more vague, but no less well-
authenticated tradition. It is said that this elevated
solitude was, once upon a time, the lair of a monster,
termed Le Serpent de St. Sulpice. I will not trouble the
reader with a discussion of the particular form, terrors,
and ravages of this monster as it has come to us, loaded
with all the perplexing amplifications and exaggerations
of many successive generations of village chroniclers,
ballad-singers, and old woraen, for the course of several
centuries : how it was both grim, and long, and large,
and rendered the passage of the mountain with safety to
life and limbs, an impossibility : and how at length a
peasant of the village of St. Sulpice adventured himself
to free the countrj- from this monster, at the expense
of his own life : and how he effected this by a great box,
baited with a jackass : and lastly, how after his death
of a brain fever resulting from this fiearful combat, the

208 ST. SULPICE.
government of the country was pleased to grant and
confirm to his heirs and posterity certain immunities, for
ever and ever, in acknowledgment of his devotedness and
bad fortune. This last circumstance is a fact, which
forras the sheet-anchor that keeps any portion of this
tradition from drifting away into the ocean of pure and
unfounded fiction. Whatever the beast may have been,
whether a serpent, as it is generally termed ; or a dragon
with wings and tail, or a bear with neither, or a wolf, or
a wild boar ; so much seems pretty certain, that at sorae
very distant period, this mountain and neighbourhood
were infested by a fierce and vicious beast, which really
made the passage of the mountain perilous. That an
inhabitant of the said village of St. Sulpice, whose name
I have heard, but unfortunately forgotten, risked his life
in destroying it ; and that certain immunities in the
commune were granted, in consequence, to his family and
posterity, which, I was told, they still enjoy. A few
miles beyond the head of the Tour lie the villages
of Les Verrieres, on the frontier of France.
The beauty and comforts of the summer evenings in
hot weather (in Neuchatel and its neighbourhood) are
very seriously diminished by the presence of the strong
and chill evening-breeze, called the Joran. This alraost
invariably sets in after a warm sunny day, a little before
sunset, and blows more or less briskly for an hour, or an
hour and a half, before it completely subsides. It comes
in strong gusts from the Jura, and prevails through the
country at its foot, and over a certain portion of the
lake, which rises in small dark ripples as far as its
influence is felt. Beyond that, the water retains its

NKUCHATEL. 209
smooth glassy appearance. The Joran is caused by the
air on the mountains cooling more suddenly than that
on the lake, and descending in consequence of its supe
rior density. It is considered a great enemy to the teeth,
and is so decidedly to evening-parties on the lake. Its
violence in such streets of the town as lie parallel with its
course is at times very great.
The heats of summer set in very early this year, and
before the end of May we had many a magnificent dis
play of thunder-storms in one or another part of the vast
extent of country before us. Neuchatel itself is rarely
exposed to the principal force of the storms, as it is
only when they rise and advance from the eastward, that
they last any time, or devastate the countiy at the foot
of the Jura ; and this is very rarely the case. The far
greater number come from the westward, and of these
I had many opportunities of observing the invariable line
of progress. After following the Jura for some leagues
above Yverdun, the main body of the storm swung off
across the centre of the lake, and, passing opposite us,
hung over the low marshy tracts about Anet and Aarberg.
Here they seldom failed to do extensive damage, and the
lightning became particularly destructive. The rest
of the storm passed at the same time more to the north,
and dissipated itself in the higher parts of the Jura.
One of the thunder-storms, arising in this quarter, is
noted on my memory as peculiarly magnificent. It
occurred a few evenings previous to the day of my
departure from Neuchatel to the Oberland, for my
second summer's excursions in the Alps.
The day had been cloudless from sunrise to sunset,
p

210 NEUCHATEL.
and the lake perfectly serene, without a ripple on its
surface ; when, about eight o'clock, p. m. in the absence
of every breath of wind, I observed the water begin
gradually to heave itself into that peculiar state of
agitation, known here by the name of the gonjie, or
ground-swell, often observed in this and the neighbouring
lakes, before a sudden change of weather. The last pale
glow ofthe west, upon this agitated yet unbroken surface,
had a more beautiful effect than I can describe. A
bank of clouds was then seen slowly rising above the
western horizon, and before nine o'clock not only were
momentary flashes gleaming in this point, but, as the
sky darkened, bright lines of reflected light streamed
behind the distant Alps on the S., and S. E. The
twilight faded away, to give yet raore splendid and
striking effect to the blaze of lightning which con
stantly flickered from one or other point of the wide
circle around us. An hour may have elapsed from the
time that these clouds put themselves in raotion before
they reached our part of the country ; and I have rarely
seen a more splendid sight than that which presented itself
during the greater portion of this time. The attention
was principally drawn towards the head of the lake, from
which quarter, it was evident, our portion of the tempest
would approach. The mass of clouds in that direction
came sweeping majestically onward, preceded by a few
ragged and fantastic portions of black vapour, the form
of which, as well as the gradual progress of the whole
body over the mountains and lake, might be momentarily
observed by the brilliant light that every instant illumina
ted the country. At the same time the whole landscape,
from the Jura to the Freyberg mountains were visible ;

NEUCHATEL. 211
and the lake, which now began to ripple to the shore in
short broken waves, was indeed a glorious spectacle.
The storm had apparently begun to advance over the
further extreraity of the lake, before the ear caught the
first distant roll of the thunder : it was not till about the
same time that our atmosphere began to be gusty and
agitated. If I may single out any definite portion
of this thunder-storm for a few additional lines of de
scription, I think it should be about the time, when,
having advanced up the lake to the Montague de Boudry,
it began, apparently, to feel the influence of a current
of air from the vast defile of the Reuse ; and to turn
the greater part of its force across the water, towards
the shores of Freyberg and Berne.
At a rough guess, I should suppose that the stratum
of clouds, which seemed to be the principal seat of
the electric matter, was elevated at this time above
1,700 feet above the lake, judging from the height ofthat
portion of the raountain that was cut by it. By the
continual glare of the lightnings, which seemed here
to put forth all their splendour, in the fore-ground might
be seen the pier, and the bridge leading to it, covered
with groups of people, whose figures were momentarily
brought into harsh relief, against the glowing but
broken surface of the lake before them ; the farther
shore and nearer mountains, and even the very recesses
ofthe great defile, all distinct and bright ; and in the sky
the ragged and disjointed masses of the thunder-clouds
eddying to and fro, and gradually drawing towards the
centre of the lake ; while the thunder rolled and
re-echoed among the mountains, till it became difficult
to distinguish which was the explosion, and which the
P 2

212 NEUCHATEL.
echo. Another ten minutes, and the skirt of the storm
enveloped us in its train of heavy rain ; and the beauty
of the tempest was passed.
But this chapter of recollections is at an end, — As in
the foregoing year, the middle of June (1826) found me
shaking off my scruples, my winter habits and occupa
tions, my comparatively sedentary existence, and, I may
add, raany enjoyments ; — accoutred once more with my
knapsack and pole, and with my face turned towards the
Alps,

CHAPTER VIL

The morn is up again ! the dewy morn.
With breath all incense, and with cheek all bloom,
Laughing the clouds away with playful scorn.
And living as if earth contain'd no tomb,
And glowing into day. We may resume
The march of oxu: existence : — and thus I
* * * may find room,
And food for meditation— nor pass by
Much that may give us pause, if pondered fittingly.

I CANNOT deny, that, in quitting my winter's residence,
I felt I was doing some violence to the quiet and social
part of my nature ; for the ties which bound me to it
had become stronger , and there was that uncertainty
hanging over the future which tended to nurture uneasy
feeling, and to invite regret, as I turned my face away
from all I had now been for so many months accustomed
to. The first sensation which pervaded my mind, as I
issued from the hospitable gateway at Montmirail, early
on the raorning of the 18th of June, and found rayself
in full health and activity, shaking off a winter's rust,
and rapidly advancing along the high road over the
Pont de Thiele, with a rising sun and brisk moming air
full in my face, was that of true light-hearted boyish
exultation, that exultation which the Arab is described
-IS experiencing, when in motion on the surface of the

214 BERNE.
vast unbounded desert, and resulting from much the
same excitement of animal feeling. Then, as I mounted
the gentle hills towards Anet, I could not forbear paus
ing, and casting many a lingering look down upon the
country I was quitting.
There lay our unruffled and wide-spread lake, and its
little town and villages sleeping in the morning haze ;
not a crag, not a break, not a cottage on the steep flanks
of the mountain-barrier behind, which did not awaken
some sweet recollection ; and, as I looked, regret began
to steal over my raind. Till then I hardly knew how
much I loved some of those, upon whose certain and
unvarying kindness I was then turning my back, for a
wandering and unsettled life.
At the town of Berne, whither a morning's walk
brought me, I was soon joined by my friend from the
Simmenthal, and after a few days' interval left it in his
company for the parsonage at Erlenbach, which was to
be my head-quarters this summer also.
Belp, a large village about two leagues from the city,
on the west bank of the Aar, was our halting-place
during the greater part of the day. It is situated at the
foot of a singularly formed mountain, rising up in the
middle of that tongue of low country which extends
from the neighbourhood of Berne towards the lake
of Thun. The prevailing formation is here the molasse,
or red sandstone, intermixed with fossil shells and
stalactitical tufa. As we proceeded, in the course of
the afternoon, the most enchanting views, towards the
Jura and the countiy towards Berne on one side, the
valley of the Aar in our vicinity, and above all the
country beyond Thun, ihe lake, and mass of mountains

THE VALLEY 01 THli AAR. 215
in the distance, began to display themselves at each
opening in the forest.
The Aar, in this part of its course, is surrounded by
low grounds, over which it seems formerly to have spread
itself in floods, and rendered perfectly sterile, particularly
to the N. W. of Miinsingen.
In all probability the greater part of these low lands,
comprising many thousand acres, may now be recovered
bj' the government, which has spared no pains or expense
in the construction of dikes, &c. to confine the river
within ordinaiy bounds. But the great work, and one
which reflects much credit upon the projector, and which
will conduce more than any thing to this end, is the new
bed cut for the conjoined torrents of the Simmen and
Kander. These, after their junction in the broken land
between the mountains and the lake of Thun, formerly
pursued a course, first between two ridges wide of the
lower end of the lake, and then, passing through the low
level tracks of alluvial soil just alluded to, fell into the
Aar many miles below the town of Thun ; often in un
settled weather joining their waters to those of the Aar,
and overspreading the country with an overwhelming
deluge. This, however, has been effectually checked by the
bold project of cutting through one of the above men
tioned ridges, near the castle of Stratlingen, at a point
where the course of the rivers ran at no great distance
from the S. W. corner of the lake, thereby turning
off their waters into that capacious basin, and abridging
their course by several leagues.
Though the day had been the clearest, warmest and
finest seen for some weeks, the glaciers had been en-

216 THE SIMMENTHAL.
veloped, during the morning and afternoon, by high
white masses of clouds. These cleared off as evening
advanced ; and after we had reached and passed Thun,
by a zig-zag route across the country from the little
village and lake of Gerzensee, the Jungfrau, Eigers, and
Schreckhorn rose in clear and bright sunshine from the
darkening mass of enormous mountains which appeared
to form their pedestal.
Of all the secondary mountains, the Niesen, to whose
base we w ere approaching, stood forth as the most noble
and imposing.
To the right the Stockhorn began to emerge from a
long line of vapours in which it had been shrouded ever
since the morning, and every quarter of a mile produced
some change in the form of the summit. No one who
saw this singular rock, from the mound of the castle
of Stratlingen alone, over which our pathway led us,
would believe its ascent practicable.
We soon reached Brodhaus, at the foot of the Simmen-
fluh, and entered the pass of the Simmenthal.
I cannot paint the complicated eraotions of awe,
wonder, and admiration with which I have always ap
proached the base of these stupendous mountains. The
sun had long been set when we entered the defile
between-the Biir and the Giinzenen. The glaciers still
rose cold and white in the grey and darkening atmo
sphere. The stars were twinkling over them ; and while
the summits of the Niesen and nearer mountains were
still well defined with their] rocks and forests in the
twilight yet lingering about them, their bases and the
profound vallies and defiles at their feet were enveloped
in the deepest shade. We kept on[ our way among

THE SIMMENTHAL. 217
the rocks and thickets of the pass, and up the valley, and
arrived at our home soon after nightfall.
The interval of my absence had brought no very
unforeseen change either in the spot or its inhabitants.
Poor Coquet, to be sure, had been gathered to her fathers ;
but there was Stumah, a great half-grown ungainly
puppy, ready to do the honours in her stead.
During the first days after my return to this retired
valley, I watched from day to day the gradual diminution
of the patches of snow, which some previous rough
weather had sprinkled among the forests, pastures, and
rocks of the higher parts of the mountains surrounding
us. These diminished in number and extent with a
rapidity which left no room for repining ; and the end
of the month and commencement of July were distin
guished by weather of a heat and sultriness which was
almost unlooked for in this elevated part of the countiy.
For many successive days, the early morning was so
glaring and so oppressively hot, that, to sit reading in
the darkest corner to be found, was all that could be
done. The afternoons were divided between burning
sun-gleams and thunder-storms, and the evenings distin
guished by a thousand beautiful and exquisite plays
of light and shade, as the ragged and broken portions
of the spent thunder-clouds invariably rose from the
mountains, melted into the sky, and gave free access to
the ruddy and cheerful beams of the setting sun.
From an early dawn till about ten a. m. the air remained
as clear as it was possible to conceive, with the exception
of a fine and deliciously blue haze, enveloping the rocks
on the summits of the mountains. Soon after this

218 THE SIMMENTHAL.
hour, however, two or three small clouds, of a dazzling
whiteness, scarcely, when first descried, larger than
specks, might be seen floating motionless and high in the
atmosphere. The number of these gradually increased,
and little by littles, the centre of each assuming a darker
hue, they began to put themselves in raotion, and to collect
upon the mountain-tops. About eleven a. m. they formed
high raasses of fleecy clouds, apparently out of the
range of the Bize, which was at this season the prevailing
wind. At noon the air grew more sultry ; the lower parts
of these clouds began to form one dusky stratum over
another, descending slowly lower and lower down the
mountains : and almost invariably between one and two
o'clock, the first bursts of thunder came rolling on the
wind, from one or another quarter ofthe mountains. One
thunder-storm generally began its operations at the back
of the Giinzenen to the N, E. and a second apparently
beyond the Thurnen to the S, S, W, probably in the
mountains of the Ober Simmenthal, These, and others
rising in other quarters continued to spread among the
mountains with various effect, but without approaching
our immediate neighbourhood, till between four and
five p, M, when the tail of one never failed to come
sweeping down our valley towards the lake of Thun, This
produced a little rain till about an hour before sunset,
when the clouds, rapidly breaking up and dispersing,
left by nine o'clock, no vestiges upon the clear and
starlight sky of the various changes it had undergone
during the preceding twelve hours. This was the alraost
invariable routine for ten successive days.
I arrived in the valley, a few days too late for a bear
hunt, as shortly before a large male bear had been inter-

THE SIMMENTHAL. 219
rupted in his journeyings through the raountains, and
killed on the alp opposite our village, into which his
carcase was afterwards conveyed in triumph, and his flesh
eat as venison. His skin was stuffed according to custom,
and carried about in procession to the neighbouring
villages. As the reward offered by government for the
death of a bear is fifty crowns, besides the possession
of the animal, and the gleanings consequent upon its
postmortuary travels through the country, violent quar
rels almost always ensue among the hunters, as it can
rarely be decided by what shot he was dispatched. And
this did not fail to be the case on the present occasion.
Though I make no doubt I should have attended the
hunt with rauch pleasure, had I been in the country,
yet as I was not, I was the more tempted to moralize
upon the neglect of the rights of hospitality experienced
by a brother wanderer, though indeed of a different race.
He had done no harm, and probably never meant to do
any ; and it was rather hard that the first impulse of his
observers should be to take away his life.
It inight have been supposed that the continual and
daily thunder-storms which seemed to sail over every
portion of the surrounding mountains in turn, and which,
as the discoloured and foaming streams of the Simmen
told us had elsewhere been accompanied with much
rain ; would have had some effect upon the air, and ren
dered it more cool and refreshing-. But this was not the
case, for another week, both night and moming ; were
as sultry and enervating in their degree as the burning
atmosphere of noon-day.
About the beginning of July, however, the nights

220 THUN.
began to be raore refreshing ; and, yet though our star
light heaven remained serene, the bright and brilliant
lightning which shot up from the points and outlines
of the mountains encircling our long valley, and by its
soleran beauty kept us in the open air soraetiraes till a
verv late hour, gave us to understand that other parts
of the Alps were the theatre of nightly storm.
It was after a night distinguished by a mute but
magnificent exhibition of this description, that I started
at early dawn to go to Thun for the day. It was market-
day ; and, as I approached the town, I had to run
the gauntlet between two compressed rows of peasant-
cars, repairing to it. The staple commodity was, to all
appearance, cheese, and a rare cargo there was of it. The
second bridge over the Aar, became, in consequence
of the display of cheapening, and tasting, and handling,
one of the most suflbcating presses I ever attempted to
make my way through, or could have imagined. I
question if Edinburgh, or Paris, or even Lisbon could
have matched it. This purgatory was, however, soon
exchanged for a seat in the pure air of the church-3'ard.
The view from this point must rank among the most
exquisite of the Alps. I know only one among those
whose similarity of character render a comparision
just, which can compete with it.
The town, immediately below you, with its gateways,
busy streets, bridges, and clean lines of red tiling ; the
blue Aar and its islands ; the wide transparent lake
beyond the bold shore to the eastward ; the fine wide
expanse of wooded countiy, spotted with farms, villages,
and country seats, stretching on the right up to the very
base of the long, craggy and precipitous chain of the

THUN. 221
Stockhorn ; in the back-ground the wide and deep
mountain horizon, with the magnificent pyramidal Niesen
standing majestically forward at the termination of the
chain of the Mannlifluh ; the entrances into the vallies
of the Kander and Simmen dimly descried in the mass ;
and, above all the white and glowing glaciers, rising pure
and cloudless into the blue atmosphere : — surely these are
the features of a noble landscape. As evening drew
near, and the sultriness began to abate, I resumed my
route homewards.
The country in the immediate vicinity of Thun has
been often said to resemble many parts of England, and
I think not without propriety.
I was much amused, as I trudged along, in noting
the peculiar traits of that picture of rural enjoyment
which presents itself in this sweet country, during the
hours of refreshment and listless ease succeeding- the
fatigues and labours of a cloudless summer's day ;
when the sun is setting, the air is cool, nature is sinking
to repose, and man and beast are forgetting their labour
in enviable rest after exertion. When the sun had
sunk behind the Jura, though his departing beams
still lingered for a while upon the Eigers and Bliimlis-
Alp, the inferior mountains, with their bare and rocky
summits, only reflected the glow of the reddened west,
and the plains and vallies were already in dim twilight.
The road was now cleared of the market-people, with
the exception of a poor woman on one part of it, toiling
at the tails of two young giddy and self-willed porkers,
who never agreed together except in going the wrong
road. The cows were coming out in groups from the
enclosure where they had been milked, on to some of the

222 THUN.
common pasture land which is here covered with a fine
short turf like a lawn, and sprinkled with well-grown
oaks of a remarkably deep green foliage. Here and
there was a youngster conducting a solitary cow across the
bye roads to a distant farm-house, or a girl driving her
goats gently forward with an osier goad, her pet kid at
one moment close at her heels, and then lagging a little
in the rear, and taking liberties like all pets and favorites.
As I passed the farms or hamlets, I found the inha
bitants almost invariably seated before their doors under
the great spreading roof, or in the little gallery that
projects from the first story ; and ready to salute the
passenger with Gute nacht geb'euch Gott, (God grant
you a good night) or, Sehlafet wohl, (sleep well) and a
slight pull at the bluish-grey night-cap, which is the
general head-dress ofthe peasant, day and night. From
time to tirae, from among the cottages, or from some
footway along the meadows or forest sides, a solitary
individual might be heard singing his Schweitzerlied ; or
calling forth the echoes in that peculiar species of vocal
melody described elsewhere, and termed Yuchzen.
However rude, it is a species of music delightfully
appropriate to the country that has given it birth, and the
scenes among which it is exercised. I have never heard
it, either from afar in the still evening, falling on the
ear in short interrupted catches, or upon the high alpine
pastures, mingling with the sound ofthe cattle-bells and
the dash of the mountain torrent, without a peculiar
sensation of pleasure.
As I left the open country at the foot of the Niesen,
the twilight was fast departing ; the stars were brightning
every instant, and the glaciers quickly fading into a grey

WEISSENBURGH. 223
sky. Between the snowy ridges of the Bliimlis-Alp, lay
a deep blue or lead-coloured mass of thunder clouds,
half hid among the ridges, but looking very grim and
threatening, their high fleecy extremities peering over
the deep layers of vapour. At the extremity of the defile
I was suddenly caught and cooled in a violent tempest
of wind. I fought my way onward, and in a very short
time got beyond its range, and, continuing my route,
reached Erlenbach shortly after.
A few days after, ray friend and myself set off at early
morning for a day's scramble of considerable length ovcr
the mountains to the N. W. to the baths of Gurnigel.
The baths of Weissenburg, elsewhere described, were the
first point to which we directed our steps, with the
intention of passing the singular precipice in the depth
of that ravine by means of the ladders, and so on to the
mountains. I cannot say I had contemplated this part
of our line of march with any peculiar feelings of satis
faction, and yet I did not feel inclined, by fighting shy,
or turning suddenly prudent or cowardly, which ever it
inight be termed, to be the cause of much additional
labour to my companion as well as to myself, by the
great round it would be necessaiy to make if we wished
to avoid the perilous short cut. So I kept my awkward
feelings to myself — held my breath and strode away.
The Baths were passed ; and we advanced along the
side of the torrent upon a foot-path, whose slippery angles,
sharp turns, and shelving surface over the boiling torrent
give a very suitable foretaste of what is to follow. The
trunk of the pine laid across the mountain stream at the
foot of the precipice was crossed, and we began the

224 THE HAGGEN.
ascent. The lower part is surmounted by a narrow
winding footway, running along the ledges, and carrying
the adventurer insensibly up a considerable height, till it
terminates at the foot of a perpendicular mass of rock.
Part of this is next to be scaled by means of a ladder
between thirty and forty feet high, and the rest upon a
rude and uneven set of steps, formed of stones forced into
the angle of a nearly perpendicular fissure, down which
a small streain is constantly trickling. This is by far the
most disagreeable part of the ascent, as j'ou can depend
very little upon your hands for support, and a false step
would be almost certain destruction. After this rock is
surmounted, the ascent is continued by the same zig-zag
pathway as that at the commencement, but which now
would appear commodious enough, after the passage
of the intermediate portion of the escalade. This leads
to the summit, which raay be about five hundred feet
above the baths. Here we arrived breathless, but in
safety. We continued our climb up the mountains for some
time without further interruption than an occasional
pause, rendered expedient by the steepness of the
ascent; and the heat of the day becoming extremely
oppressive, we were very glad to reach a small chalet on
this part of the mountain, called the Haggen,
The middle pastures of the Alps are the region of
orchideae and butterflies, both of which are to be found
there in great beauty and variety.
The chalet, which we had entered to get some shelter
from the sun and directions as to our further route, was
of the very meanest order. Poor and filthy within and
without ; half-a-dozen goats and a couple of cows being

THE HAGGEN. 225
the whole stock of the occupier. After a brief stay, we
made good our passage of the ridge before us, and gained
tlie deep hollow on the other side, by an equally rapid
and even more fatiguing descent.
He who scrambles much in these mountains will soon
find, to his cost, that the unpractised eye is no measurer
of distances. Of this truth, I have made experience a
hundred times, to the extinction of many a bright spark
of hope. Nor is this to be wondered at, in a country
where all natural objects are upon so gigantic a scale,
and where the number of those whose dimensions are
familiar to you is but small ; not to speak of the optical
deceptions so common in mountainous districts.
When you are informed that a oTven summit, or
part of the track before you, is full five leagues
distant, incredulity may be forgiven, when, appa
rently, it is not half that distance. But set off: cross
this valley — twenty minutes, you imagine, will suffice ;
in twenty minutes you are onlj' on the plank spanning
the stream, which, from your first position, had seemed
but a drain. You take courage, and start afresh to reach
the chalet at the extremity of the little plain forming the
head of the valley, — say a quarter of an hour's distance ;
in a quarter of an hour, you have better than a quarter
of an hour's walk before you. What you conceived to be
a single chaiet, proves to be a cluster ; the small stones
in their immediate vicinity become cattle ; or what you
judged to be cattle, massive fragments of rock. As you
advance, one portion of the mountain after another seems
to detach itself, and becomes an independent ridge, be
tween which and the next you have a valley to traverse :
and so on to the very summit, concerning which you

226 THE WAHL-ALP.
may have inquired if there was room to stand, and which
you eventually discover to be a broad stratum of rock,
where a hundred men might repose themselves.
From the hollow into which we now descended, we had
an unobstructed view of the long valley of the Wahl-alp,
descending from the Stockhom. Frora hence this
mountain is perhaps seen to the greatest advantage, en
tirely detached and independent of the long line of rocks
and mountains with which it is confounded and of which
it only seems to be an elevated point, when seen frora the
neighbourhood of Thun.
We now directed our steps towards the Gantrish and
Burglen, two lofty summits of the Stockhorn-chain, con-
siderablj' to the westward, and after some time reached a
chalet upon the inferior alp, which we entered, to take
some refreshment, and seek shelter from the heat which
had hitherto been excessive.
The thunder-storms, of which, as already mentioned, we
had had our share, during the past week, seem not to have
been idle here, and, no later than the preceding evening,
the lightning had fallen upon a huge tanne, or silver fir,
on the ridge opposite the chalet, and torn it to the ground,
accompanied by a peal of thunder that frightened both
cows, goats, and cowherds almost out of their wits.
This vacherie was of the first class, the cowherd being
possessed of between eighty and ninety cows, besides
sheep, swine, and goats. All these cows have to be milked
morning and evening, and every day a great cheese,
of 120 pounds weight, is made from the milk, besides but
ter, &c. The great copper cauldron in which the cheese
is made, weighed at least 220 pounds, and would even
Have grac'd a dance of witches.

THE WAHL-ALP. 227
In some vacheries on these mountains things are on a
still larger scale. These cheeses are exported for the
most part to Russia. Wenig miihe und viel profit —
(little trouble and much profit) is the saying among these
peasants. In the spring, as soon as the snow has disappeared,
and the young grass sprouts up, the cattle are sent from
the villages up to the first and lower pastures. Should a
certain portion of these be exhausted, they change their
quarters to another part of the mountain. Here they stay,
till about the 10th or liith of June, when the cattle are
driven to the middle ranges of pastures. That portion
of the herds intended for a summer campaign on the
highest alps, remain here till the beginning of July, and,
on the 4th of that month, generally ascend to them ;
return to the middle range of pastures, about seven or
eight weeks afterwards, spend there about fourteen days,
or three weeks to eat the aftergrass ; and finally retum
into the vallies about the 10th or llth of October ; where
they reraain in the vicinity of the villages, till driven by
the snow and tempests of winter into the stables.
That portion of the cattle, on the other hand, which
is not destined to pass the summer on the higher alps,
and are necessary for the supply of the village with milk
and butter, descend from the middle pastures on the 4th
of July, into the valley, and consume the grass upon the
pasturage belonging to the commune, till the winter
drives thera under shelter. The very highest alpine
pasturages are never occupied more than three or four
weeks at the farthest.
It is surprising to me that the vachers, accustomed as
they are to study cleanliness in all the utensils employed
Q 2

228

THE WAHL-ALP.

in the fabrication of their cheeses, should not extend their
care a little to the domestic arrangements in their summer
habitations, which are for the most part disgustingly
filthy, the sleeping apartment in particular. But it
seems they are only cleanly, where it is imperatively
necessaiy. ^
' To give some idea of what may be the produce of the pasturage
among the alps, I subjoin the following statement, for the information
of such as it may interest.
It is an estimate given of the contents, produce, and expendi
ture of an alpine pasture, near Unterseen, taxed at 35 cows; such
being the mode of measuring out the land, and not by toises or acres.

CONTENTS.
34 cows.
1 or 2 oxen.
2 calves.
4 swine, for fattening.
8 small pigs.

PRODUCE. EXPENDITURE, PER ANN. cr.
Interest paid for the
34 cows at 14 cr,
per cow  476
Interest paid for the
pasture, at 4 cr, per
cow  136
Wages of the valets. 30
Salt  28
Total, 670
Proflt, 146 crowns.
The crown is 25 Swiss batzen, little more than 3s. Id. English.

60 cwt. of cheese, at
1 1 crowns the cwt. 660
6 cwt. of curds, at 6
crowns the cwt. . 36
4 swine  120
Total, 816

In 60 cwt. of cheese, they count upon having 15 cwt. of curds ; but
as the swine are fattened with the greater part of this, more than
6 cwt. can rarely be reckoned upon for the market.
The pot contains four schoppin, and the schoppin weighs one pound.

Pots lbs.
New Milk 112 give 40 of rich cheese.
Skim-milk 90 25 of poor cheese
Cream 20 20 of butter
Whey 90 15 of curds

lbs. 90 whey
55 ditto
12 pots of butter-milk.
93 whey.

Three pots of new milk yield one pound of rich cheese. The
rich cheese is made of new milk, and the poor cheese of skim

THE BURGLEN AND GANTRISCH, 229
From this chalet we continued our ascent, and in the
last and highest valley below the ridge between the
Biirglen and Gantrisch were brought to a halt by a
sudden and violent thunder-storm, which driving up the
opposite side of these mountains, passed over it precisely
where we had intended to do so, and threw into the hollow
a torrent of wind and hail. Our refuge was now a solitary
chalet, of which we had not long been in possession when
the real owners, about twenty goats, came rushing in at
the door-way at a hand gallop. In this goodly company
we remained for nearly an hour, regaled by several fine
echoing peals of thunder, but waiting the cessation of
the storm, with some impatience, as my companion began
to feel himself very unwell, and the state of inactivity
seemed to add to his indisposition. This will not be
wondered at, when I remind the reader that, frora a
degree of heat almost insupportable, we were now sud
denly enveloped in an atmosphere of such icy coldness,
as caused us to shiver from head to foot. As soon as the
air cleared therefore, we climbed leisurely to the ridge,
having on each side of us a towering and precipitous
mass of bare rock, soaring to nearly two thousand feet
above the cr6te between them. The summit of the
Gantrisch is inaccessible. The ridge between the two is
very rich in the rarer alpine plants.
During the succeeding hour and a-half, occupied in
descending from the ridge, and following the chain of
milk. One cow, giving twelve pounds of milk per day, ought to
produce in the course of a summer of twenty or twenty-one weeks,
one hundred and sixty pounds of cheese, and forty pounds of curds,
without counting the whey. Sec. which, with the curds, is sufficient
to pay the interest of the animal.

230 BURGLEN AND GANTERISCH.
inferior hills to the north west, nothing occurred worthy
of note. The hill sides were in many places covered
with the most astonishing profusion of the rhododendron.
Fine openings towards the lake and country of Thun, to
the northward, and of the country towards the Jura on
the left, were afforded us from time to time; and
the view from the summit of the Gurnigel, the last
of the range, is particularly fine, as it commands an
unobstructed view on every side. Half an hour's rapid
descent frora hence brings the traveller to the baths of
Gurnigel, where we proposed remaining for the ensuing
night, Gumigel-Bad is situated among the inferior mountains
of the Stockhorn-chain, to the S. S, W, of Berne,
about 3,600 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded
on every side more or less by pine forests, yet command
ing, from its peculiar situation on the rapid slope of the
mountain, an uncommonly wide extended and varied
view. The mineral waters rise principally in two dis
tinct sources, the Schwartzbrunlein and the Stockbrun.
Their quality is very different ; the former is a very
strong and sulphuric spring, of extremely disagreeable
smell and flavour, and is only taken internally. The
second is made use of externally as well as internally.
Both are quite cold, and I believe principally prescribed
for complaints of the stomach. These baths are well
frequented during the months of July, August, and
September, principally from the vicinity of Berne,
Freyberg, and the surrounding mountains. They seera
to be arranged and conducted in a rauch more orderly
and convenient manner than most of the bathing-places
in this country.

GURNIGEL. 231
A gallon ofthe execrable water from the Black-foun
tain is prescribed to be drunk every morning, by those
wishing to faire la cure. A light breakfast of soup au
riz follows after some hours' fast ; and the same potation,
fast, and slight meal is the prescribed order of each
evening. What appears a singular manner of proceed
ing is, that, at dinner, the embargo is removed, and each
of the patients is allowed to indulge his appetite without
the least reserve, eating and drinking what and as rauch
as he will.
Every evening there is a rustic ball, in which all
classes intermix, without ceremonj'. Great numbers
of peasants repair hither from the vicinity, to undergo
the penance just described, and appear to be devoured
by ennui ; sitting in discontented postures on the benches,
twisting straws, rubbing the calves of the legs, or cutting
sticks into pieces ; in short, showing, by every movement,
that gentlemanly idleness was not properly intended for
them. There are about thirty bathing rooms of the first class,
containing two or three baths each. These are only
wooden troughs, just so large that you can lie down
in them upon a pinch, wrapped up in a bathing-gown.
In one of these you may lie in state, from half an hour
to an hour and a half, ad libitum, letting in more warm-
water when you find yourself growing chill ; but I was
quite satisfied with ten or twelve minutes' trial, as I
found it was, besides the inconvenience arising from the
confined condition, neither one thing nor another,
neither hot nor cold.
Some pleasant walks are cut in the neighbouring-
woods ; though neither the tanne, the larch, the fir, nov

232 GURNIGEL.
the pine are the best trees imaginable for the formation
of shrubberies, or arbours.
It is difficult to give a description of the fine view from
the terrace before the line of buildings belonging to the
baths. Eastward, the country between Berne and Thun,
presents itself ; and beyond that the neighbourhood of the
Emraenthal, and on the horizon a deep line of mountains,
among which the Pilatus is very distinguishable.
To the west, the Gouggisberg district, with the
village of that name, and various parts of the Freyberg
mountains. The distant N, and N, W, horizon is occupied by the
range of the Jura from the Dole in the vicinity of Geneva,
to the part of the chain beyond Arau, a long and from
its distance even low line, hardly perceptibly broken by
the Weissenstein, the Chasseral, and the defile into the
Valde Travers. At the foot of the Jura, portions ofthe
lakes of Bienne, Morat, and Neuchatel, are distinguish
able. The middle ground appears occupied by a large
tract of varied and uneven country, with innumerable
villages and forests, up to the foot of the Gurnigel
chain. That portion of this fine expanse of country
which drew my attention more than any other, was most
naturally the district containing my winter's residence.
This I discovered, after a long and careful examination,
not without a feeling of peculiar pleasure, and one of those
internal gushes of warm feeling, which tells us who roam
the world that we have not thrown aside the sweetest and
most natural affections which link us with society.
The following day, a finehot summer moming, with long
sparkling strings of gossamer floating about in the air, pre-

GURNIGEL. 233
saged a continuation ofthe same fine changeable mountain-
weather : however, our plan was to return to Erlenbach ;
and from this we were not diverted, but set off early in the
afternoon, and keeping the base of the mountains, instead
of traversing them as on the preceding day, we passed by
the baths of Blumenstein, (a strong ferruginous spring,)
the villages of Ober and Nieder-Stocken and Reutigen,
and found ourselves at nightfall at the parsonage again,
Sunday, July Qth. — I think it must be difficult for an
Englishman wandering on the continent (supposing him
so occupied by distracting novelty, and so little given to
make odious comparisons, that six days of the week can
pass without his thoughts and reflection being hurried
away across the channel,) to pass a Sunday there without
being impelled to look back to the land of his fathers
with more than common interest and affection.
Let it be understood that I mean the real Englishman,
the man of heart and of reflection, not the scarecrow, the
dandy, the Frenchified milor, le Petit-maitre manque,
he who quits his country to travel because it is la mode,
or to follow in a more relaxed state of society the vices
which English morality and decorum will not see without
rebuke. But the Englishman, whose heart is his coun
try's ; who, while he travels to see with his own eyes,
and, while quitting his prejudices, and learning by in
tercourse with other nations to respect them more, feels
his love for his native land, his respect for its laws,
constitution, manners, and form of religion doubled ;
and who would scorn by his individual conduct to bring
disgrace upon his home.
In the character of the Sunday in England, there is
something so peculiar, so peaceful and so reviving — a

234 THE SIMMENTHAL.
spirit so different frora that of other nations, that for one
who, like the writer, has become accustomed to it in early
life, it becomes a matter of great difficulty, (I will not say
impossibility, for I know the omnipotence of time and
circumstance,) to wean oneself from it, and to be per
fectly reconciled to another system and another order
of things.
In preferring the forms and institutions of my own
country, I do not mean in any way to institute myself the
judge or condemner of the customs of other nations. I
merely say that to me the day of rest, of quiet devotion
and tranquil enjoyment in England, is far more congenial
than the day of festivity of other countries. Here araong
the raountains, there is a general simplicity in the
quiet and unostentatious devotional exercises of the
day, which approaches nearer to our feelings and practice,
than any thing I have yet seen or observed ; and I think
that, forthe pleasures and hilarity ofthe peasantiy on the
Sunday evening, apologies may be found far more consis
tent and weighty, than those brought forward for the un
varying card and dancing-parties into which the population
of the towns is divided upon the evening of the same day.
The ritual of the church of this canton is very simple,
and therefore very appropriate. It consists of a confession,
a prayer for absolution, and a few collects introduced at
the termination of the service, after the sermon. The
services for the administration of the sacrament are
peculiarly impressive.
During the days spent in this tranquil manner in the
Simmenthal, I had more than once occasion, in pursuit
of one object or another, to make ray way up the moun
tains at the back of our village, towards the Stockhorn.

THE SIMMENTHAL. 235
The singular hollow to which the mountaineer is intro
duced, after passing the first towering and elevated ridge
above the valley, and which contains the black and
motionless tam called the Stockensee, never ceases to
strike with wonder, I have seen many of these singular
and elevated lakes both among the English and Welsh
mountains, and in the Alps; but none more peculiar
in its position than the one in question. There is no
visible outlet for its waters, though there can be no doubt
but such exists, and that probably it supplies the first
springs of the Wildebach lower down the mountain. A
fish of exquisite flavour, resembling in every respect our
salmon-trout, is found among its inmates. I have been
assured it was formerly destitute of fish, but that the
common river-trout being brought hither from the
Simmen, the present fish has been the result, though now
there is the greatest possible difference in size and colours
between it and the parent stock.
The great Tanne is the pride of these mountains. The
higher you climb, though you find them perhaps fewer in
number, their size seems to increase. I have frequently
seen the most magnificent trees standing in the most
inclement and unsheltered situations ; clinging to the side
of the bare precipice, shooting strong and vigorous from
the craggy summit of the fell, or fixed and rooted deep
among the great rocky fragments which lie at the base
of the crag, the spoil of the mountain earthquake or
other horrible convulsion, all record of which has faded
from the traditions of men.
Upon the mass of bare rock, or on some slight inequa
lity or crevice in the face of the precipice, lights the
winged seed, either falling from above in the natural

236 THE SIMMENTHAL.
course of things by the ripening and opening of the cone
in which it has been concealed, or bome upwards from
the forests below by the whirlwind. Here it first becomes
a seedling, only a couple of inches in height. Perhaps the
severity of the winter season checks the growth for many
months ; but still the hardy plant continues to send forth
fibrous roots, in every direction, and to strengthen its hold
on the rock, gradually shooting up higher and higher, till
it becomes a strong and vigorous tree. Should the prin
cipal shoot be broken off by any casualty, another branch
from the inferior part of the tree leaves its lateral direction,
and takes the lead, soon overtopping the disabled first
born. Meanwhile the twisted and gnarled roots intertwine
and extend themselves, binding the smaller fragments
of stone together, and running along the large bare sheets
of rock, to pierce into and cling to the rough edges and
small cavities at the other side, forming ledges, whereon
the fallen leaves, moss, and dust may rest, and become so
many reservoirs for that humidity which is its life.
Then it stands for years, a towering tree with a thousand
branches, shadowing the face of the precipices with its
dark foliage ; bearing the weight of the winter's snow
upon its arms, and swaying to and fro unharmed in the
rocking tempest ; till it becomes in the eye of the
peasant as a part of the mountain, with whose ever
lasting and living rock it has mingled its substance,
' Time"iiolds its ceaseless course ! ' — It still clings to the
rock, a huge white thunder-stricken tree ; the foliage,
the bark, and the branches have long strewed the
gale. The roots decay, its hold becoraes weaker and
weaker ; it hangs quivering in the raountain blast, that
whistles through its cloven top ; till sorae morning sees it

THE SIMMENTHAL. 237
hurled from its elevated situation, and shattered upon
the rocks beneath. Moss and alpine plants soon crawl
over the trunk, which in a couple of years is reduced by
the constant moisture to powder ; and ere long there is
no distinguishing even this wreck, from the black and
scanty mould that surrounds it.
The time was now approaching when, according to my
plans, I ought to put myself in motion, I believe it was
just about the time I was making some preparation for my
departure, that a report came up the valley to our quiet
parsonage, of no less romantic a nature than that a dragon
had been at last seen in the neighbourhood. It was to
be sure admitted that it was not quite as formidable as
the animal, so yclept, which the good knight Dieu
Donne de Gozon slew in the Island of Rhodes in olden
time, nor even as the huge snake of St, Sulpice, of which
honourable mention has been made elsewhere. It was
said to be the size of a common snake, with, however, the
indispensable addition of four legs and a pair of wings.
I do not care for being laughed at, and therefore,
though I did not instantly harness myself and go forth
to entrap, or to slay this said dragon, I own I did try by
all the means in my power, except that of going ten or
twelve leagues to Brienz, to trace the report to its
foundation, but without any great success. It was, to
be sure, particularly insisted upon, that the pastor had
seen something extraordinary in the forest, hanging upon
a tree by the tail, either dead or asleep, but which of the
two he did not feel inclined to inquire ; but that was all
of a credible nature that transpired. True it is, however,
that every now and then the peasants do come forward

238 THE SIMMENTHAL.
with such tales, to the no small perplexity of the curious
and credulous in Berne. I believe a small reward has
been offered by some gentlemen at the college, to him
who shall produce the animal in confirmation ofhis story,
hitherto without success. The Lindwurm is yet another
and raore formidable beast, now and then reported to be
seen by this or another peasant. But that is stated to be
a bond fide serpent, and no quadruped, like his little
winged, tail-supported relative.
The amusements of the Swiss peasantry are not verj^
varied, as far as I am acquainted with them ; but if there
is one more deserving a few lines of description than the
rest, that will certainly be the peculiar kind of wrestling
match called in German schwingen, and in French lutter.
There are certain occasions when this amusement becomes
the more general object of interest and attraction, besides
being an occasional pastime among the young herdsmen
and villagers in their moments of recreation. These
are principally of two kinds : the first, when some land
holder, very frequently an innkeeper, obtains pennission
of the bailiff to advertise a match to take place on a
given day on his premises, and gives a sheep or some other
prize of like value as the reward of the contest. This may
be, as is well understood, only one mode of fishing with a
golden hook, and turns out to the benefit of the inn-keeper
principally. A match of this description is mostly fre
quented by the inhabitants of the valley, or the immediate
neighbourhood, and the competitors are of the same
class. The second kind is upon a much larger scale. These
are instituted when distinct communes, or even cantons.

THE WRESTLERS.

THE SIMMENTHAL. 239
challenge corapetition, as is often the case between the
canton of Berne and the Forest Cantons, Oberhasli
against Unterwalden, or the Simmenthal against the
Oberland. At these the concourse of strangers is very
considerable, and the whole conducted with more order
and display of national feeling, than in other more
ordinary cases. The consequence is, that the contests
are more obstinate and better contested, and party spirit
carried to a much greater extent.
The place chosen for this species of game is generally
a piece of green sward surrounded by higher ground, to
give greater facilities for the spectator. When the match
is deemed of sufficient importance, the area is enclosed,
and cleared of all persons except the umpires and the
combatants. The umpires, of whom there is always a
considerable number, and for whose interference there
would seera to be constant necessity, are mostly old men,
once, no doubt, famous in their day and generation ;
associated with any among the younger peasants whose
muscular powers or experience has procured him a name
and authority, sufficiently well established in these matters
to command the deferential respect of his neighbours.
They always decide, whether the fall given be a good fall
and valid, and settle any dispute arising from doubtful
circumstances, or imputations of unfair play.
Preliminaries adjusted, the first pair of combatants
step into the centre of the area, and go through the
ceremony of shaking hands, to show that there is
no ill will. If there happen to be several parties
upon the list of wrestlers, the minor combatants always
take precedence ; and the winner is rewarded by a
voluntary contribution among the bystanders. These,

240 THE SIMMENTHAL.
however, only serve as exhibitions for the encouragement
of the young, and as whets to the impatience of the
crowd. Then stand forward the rivals, who are chosen,
from their known superiority to their brethren, to contest
the honour of their canton or commune, in the production
of the best wrestler. Both dress in a pair of short
drawers, capable of being rolled up high on the thigh,
and serving as a hold for the left hand of the adversary,
while the other hand is placed upon the waistband of the
left hip. The art consists in bringing the adversary
into an awkward or unwary position, so as to take him at
disadvantage, and, raising him by main force off his feet
to the height of the shoulder, throw him fairly and
cleverly upon his back, which decides the victory. But
this is often no easy matter, and much interest is ex
cited by the series of preparative essays, made by the
one or the other to bring the competitor into a position,
offering sufficient temptation to risk a final attempt ; I
say risk, because, if the attempt should fail, he who has
been hitherto the aggressor, has often the worst of it. Two
tolerably well-matched wrestlers may thus be many min
utes engaged in the preliminary movements, before there
is the slightest probability of judging what may be the
upshot of the contest. The first movement, after ad
justing the hold, which is coolly and leisurely done, is
generally, that both go down on one knee, and begin
moving round and round in that position, each ready to
take advantage of the slightest inadvertency in the other's
movement, position, or imagined inferiority in tenacity
of gripe, by springing up with the rapidity of lightning
on both feet, and in attempting to raise and fling the
other by a sudden effort, or, by swinging<him round and

THE SIMMENTHAL. 241
round in the air to weaken his hold and footing, when the
matter is soon decided.
In case of trivial accidents, or a fall upon the knees or
face, the contest is renewed. The victor seldom fails to
get drunk afterwards, and the vanquished to sneak home. It
is a dangerous, but athletic exercise, and patronized by the
magistrates as a means of amusing the peasantry. There
is yearly a great match between the Oberhasli people
and one or another of the neighbouring communes or
cantons, at which numbers of the strangers roaming
about the mountains are present.
Les Quilles, a species of skittles, on a very large
scale, is a favourite game among the peasantry, and is
universal in the west of Switzerland. In the eastern
cantons, principally in Appenzel, a very athletic and
ancient amusement is still kept up, allied to the
game known in some parts of England by the name
of hurling. I believe it simply consists in balancing a
massive fragment of rock vipon the palm of the right
hand, bent backwards to the shoulder ; and, after swing
ing the body to and fro for some time, with one foot
raised from the ground, sending the fragment with a
sudden exertion of muscular strength against a mark, or
over a certain limit. I am assured that the strength and
skill in this exercise, shown by many of that fine race
of mountaineers, the Appenzellers, is almost incredible.

CHAPTER VIII.

To breathe
The difficult air of the iced mountain's top.
Where the birds dare not build, nor insect's wing
Flit o'er the herbless granite.

July IQth. — I set off in the course of the afternoon to
follow an unusual track towards the head of the Sim
menthal, by avoiding the circumference of the semi
circular course of the valley, and taking a direction as
nearly coinciding with its diameter as possible. This
route in the first instance pursues the valley of Diem
tigen to its extremity ; and after traversing an elevated
ridge, separating it from the little vale of Ferrael, follows
the line of the latter, till it opens into the Ober-Sim-
menthal, at the village of Matten. My original purpose
had been to commence my excursion with the ascent
of the M'annlifluh, the highest point in these offsets from
the central chain of the Berne Alps ; but now felt little
inclined to execute it, as the state of the weather was
very far from favourable for such an undertaking.
In my progress up the valley of Diemtigen I met with
no object sufficiently uncommon to arrest my attention.
The increasing dullness, and lowering appearance of the

THE GRIMMI, 243
sky, as evening drew near, made me the less regret my
altered plan of operations ; and upon my arrival at
Thiermatt, after a few hour's walk, I sat myself quietly
down in the auberge of that small village to await the
beginning of another day ; with the determination to
pursue my road straight over the Grimmi, towards the
Ober-Simraenthal, This passage lies between Spiel-
g'artenfluh and the Rothihorn, two rocky suramits of one
of the numerous ridges diverging from the Mannlifluh.
July 20th. — I quitted my night's shelter about five
o'clock in the raorning and directed my steps towards
the head of the valley, about an hour's walk above
Thiermatt, To pursue my way over the Grimmi I
found no easy matter, being sadly perplexed with the
numberless tracks and footpaths branching off to vaiious
alps, many of which seemed to lead towards the object
in view. Thrice I had to change my route, in conse
quence of having made choice of such as I foresaw,
after some time, would not serve my purpose ; and it was
not till after nearly two hours' toil, that I found myself
on the summit of a ridge, which was in itself neither
very high nor difficult of access. The peep from this
point into the little fertile vale of Fermel, is very pretty ;
and the walk through it would have been pleasant
enough but for the heat, which began to be rather
oppressive. The curiosity of the peasants overpowered all their
stock of politeness and diffidence, for, to do them justice,
they seemed to have some portion of both. They were
engaged with their hay in the meadows through which
my footpath passed, and I had to run the gauntlet
R 2

244 VALE OF FERMEL,
through at least a dozen of thera in succession, many of
whom returned my salutation, by the question, ' Und
wenn ich fragen darf, woher kommt der Herr ? ' — ' If a
body dare inquire, where does the gentleman come frora ? '
A strange face was apparently a rare occurrence.
The descent of the valley of Fermel to the village of
Matten, occupied about an hour and a half. Here I fell
into the high road up the Siraraenthal, and followed it to
the highest village, Der Lenk. Some miles before I
reached this place, I gained a noble view of the huge
mountains and glaciers which shut in the valley. The
weather had gradually become perfectly fair, though
rather too hot for enjoyment, burdened as I was with my
knapsack, the weight of which I never failed to perceive
for the first two or three days of my renewed march ;
though afterwards I not only ceased to feel any incon
venience, but imagined I walked the better and steadier
with it.
Directly above the head of the valley rises the Wild-
Strubel, 1 to the west of this the Razliberg glacier ;
then the Mittaghorn, the Gletscherhorn, and the Ror-
bachstein : between the latter and the Schneeschneide,
lies the Rawyl-hom and glacier, overhanging the pass
of that name. The first- mentioned mountain, with the
waste of snowy glaciers beneath it, forms the most striking
and prominent feature, rising into the air above an un
usually long line of grey precipices, down which ten or
twelve cascades are seen rolling into the country at their
base. The neighbourhood of Der Lenk appeared to have
' The Wild-Strubel 11,000 feet.

DER LENK, .'245
suffered considerably from inundations from the moun
tain-torrents during the late thunder-storms.
An hour's halt in the village was all I could allow
myself, conformably with the only plan I could fix
upon. This was, to go and take up my night's lodging
in the chalets at tiae foot of the Rawyl, after visiting the
source of the Simmen, at the Seven Fountains.
Advancing towards the mountains, the prospect upon
the glaciers before me became hourly more enchanting ;
yet I must candidly confess that I was so overcome with
heat, so impatient of my burden, and attacked by such
swarms of horse-flies and musquitoes, that I could do
little but trudge doggedly forwards, pant, fan my face,
shrug my shoulders, and satisfy my vengeance upon such
of the enemy as came within my reach.
After following the Simmen for about an hour, flowing
sluggishly in a marshy bottom, I arrived at the foot
of a jumble of steep woody hills, down the declivity
of which the hand of man has worked a channel for the
river in its descent from the mountain. It here forms
a deep and foaming rapid, of nearly half a league in
length, broken in one or two places by respectable
cascades. A number of impertinent vagabonds now fell
into my wake, and followed me for a considerable time,
insisting upon my employing them as guides, and were
almost as difficult to be shaken off as the horse-flies.
Nevertheless, a guide would be here a very pardonable
luxury, for I had to make as many turns and windings
as a hare, before I crossed the little bridge at the top
of this passage, and stood upon the pasture at the foot of
the line of precipices, over which the Razli-glacier shows
its ragged green masses of ice.

246 HEAD OF THE SIMMENTHAL.
Just before I reached Seven Fountains, I met an Eng
lish party, with their halo of guides and provision-bearers,
on their return. John Bull marched in the van, with a
kind of pet air, as if he thought he had been humbugged,
and had not seen enough for his money and extra exer
tion ; no salutation, except that conveyed by a stare,
passed between us. Ten paces behind him came my
lady's maid, hopping, and slipping, and sliding among
the loose fragments, with her under lip thrust out, and
every mark of offended delicacy, as she accepted the
assistance of a brawny Swiss guide, to make this or that
unusual hop or stride. About ten paces further ap
peared the rear of the party, in the person of a young
lady, probably the daughter of the elderly gentleman.
Had I followed the humour in which I happened to
be, I should perhaps have passed by the daughter with
equal nonchalance with the parent ; but when I caught
a glance of a clear, bright, speaking, English counte
nance, beaming with that beautiful expression of vivacity
and sense which characterizes my countrywomen,
I could not avoid tendering my homage, by moving
my cap ; and when our backs were turned, after our
mute salutation, I can hardly say why or wherefore, but
my heart ached with the remembrance of my distant
home and country. It seemed to me unnatural too, that
those to whom God had given a common country, lan
guage, and perhaps feelings, should thus pass each
other, in the wilderness of a foreign land, with
indifference. I think the English gentleman just raentioned, sup
posing that I have not mistaken his state of feeling, was
not to be hastily condemned as unreasonable in being

THE SEVEN FOUNTAINS. 247
out of humour. The Seven Fountains, though re
markable as the source of a river, are certainly hardly
worth a journey of four fatiguing hours which raust be
encountered ; and the traveller who undertakes it without
any ulterior object, and returns to Der Lenk, may be
allowed to feel somewhat disappointed. However, the
mountain scenery offers good compensation. The number
of seven is now no longer applicable to the divisions
of this cascade, the character of the fall having changed
very considerably since the time when the river and
valley took their narae frora the sevenfold form of the
source. As I did not intend to retrace my steps to the hamlet
of Oberried, to double the foot of the mountain that
separates the head of the Simmenthal from the Iffigenthal
at the foot of the Rawyl, I kept forwards under the great
precipices towards the intervening ridge. While in this
position, I was several times startled by hearing the fall of
avalanches on the glaciers above me, and felt a disagree
able qualm, in the contemplation of my exposed situation;
for, that they frequently came over the brow of the
impending precipice I had positive proof, by the soil on
which I was treading, and of course I felt more inclined
to argue upon the probability than the improbability
of one doing so now. But though I heard the thunder
of their fall and its echoes, I saw nothing of them ; and,
gradually emerging on to more elevated ground, pur
sued a track leading to the pastures, and in about three
hours gained the valley of Iffigen,
After a very hot and fatiguing day's march, I thought
it luxury to find one of the chalets in this deep solitude
inhabited by a vacher and his faraily, who agreed to my

248 THE IFFIGENTHAL.
passing the night upon the hay in one of their remoter
out-buildings. Retiring from the immediate neighbourhood of this
little cluster of suraraer habitations higher up the valley,
it would be difficult to describe the impression of undis
turbed solitude produced upon the mind by the con
templation of the stern and barren features of the scenery
by which you are surrounded. The eye wanders over
the vale and the surface of the huge barrier of grey
precipice, without being diverted by any object indicative
of the presence or visits of the living creation.
Perhaps, for one brief portion of the brightest month
of summer, the peasant leads a part of his herd from the
chalets into these deep recesses, thus spreading over the
margin of the torrent and the grassy slopes at the foot
of the precipice, a brief and partial display of life and
its duties, and, by their presence scaring the chamois,
and the Lammergeyer (the eagle of the Alps,) the sole
frequenters of these wilds to still higher and more
inaccessible retreats. To those who consider solitude as
absence from mankind and the scenes which link man
with society — this would be solitude ; — but
This is not solitude ; 'tis but to hold
Converse with Nature's charms, and see her stores unroU'd,
Soon after eight o'clock in the evening, I scrambled
up into the roof of the log-hut, open on all sides to the
air, yet hot as a stove in consequence of the steam arising
from the bodies of thirty or forty goats lodged below.
Here, wrapped up in my mantle, I attempted to get
some rest.
I have omitted to mention that, opposite to the Seven

THE IFFIGENTHAL, 249
Fountains, I came to a small and miserable chaiet, tenanted
by a poor old woman, who, with the assistance of two
grandchildren, took care of a small herd of goats. She
was terribly asthmatic, and seemed at a great loss for
breath for the ordinary purpose of existence, yet she
talked with great volubility, except when cut short by
her cough. I had accepted her offer of warming me
some milk, and was busily engaged over it, and
talking about one thing or another, when I perceived
that her eyes and attention were rivetted on the schnaps-
bottle slung over my shoulders. I offered her a dose, as
I saw plainly enough what she wanted. It happened to
contain a supply of extremely strong Kirschwasser, and
the moment she swallowed her allowance, it took her
breath to such an alarming degree, that, seeing her
stretched on the bed in apparent convulsions, I began to
tremble for the consequences. However, in a short time
she recovered herself wonderfully ; and, after a few
dozen final coughs, she said she found it gar gut (vastly
good ) .
What between the continued chiming of the bells of
the cattle, the stirring among the troop beneath me, and a
brief but smart thunder-storm, I got but little sleep till
towards dawn, and at four o'clock prepared to cjuit my
dormitory, and to resume my journey.
My first business was to hunt about in the hay for
certain articles which were missing from my pockets,
chiefly such as were of some consequence to the traveller.
It was not till after a very considerable time spent in
carefully sifting the six or seven cubic feet upon which
I had been rolling and tossing, that I was able to recover
the most important ; some of smaller value, such as

250 THE RAWYL.
pens and pencils, escaped me altogether, and were, no
doubt, eaten by the goats in the course of time, with
wonder and relish.
After procuring what refreshment I could command in
my present situation, which was not the best calculated to
fortify me for the fatigues of a passage of nine leagues, I
exchanged the raorning salutation with the vacher and
his household, and set forward.
The situation of the Rawyl-Pass has been elsewhere
stated to be situated between the Gemmi and the
Sanetsch, both of which were traversed in the summer
of the foregoing year. It is less frequented than either.
As repeated experience had shown me how vexatiously
time and energy may be expended in attempting to find
the pathway over the broken and perplexing ground at the
foot of the precipices, and as I was aware that I should
have full employment for both these before I could reach
Sion, I got a lad from the chaiet to point out this com
mencement of my route to me, and to keep me in his eye
till I should be on the footway leading up the precipices,
that at any rate I might not start in a wrong direction.
This I soon reached, and was led by it in short and
uneven zig-zags partly among the rocky fragments fallen
frora above, and partly on the edge of one of the furrows
worn by avalanches and torrents, gradually higher and
higher above the little hollow where I had passed the
night, till I came to the base of the more precipitous part
of the mountain. It then commenced winding along- the
face of the rock, up and down as it was practicable, till
it became a narrow slippery footway, with a perpendicular
wall of shaly rock to the right, and an awfully profound
abyss to the left. Had I not become by practice a toler-

THE RAWYL. 251
able mountaineer, and iny brain much steadier than even
in the preceding year, I had not dared to tread over
many a portion of the track, and turn many a dizzy
corner, which I now found means carefully and steadily
to weather. The raorning had promised well, with a
brisk breeze and clear sky, and had it not been so, I
should hardly have ventured to traverse this path alone.
I could not resist the conviction which I had been
strengthened in, that there was a degree of unusual risk
in making the attempt, even under the most favourable
circumstances ; but habit and success had given me the
temper to hazard something without much torment from
my conscience.
I therefore think it just to own, that I felt sorae
thing like anxiety creeping over my merry morning
thoughts, and damping my wonder and enthusiasm, when
I observed bodies of thick white mist beginning to rise
among the heights across the valley, and fly more and
more towards that part of the chain where the Rawyl was
situated. When about 1500 feet above the Iffigenthal, the path
way becomes more and more hazardous. It leads over
the steep courses of avalanches, partly filled with under
mined drifts of snow. Here one cascade from the higher
part of the precipices flies over the head of the passenger
as he creeps between it and the rock ; and there, in a
black and dismal rift round which the pathway winds, a
second falls upon the very ledge upon which you pass,
and sweeps down the precipice below you. To be caught
in this portion of the passage by a tornado or a violent
thunder-gust, which instantly adds to the volume of these
cascades, can hardly fail to entail loss of life, which, in

252 THE RAWYL.
this part particularly, not unfrequently occurs in bad
weather, and early in the spring.
After an hour and a half's climb I reached the summit
of the precipices without accident, and, on turning the last
ledge, had the grief to see all the higher parts of the
mountain before me buried in impenetrable mist. I
grant that on seeing this I closed my teeth with something
like repentance, for I instantly comprehended all the
danger of proceeding in a region where one single direc
tion alone could possibly be either safe or right, and all
others attended not merely with risk, but the almost
absolute certainty of destruction. The pathway up the
precipices had emerged upon a flat, of the extent of which
I was of course no judge, partly loose wet shale, and
partly thick grass, on neither of which the footstep of a
casual passenger can make an impression likely to last
even many hours in a region where the snow, rain, and
wind are always liable to change the appearance of the
surface. Thus I was even at a loss to say whether my
next step from the brink of the precipice was to be taken
to the right or left. My first object was to make myself
quite sure of the figure of the spot where I was emerging
from the precipices, which without such observation
might be lost to me by a casual bewilderment if I only
advanced ten paces into the mist. To retum was still in
my power, but I could not resolve to do so. After
breathing awhile, and putting myself in the best trim my
means would allow, I began to pry about to see if I
could not discover some trace of the continuation of the
path I had hitherto followed.
After many a careful advance and return to my first
post, and many minutes spent in this anxious kind of

THE RAWYL. 253
reconnoitre, my eye was attracted to some indentures at
the edge of a drift of snow ; and these, after a careful
examination, I felt convinced had once been footmarks,
though now almost eradicated by the weather. As this
bank of snow lay in the right direction, and my own foot
steps on it would be my clue in returning, should I find
advance impracticable, I set foot upon it. I could dis
tinguish that it was a bed of no great breadth, lying in a
steep gully between two ridges, and that was all. Here
and there I found a spot where, from circumstances, the
footmarks were more distinct, and then again lost them
entirely for many minutes.
I had proceeded in this manner for about half an hour,
during which time the gloom appeared to increase, and
put me to no little perplexity. However I floundered
forward on the snow with as good hope as I could indulge,
though not without many an interval of grievous sus
picion ; for the snow began to assume more and more
the appearance of ice the further I advanced, so much
so that with the increasing difficulty of my path, I
began to put more credence in an idea that had struck
me when I first observed the track, that it might be only
that of a chamois-hunter, and would lead eventually
on to the glaciers. Suddenly, I observed the mist
give some faint tokens of dispersion, and could dis
tinguish, at some distance, and high above me, what
seemed to be a rocky outlet, bounding the gully in which
I had been advancing. To gain this I put forth my
strength, but the snow becoming steeper and steeper, an
unwary step brought me down on ray side, and I was
carried down the frozen declivity with a violence and
rapidity which accelerated every yard. Two attempts to

245 THE RAWYL,
stop myself by thrusting my alpenstock into the snow
failed, though both somewhat retarded the swiftness of my
descent, A third, made more warily, and with a desperate
exertion, succeeded ; and after lying two or three minutes
where I stopped, to recover breath, and 1 may almost say
recollection, for the suddenness and rapidity of the motion
had made my brain spin, I once more regained my foot
ing, I was a little bruised from having been carried over
some fragments of stone lying on the surface ; a little
disheartened with having descended in twenty seconds or
less what had taken me full ten minutes to mount, and a
little sore in the idea of having a second slide, if I should
succeed in making good the advance I had lost.
In undertaking this labour a second time, it raay be
believed I did it warily enough ; for at every step I
took care to have a tolerably sure footing in the snow ;
and between every movement, when I reached the
hazardous acclivity, down went my spiked staff a
foot and a-half beneath the surface. At last, I gained
my point, and at the same moment upon reaching
the outlet, as it proved to be, I got upon firm ground,
and into clear warm sunshine, I have experienced few
more sudden and complete changes, than that which now
fell to my lot, A few minutes before, I had been in com
parative darkness, trouble, and difficulty, and, what was
still worse, great doubt and uncertainty; chilled to the bone
by the mist, and fagged with what appeared to be useless
exertion ; now, certain of my course, with a track before
me too evident to be suspected ; over my head, the warm
sun and the blue sky ; and around me, one of those mag
nificent scenes which I always deemed full compensation
for many a heavy step, and doubtful moment. The mists

THE RAWYL, 255
below were now rapidly dispersing, and the spectacle on
every side became momentarily more exquisite. From
the elevated point which I had now reached, I at first
seemed raised but a few feet above a rolling ocean
of mist, of the most dazzling whiteness, which stretched
over the whole country beneath me. Out of this rose all
the higher glaciers and peaks of the chain, with the red
and purple of their naked rocks exquisitely blended with
the violet and silver of the snows and glaciers interspersed
among them ; and over all, a sky of the most delicious
blue it is possible to conceive. Soon the vapour began
to dissipate ; and a vast rent gradually forming in the
centre of the portion immediately beneath me, I was
enabled to contemplate the bottom of the great hollow
out of which I had ascended, and could distinguish the
clump of chalets in whichi had found my night's shelter,
still enveloped in deep shade. Another five minutes, and
the mist had become yet more broken, and through it I
could distinguish the long hollow valley of the Simmen
thal running to the northward, with its innumerable
chalets, villages, and pastures ; and ere long, not a
speck of vapour was to be seen in the vast extent of
mountain scenery spread before me, and not a shadow
upon the country but what the huge bulk of the
mountains themselves cast in long ragged figures from
the eastward.
In resuming my way, I passed from this point into a
deep hollow, occupied by a small lake, and surrounded by
large blocks of rock, and patches of unmelted and dis
coloured snow ; and then reached the sumrait of another
acclivity 1 by a faint track. Here, upon the highest
1 The Rawyl, 8050 feet above the sea.

256 THE RAWYL,
summit, the wind blew so piercingly cold, that I felt
half frozen, and yet no garden could vie with the brilliant
display of colours, in the dwarf Alpine plants which
covered every inch of mould interspersed among the rocks
forming the crest of the mountain.
The head of this mountain, like that of the Sanetsch,
is very broad and extended, so that the N. and S.
declivities are several miles distant from each other.
It was very fortunate that I was favoured with perfectly
clear and fine weather, while traversing this wide plateau.
For, even with all the advantages I possessed in this
respect, I felt myself frequently so terribly perplexed,
that I am convinced, if the mist had returned, or bad
weather set in, I should never have been able to extricate
myself. I am aware that to such as have never been in a country
like this, I should find it next to impossible to explain
wherein all this difficulty consists. Even individuals who
may have been much in mountainous countries, and per
haps traversed these very passes, but in company, and with
guides, though able to understand these difficulties to a
certain degree, would scarcely be capable of comprehend
ing their full extent. To do so, a man must have felt what
it is to be his own pioneer, his own counsellor in difficulty,
and to risk every thing in his own individual person.
There are fiftj' places in the passage of such a mountain,
where a solitary wanderer must pause in perplexity,
weigh the for and against, and feel that his safety must
rest upon his ultimate decision, which would be passed
unnoticed by the party, who repose implicit confidence in
their guide. So when I speak of the perplexing cha
racter of a tract of countiy, I must not always be

THE RAWi'L, . 257
considered to mean the presence ofthe abyss, the glacier,
the torrent, or the course of the headlong avalanche ; for
the passage of such, however perilous, is in general
evident, it being impossible to traverse them by any
other than a particular track which is commonly well
defined ; but parts of the mountains, where there
are none of these dangers, and where a guided party
would never dream of peril. I allude to the long path
less waste, the bare head of the mountain, fields of loose
shale or bog, which retain no track for any length of
time together ; places where the tempest and the torrent
have grooved ten thousand furrows, where it requires a
practised and sagacious eye to distinguish the trace
of footsteps, even where they exist; to see where the
earth or moss had been depressed, or worn by the casual
passenger, or the surface of the rock a little tinged by
the iron of a shoe or hoof. The reader will easily per
ceive, that in parts where even these faint indications are
wanting, perplexity is excusable, and the utmost caution
necessaiy. The best theoretical knowledge of the face ofa coun
try like this, advisable and even necessary as its acqui
sition may be, together with all the aids derived from
the best maps and descriptions, must often be insufficient
to direct the traveller among the minute details of real
nature. The weather must indeed be obscure, and the
individual bewildered, who, by the help of his watch,
cannot point out the cardinal points, even when circum
stances are not the most favourable ; yet a general idea
of the direction in which the different points and objects
lie, is seldom sufficient. No direct line of route can
be observed at a venture upon such an incumbered and

258 THE RAWYL.
varied surface, as that generally existing on the heads
of these passes ; where you have frequently to tack alter
nately, like a ship, east and west, to advance south.
I have often, as may be imagined, been in the greatest
perplexity, in the course of my solitary wanderings ;
and, in making my decision, have in the end not un
frequently found, that I had decided wrong, thereby
incurring needless expenditure of time and strength ;
while, on the other hand, I have often had reason to
lift my heart to God to bless him for the guidance of
his providence, when, without clue of any kind, and
hoping against hope, I have in making choice between
many probable, or improbable ways, found myself
extricated. When I gained the southern brow of the mountain,
I came in sight of almost precisely the same magnificent
view which had greeted me last year from the Sanetsch,
with this exception that the Matterhorn was now more
directly before me. This noble mountain is flanked by
splendid glaciers descending into the three vales of
Eringer, Einfisch, and Turtman. Here I was rather
surprised at finding myself on the verge of a second
line of precipices, somewhat resembling those on the
Berne side of the mountain, but very inferior in
height. A zigzag pathway conducted me to their foot,
and to the head of the deep valley running down towards
the Rhone. Here the traveller finds himself on the
borders ofa torrent formed by the junction ofthe waters
of many cascades, tumbling from the enormous rocks
of shale, which tower on every side ; and it is natural to
suppose that nothing more is required than to follow its
course, descending deeper and deeper down the long-

THE RAWYL. 259
drawn valley, which narrows in the perspective before
you, till you emerge in the Vallais, on the banks of
the Rhone. So I thought, but found rayself greatly
deceived. The river flows in too deep and too
savage a channel to admit the possibility of a footway,
and I found I must bear to the right, ascend, and traverse
another provokingly high and steep mountain, and
scramble for hours in wretched footpaths, in the fir forests,
without water, and in intolerable heat, for four tedious
hours before I could reach the first village, Ayent.
It is singular what sudden extremes of heat and cold
the human body is capable of enduring with apparent
insensibility, at least, without perceptible bad effects.
In the early raorning I have often been half-frozen ; some
hours after have panted in a burning atmosphere at
least 90° in the shade, and in the evening been again
benumbed in a climate several degrees below the
freezing point.
Among the many cascades on the southem declivities
of the Rawyl, I noticed in particular one, as I descended
the southern line of precipices, of an uncommonly fine
and singular appearance, bursting out of a black cleft
in the face of a broad and precipitous rock in five or
six ditinct columns, and afterwards forming a fine
wild tumble of foaraing water.
It had always struck me, that there is a near approach
in general resemblance in the inhabitants of the Vallais
to the Italians ; as to the males at least, they are much
swarthier, and have much more expression and licence
in their dark eyes, than any of their Swiss neighbours.
Their houses, mules, nay, even postures, often brought
the Italian before my eyes. On my entering Ayent,
S 2

'2fi0 SION.
about two miles above Sion, I went in search of some
kind of refreshment, which the abstinence and violent
exertion of the last forty-six hours had rendered very
desirable. I was informed by a peasant, lolling by the
road side, who, with his fierce grin, quick eye, and lank
hair, would not have been a bad study for a bandit, that
there was no auberge or cabaret in the village ; but on
finding that I was faint with the heat and long march,
he immediately offered me wine, — took me to his cottage,
where his wife, a tall masculine woman, with a goitre as
large as a pumpkin at the side of her throat, soon
brought rae a large pewter flaggon, containing a quart
or upwards of the vin ordinaire of the country, which I
found delicious, though I dare say it was bad enough.
Having answered all the questions the curiosity of
ray host and three or four bony neighbours tempted
them to ask concerning the passage of the Rawyl, and
the far country from which I came, I set forward again,
with the greater number of my prej udices against the
Vallaisans drowned in the wine they had given me
with such true hospitality ; and made up my mind to
like their looks always in future, with a mental re
servation unfavourable to the Cretins, towards whom I
continued to cherish an unconquerable dislike, and
that kind of pity which is coupled with two much
disgust to be allied to love.
The peasantry of the Bas- Vallais speak a most per
plexing patois, with more Italian in the mixture, than
any thing else. Happily most can understand, and
perhaps speak, a little German or French.
About one o'clock in the day, I entered Sion,
and took my quarters at La Croix blanche. The

SION. 261
churches of this old town are curious. The situation
of the three castles, Majoria, Valeria, and Tourbillon,
is commanding : indeed the geological formation of that
part of the valley of the Rhone, from Siders to Sion, is
well worth a leisurely survey. The flat of the valley
is continually broken by isolated and lofty masses
of rock resembling those on which these castles are built
— many of them crowned in like raanner. The water
in this portion of the Vallais is execrable and very inju
rious to the health. In this town and neighbourhood I
was content to remain during the rest of the day, looking
anxiously for a continuation of the fair weather for the
morrow. Towards sunset it showed symptoms of being
very unsettled, though a certain species of beautiful
green frog, called in German Laubfrosch, which is
employed in many parts of the continent as a baro
meter, sat pertinaciously at the top of his ladder,
thereby announcing fair weather. They are kept in
a vase half filled with water, and a miniature ladder from
the top to the bottom. In fair weather they sit at the
rim, and in changeable or wet, plunge and lie at the
bottora. Whoever has passed a summer's night at Sion or
Martigny, will be ready to sympathize with me, and
anticipate the complaints, which, as a way-worn traveller,
I might be tempted to indulge, in the recollection of the
execrably bad night I had to put up with. Sion is
proverbially the paradise of vermin, the city of refuge of all
those tribes whom cleanliness and care have expelled frora
other countries. Sleep was of course out of the question.
I found a host of enemies in my quarters and neighbour-

!262 SION.
hood, of all classes and capabilities, and had time enough,
thanks to their persevering attention, to distinguish,
examine, and class them all. There were the heavy-
armed, the light-armed, and the pioneer plying within,
and the powers of the air without, who tickled, and
buzzed, and sang about my quarters, till my patience
and spirit of meek endurance were almost as much
tempted as those of good Saint Anthony, My reader
will give me credit, that what I was suffering was not to
be accounted a joke, when I add, that I heard a poor
gentleman, in a chamber boarded off from the one I had
the honour to occupy, sigh and groan aloud, at in
tervals, frora bed- time till about one o'clock ; and if any
doubt had possessed my mind, respecting the cause of
his mal aise, it was effectually removed, when, just after
the bell of the Jesuits' church had tolled one, his patience
gave way, and I was electrified, by hearing a thundering
imprecation in good English, followed by the pathetic
complaint — ' they bite like the Devil ! '
There is a certain saint, of the third or fourth magni
tude, in the Romish calendar, I believe Saint Egidius
by name, who, being the patron of vermin of every de
scription, should really see to it, that better discipline is
kept up in the Roman Catholic towns at least, among
the tribes under his especial jurisdiction. One might
almost suspect, from the state of things, that they were
too many for hira.
July 22Mrf.' — In that half-waking, half-sleeping state
in which a bad night is generally spent — my imagination
had been miserably occupied by the dangers of the pass
I had traversed the preceding morning, and my nerves

SION. 263
infinitely raore sensible and irritable in the dreaming
recollection than they had been in actual peril. This
moment I was hanging over the precipice — another
whirling down the ice — and thus, in addition to the cause
of distress before alluded to, continually starting convul
sively from my broken slumbers ; it is therefore no wonder
that I arose feverish and unrefreshed. The morning air is
the best and a sovereign remedy for this kind of fever, both
in body and mind ; I consequently breakfasted and pre
pared to leave the town about six o'clock. Though the
weather over head was fair, the general state ofthe sky and
wind, and the index of the barometer, at much rain,
seemed to indicate but a dreary day. But on approach
ing the little stand where the frog was placed, and
seeing him quite at the top of his ladder, I cared neither
for the signs of the weather or the barometer, and set
forward. However, on emerging from the west gate of
the town, I saw a terrible storm coming up the valley,
and had to put back and remain in my quarters for a
couple of hours, during which time the rain fell in
torrents. When, however, it had spent its strength,
encouraged by a gleam of sunshine I quitted the town
afresh, and took the route for Martigny.
It may be recollected, that I passed this very line
of road last summer, after crossing the Sanetsch Pass,
and complained heavily of the ennui excited by the
monotonous straightness of the greater part.
I had almost vowed at that time never again to attempt
it on foot, and when I found that my plan led me this year
also from Sion to Martigny, had intended to exchange it for
the more varied route on the right bank of the Rhone.
Finding however that this was several miles round, and on

264 MARTIGNY.
the sunny side of the valley, which is as hot as Calcutta,
I was constrained, by my wish to get to Martigny as soon
as possible, to betake myself to the regular route. The
first portion of the road, where it runs under the mountain
on the right bank, is picturesque and amusing ; then
comes the bridge of the Rhone which you cross, and
passing through the village of Riddes, the second and
disagreeable division opens before you.
Though the weather had been fair, with fine gleams
of sunshine, I could see from the thick clouds and tem
pests of rain on the mountains on either side, that there
was rough work in the higher country, and congratulated
myself upon having crossed the Rawyl yesterday, since
to-day it would have been impossible.
My first care, on my arrival in Martigny was to find the
convent where the monks of St. Bernard take up their
abode, as I had letters of recommendation to a gentleman of
the convent, whom I fancied I might meet with here ; nor
was I mistaken. The repairs going on in the convent had
rendered it necessaiy for one or two of their number to
find other lodgings, ad interim, and accordingly I found
him and another of his order established for the present
in this town.
They received tne with politeness, and furnished me
with a few lines to one of their brethren, as I proposed,
proceeding to the Great Saint Bernard without loss
of time. There was little to be remarked in the
convent of which they were inhabitants. Their habit
consisted of the close black vestment of the order,
which is properly Augustine, with a narrow white tape
passing over each shoulder, and down one side ; a close
black stock, slightly embroidered with white beads, and

VALLEY OF THE DRANCE. 265
a high sugar loaf cap, without a rim, terminated by a
round woollen tuft.
While we were in conversation, the superior entered
the apartinent, habited in like manner. He ranks as
Bishop in the Roraan hierarchy. He was a gentlemanly
man, of a calm and mild cast of feature, and, like the
other monks, remarkable lively and aniraated in con
versation. After about an hour's stay, I quitted Martigny, with
the intention of reaching Liddes, five leagues distant, in
the course of the evening ; the day being too far spent to
allow of my making good ray ascent to the convent of the
Great St. Bernard itself, which was four leagues further.
The scenery of the line of vallies leading up towards this
well known mountain did not appear to me peculiarly strik
ing. After entering the valley of the Drance, the route led
me through the villages of Bovernier and St. Branchier,
to the opening into the Val de Bagnes, remarking in my
progress many a trace of the horrible deluge which issued
from it in 1818, in consequence of the bursting of the
glacier ; the relation of which is still fresh in the memory
of the present generation. Here the road to the Great
Saint Bernard turns to the right into the Val d'Entre-
monts. ¦
The finest point of view on the whole road is when you
have passed Orsiferes, whose deep valley joining with the
Val de Ferret, and commanded by the precipitous M.
Catogne and his neighbours, is well worth a momentary
pause. The vale all the way from Martigny to Liddes is
remarkably well cultivated, in parts where it is sufficiently
wide to admit of cultivation, and produces a considerable
quantity of corn. The greatest portion of this was already

266 VALLEY OF THE DRANCE.
cut. The vines in the lower part are but few, and tended
much less carefully than those on the Rhine and Jura.
They are on that very account more picturesque. The
mountains in the lower part of the passage seemed to be
principally shale, and the water execrable. The inhabi
tants and their habitations assume more and more of the
Italian air, and are certainly not improved by it.
July QSrd. — As I had only four leagues to walk this
moming to the hospital, I took my time, and leaving
Liddes about eight in the morning, proceeded up the
valley. Carriages go no farther than this village, and
beyond, mules are the only conveyance for such as do
not use their legs.
The village of St. Pierre, about a league higher, is
built at the brink of the deep and compressed gorge
of Valsor^. The latter contains several fine cascades in
the recesses of the mountains to the left. Soon after
passing this village the road becomes more encumbered
and mountainous, though easy in comparison with other
passes. The rocks are quite reddened by the rhododen
dron. The last league of the ascent I found more diffi
cult than I had anticipated, as the weather, which had
favoured me hitherto, began to change for the worse. A
thick mist overspread the mountains, and it hailed
and snowed violently. Indeed so dense was the mist, that
when the track led me on to that part of the mountain
which was still covered with the unmelted snow of the
preceding winter, I found myself more than once, exces
sively bewildered, and quite without track. By returning,
however, and a careful examination on every side, I hit
again upon the right path, and after half an hour's

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD, 267
fatiguing climb over the snow and ice, got into shelter
just as the increasing violence of the wind and snow
storm began to make shelter necessarj'-.
The Hospital or Convent of the Great St, Bemard is
situated on the elevated ridge which runs between Mont
Velan to the east, and the Point de Dronaz to the west,
and is computed to be at the elevation of 8200 feet above
the level of the sea. As to the peculiar features of its
position, I am able to give no description from my own
observation ; the mist being so dense, and the snow falling
so incessantly during the thirty hours I spent there, that
I am even unable to describe the exterior figure and
dimensions of the edifices composing it. However, that
has been often done by others. The principal building
seems to be a massive and substantial erection, to which
important additions were then making. The groundfloor
is used for stabling and magazines, and the first for
offices. The principal apartments are upon the second
story, and into one of these, called the parlour, the visitor
is conducted immediately on his arrival. A few rainutes
after my entrance, the bell of the refectory rang for
dinner, which is here always at half-past eleven. As
there were several strangers, a separate table was laid
out for them in the parlour, under the superintendence
of a canon, bearing the title of Clavendier, to whose
care and attention strangers are committed. He was
assisted in these duties by a young monk who became
afterwards my companion during the time I passed here.
After dinner all the guests, with the exception of
myself, quitted the monastery, in spite of the heavy snow,
and descended either to Martigny, orinto the Val d' Aoste ;

268 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.
when I found myself alone with the young canon, who
professed his readiness to give me any information I
wished to obtain, and to be my cicerone indoors, as
excursions beyond the precincts were out of the
question. The convent contains a small museum of mineralogical
and geological specimens, and of various antiquities found
on the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter on this
mountain. Many among the latter are curious. They
consist chiefly of various inscriptions on brass coins
of the Roman emperors, and fragments of brass and
metal penates. Several of the inscriptions were quite
perfect, and appeared to be principally votive tablets,
I saw in this museum four birds of a singular species
of ptarmigan, found in abundance in the neighbour
hood of the hospital. In winter, they are perfectly
white ; in spring, a few black feathers are observable ;
in summer, the mottled plumage, and in autumn
the black predominates. They call them Herbene. At
three o'clock the bell rang for vespers. The chapel
is large, the choir lofty, and airy. All the monks
attended, with a white robe thrown over their black
scapulary, and a red vest over the white. They still
wore their conical caps. The body of the chapel under
the organ-loft, was occupied by a number of peasants,
partly Piedmontese, and partly Vallaisans ; and I thought
I never saw a more uncouth assemblage. The service
was conducted in the ordinary manner, and lasted about
an hour and a-half,
I afterwards retired to the parlour, and was soon joined
by the young monk before mentioned, who might be
about twenty three years of age, and had already taken the

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD, 269
vows five years. To him I am obliged for the greater
proportion of my gleanings respecting this interesting
spot. The order of Bernardines was properly Augustine, till
moulded into its present form by St. Bernard, some time
in the beginning ofthe 10th century, (a. d. 962). This
saint, as the legend hath it, was a person of some conse
quence and property in the vicinity of Fontaine in
Burgundy, and showed his first signal proof of sanctity
on no less an occasion than his wedding-day, when, after
having plighted his troth to a wife, he suddenly re
pented, and, the same evening, forsaking both his bride
and his castle, fled into Italy. He came and lived for
some time as a monk at Aosta. Amongst the I60
monasteries and convents he is said to have founded or
re-established, this is by no means the meanest, and pro
bably has survived most of the rest. The convent which
he founded as a refuge for travellers on this mountain
was burnt to the ground some time after, and the present
structure erected on its site. Many additions have been
made to it at various times ; and a large building
called the Hotel de Saint Louis, has been erected at a
small distance, for the convenience of additional lodging
for domestics and others attached to the convent.
The number of the Bernardines has varied from time
to time ; at present it consists of twenty or twenty-five
monks ; all, I believe, without one exception, natives
ofthe countries to the north ofthe Alps. This irin con
sequence of a process instituted many years ago, at the
court of Rome, about the nomination of a superior. At
that time the nomination was claimed by the King of
Sardinia, and was usually bestowed by him upon some

270 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD,
young noble of his court, who never troubled his head
about the poor monks and their convent, but enjoyed the
bulk of the revenue of the order as a sinecure, living at
court, while the canons were in the greatest distress and
poverty, and quite unable to fulfil the ends of their order.
In consequence of the verdict given by the Pope in
favour of the appeal made to him, the nomination was
put into the hands of the order itself, and confirmed
to thera, on condition of their relinquishing their reve
nues and lands on the Italian side of the Alps ; and thus
all they receive at present from the Italian princes has
the name of donation only. The superior holds the office
for life, and has the powers of a bishop. He is chosen
from their number in a general chapter of the order. His
place of abode is Martigny. A prior, resident in the
convent, is elected every four years. Other officers for
the interior government of the various departments
connected with the hospital and its revenues, as well
as for the 'purpose of collecting alms, by which, ina
great measure, the institution is now upheld, are not
wanting. They have for some years relinquished the small
hospital, at one time tenanted on the Little St. Bernard,
neither their revenues nor their numbers being adequate
to its support. They are however in hopes of establishing
a bye-convent on the Simplon. Besides their small con
vent in Martigny, one of their nuraber, generally such as
ill health or old age has reduced to the necessity of
living in a milder atmosphere, has lodgings at St. Pierre
on the Swiss side of the mountain, and St. Remy on
the Italian. No novices may be taken under sixteen years
of age. Sometimes many years elapse without any

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST, BERNARD. 271
addition being made to the order. This was the case
some few years ago, and the number of monks was
so reduced, the decline of health in many so
apparent, and so long a time gone by without any
individual offering himself for the noviciate, that the
Bernardines began to dread the extinction of their order.
Suddenly, seven young peasants presented theraselves as
candidates, but their zeal was illusory ; for not one
of that number could stand the rigours of the noviciate.
To be sure, as one of the canons told me, they were
proved to the very last extremity. The noviciate lasts
but one year ; but the novice is subjected to a very
severe discipline ; religious and penitential exercises
during the day, and exposure to the most horrible weather
at night ; watching and fasting to boot. If he perseveres,
he then takes the vows of celibacy, obedience, and self-
denial, and is admitted as a member of the order for life.
They are bound by the rules, to rise at four every
morning, and attend matins in the chapel ; after that,
religious exercises till half-past six, when they break
their fast. Then follows early mass. At half-past
eleven they dine, and are no ascetics, in the refectory
at least.
For half an hour after dinner, they reraain together in
conversation ; then study till three in the afternoon, when
they attend vespers ; they sup at six, and study ad libitum
afterwards. They are enjoined to lodge and board all stran
gers and passengers at all seasons, and, if there is danger,
to assist them with guides in traversing the mountain,
without charge and cost. They are able to furnish as
many as sixty or seventy beds for strangers on an emer
gency, and it often happens that several hundreds are

272 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.
assisted with food and shelter in the course of a single day.
In winter, their rules command them to send every
day, be the weather fair or otherwise, two able and power
ful men, attached to the household, and called Maroniers,
who are perfectly accustomed to the mountains, the one
towards the Italian side, and the other towards the
Valais, These traverse a certain portion of the pass
backwards and forwards the whole day, attended by one
of the great dogs, thereby keeping a path open in
the snow, and being on the watch for passengers.
If the Maronier meets with any persons bewildered or
exhausted, or if the sagacious companion indicates by his
movements that any unfortunate being is under the snow,
he returns with all speed to the hospital and gives the
alarm. Four or raore of the monks then instantly set out
with such reraedies and restoratives as are at hand, to be
used instantly if the object of their benevolence is
not too far gone. Four carry the body, and the others go
forward to traraple the snow, which is often above twenty
feet in depth, and give more facility to the advance
of their brethren.
Cold water, with ice immersed in it, is prepared, and
the body placed in it, the instant they regain the convent.
This is almost the only, and the most efficacious remedy,
they are able to make use of. If it fails in restoring
animation, all hope is at an end. The same simple remedy
is resorted to, if the limbs of the patient are partially
frozen, and seldom fails of success. From this prompt
exertion and treatment, the lives of many have been saved.
The dogs are of a large and, I need not add, a sagacious
breed, originally from Spain. They are far frora being
numerous. There were only four at the convent, and

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 273
some young ones training in a chiclet lower down the
mountain. The largest, Jupiter, was the general fa
vourite at the time of my visit, as the most sagacious and
useful of the race. He had saved the lives of a woman
and child a short time before. It appears that he knew
that sorae one had passed the hospital, and set off, appa
rently from mere curiosity, to see who it was. His absence
was observed by one of the Maroniers, who followed
his trail, and found him posted over the drift where the
poor woman and child were about to perish.
The preceding winter (1825-6) had been signalized by
the loss of three ofthe domestics belonging to the convent,
and a traveller whom they were conducting to the hos
pital. As the circumstances attending this accident may
illustrate the peculiar danger of the service in which
these worthy monks are engaged, I shall relate them at
length, as communicated to me. — It was after a violent
snow-storm of several days' continuance, which had kept
all the inhabitants of the convent close within their walls,
that a partial brightning in the weather on the 17th
December emboldened them to dispatch three of their
domestics down the Italian side of the mountain, to
escort a small party of travellers, who had been detained
in the convent, and at the same time to fetch their
usual supply of fresh provisions from the first Italian
village, St. Remy, about a league down the Pass. This
party was accompanied by two of the dogs, Jupiter and
a younger one. The day closed, night set in, and, to the
surprise of the monks, no servants re-appeared. How
ever, they lulled their fears, by persuading themselves
that their Maroniers, not daring to re-ascend in the dusk,
had staid at St. Remy, and trusted to see them return
T

274 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.
with the provisions early on the following morning. The
morning came — noon arrived — the shade of evening again
closed the short-lived day, and still no tidings of their
servants. However, during the course of this day,
two of the monks worked their way, after a whole
hour's struggle in the snow, which was many feet deep
to the lower end of the lake, near which the convent is
situated, and reached a point about three minutes' ordinary
walk from the hospital, from whence the greater part
of the downward route towards St. Remy could be
distinguished. They now saw that the whole valley was
covered by the wrecks of a series of avalanches — and
returned, fearing the worst ; but still hoped against hope'
that the adventurers might have reached St. Remy, and
been detained there. It was not till the third day after
their departure, that their suspicions were verified beyond
all doubt. On that day, the estafette from St. Remy
arrived at the convent, followed by poor Jupiter. He
brought word that the Maroniers had arrived safe with
their companions at the village, and after some short
stay, had set off on their return, accompanied by a
traveller who wished to pass to the Swiss side of the Alps,
Nothing more was to be learnt from him, except, that,
about an hour after, Jupiter returned alone, dread
fully fatigued, and made it to be understood, by his
howling and anxiety, that some misfortune had befallen
his companions.
The cause of the disaster was now no longer a matter
of doubt, and after sorae months, was rendered certain by
the discovery of the bodies. It appears, that, when about
half a league on their way back, they were suddenly
arrested and overwhelmed by a tremendous avalanche

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 275
from the slopes of Mont Mort, which in its headlong
course carried the party for above a mile down the moun
tain, and buried them with the younger dog, deep
under the snow. By some means Jupiter kept nearer the
edge, or the surface, and, when the force of the avalanche
was spent, extricated himself. It was judged, that he had
attempted to make his way up the mountain towards the
hospital, but such was the impediment offered to his
struggle by the immense mass of soft snow, that he was
forced to return in the bed of a torrent to St. Remy.
They described him there as whining and "weeping"
the whole night.
From December, when this event happened, till the
beginning of June, when they found the first body, by
the melting of the snow, the monks had no direct idea
of the part of the Pass where they might lie. Three
were found, not far from each other, in a deep gulley,
but so disfigured, that the bodies could only be recog
nized by their clothing ; and the fourth not till the
beginning of the very month of my visit, still with eight
feet of snow over him.
The Piedmontese, or Vallaisans, now and then commit
a murder upon some unfortunate individual, in his
passage of the mountain. The former, for the most part,
carry long knives in a slit along the thigh, and are so
expert in the use of them, that, I was assured, they could
mortally wound a person at the distance of eight paces,
by darting it in a peculiar manner. But lately a poor
smuggler was observed by some of these miscreants to
have money on his person at Liddes. He was conse
quently dogged over the mountain by sixteen men, who
ate at the hospital in passing, and were observed to
T 2

276 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.
sharpen their knives. Part of their number then went
on before, and others following thera, they murdered him
and hid his body in the snow, where it was found in
the summer.
The monks seem for the most part hale, strong, and
hearty men, who, in spite of constant colds and indiges
tions, live apparently well and comfortable together,
laugh heartily, and seera fond of the corapany of stran
gers ; yet few of them live to an advanced age. They have
no expenses, clothes and other necessaries being provided
them. Each is allowed to take a fortnight's excursion
in the course of summer, and receives twenty batzen, or
half-a-crown, for his travelling expenditure.
I could not avoid a smile and expression of surprise at
this information ; but my young informant added, that
this small sum was not only thought sufficient in a
general way, but some of their number contrive so well in
walking from one parsonage to another,and boardingin the
monasteries, that they are able to save it entire towards the
purchase of some book or other innocent indulgence.
This, with another twenty batzen at the close of the
year, forms their whole private revenue. Purchases of every
kind are, by the rules, immediately to be submitted to
the censorship of the superior.
There is a tolerable library of Latin theological works
attached to the convent, to which the monks have access,
under certain restrictions.
At six, or soon after, supper was announced, and I was
invited to join the brethren in their refectory. The repast
was preceded and terminated by a long Latin grace with
responses. The prior, a most friendly and gentlemanly
man, presided, and the conversation was as free and

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 377
unrestrained as the meal was substantial, and the wine
excellent. The latter is chiefly of the growth of Italy,
and generally forms a portion of the donation from his
majesty of Sardinia,
I was once more joined in the parlour after supper by
my former obliging and communicative companion.
It may seem vain to advert to the chit-chat by which
we wasted away the hours till bedtime, and I should
not deem it worth my while to transplant any part of it
from my note-book to these pages, if it did not in some
measure serve to illustrate the characters and opinions
and way of thinking of a singular community, who must
have our respect as men, even while we may be inclined
to question the validity of the foundation upon which
they repose themselves, and the principles which stimu
late them to persevere in a life of patient endurance.
That they are simple-minded, sincere men, devoted to
their peculiar work, I believe from my heart, as truly as
I believe that work to be one entailing much difficulty,
personal deprivation, and danger, with the almost certain
consequence of premature old age.
My companion, doubtless, knew that he was conversing
with a Protestant, yet, on the conversation insensibly
taking a serious turn, did not appear to evince the slightest
hesitation to enter upon any topic that was introduced.
I believe we were led to the subject by talking of the
disturbances then rife in France with regard to the
Jesuits, of whose cause I found the Bernardines were
warm advocates. I observed, that there was a violent and
powerful party opposed to them among Roman Catholics
in France. He said, they were eminently useful, and that
a strong argument might be gathered in favour of the

278 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.
goodness of their cause, by the outcry there was
against it.
It appeared to me proper to suggest, that such infer
ences were rather novel amongst the members of the
Church of Rome. Had they been fashionable in olden
time, Huss and his followers, and the Waldenses would
have fared better than they did. He then fell rather
rudely upon the want of unity in the Protestant
churches — the interminable and innumerable schisms
and discussions even in England, ten times more deadly
and dangerous than those of the church of Rome,
Here I had to lament more, if I could not reprobate
as much, and replied, that it was, nevertheless, easy
to understand why, in this respect, the Roman Catholic
must have the advantage over Protestants ; the only
wonder was, not that schism should be so rare, but that
it should exist at all in the pale of the Romish Church,
since the simple doctrine of infallibility demands
of every individual, that he should yield his own private
judgment in perfect submission to the decrees of popes
and councils, Luther next fell under his violent repro
bation ; and here I own I found it no easy matter to
keep my ground, as he brought to the combat so many
stories to his disadvantage, to which I was an utter
stranger, that I knew not how to confute them. All
that remained for me was, to doubt their correctness.
The impossibility of salvation out of the pale of the
Romish Church next became the subject of discussion,
and here I was much amused to- remark the struggle
between his natural politeness and consideration for his
guest, and respect for the doctrines ofhis church. Though
he made a point of upholding this doctrine in general, 1

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 279
could not bring him to say roundly that I, as a Protestant,
could have no reasonable hope of escaping damnation. I
rather perceived that his private opinion was wavering
about possibilities, however probabilities might be out of
the question ; and think he was inclined to make some
kind of exception in favour of the English, under an idea
that, after all, they might contrive by sorae means or other
to surmount the main obstacle, and get into heaven by
some side door. As to the French Protestants, they were
all to be tumbled neck and heels into the pit, without
any hope or reservation.
When I was just going to my roora, .he held me back,
to ask me what, as a Protestant, I could possibly have to
say against the confessional. To this I could merely reply,
that confession, in common with extreme unction, and
many other ofthe ordinances ofthe Romish Church, was
an excellent institution in the first instance, and I felt
convinced was originally used among men of sincere and
spiritual minds to their own benefit and the strengthening
of one another. But that the resemblance between the
mode and character of the confession as first appointed,
and the present corrupt form of it, was but slight indeed.
Confession either in prayer to God, or in confidence to a
fellow creature, from whose superior knowledge and
experience we look for advice or consolation, must,
according to our ideas, be the free and voluntary impulse
of true penitence, else it is an empty form, which were
better left alone. Extreme unction the same. How
beautiful in its siraple and early form ! that the dying
believer, whose eyes were closing to the world, should
feel, in his last moments, that the same voice which had
been his instructor and his comforter while upon earth.

280 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST, BERNARD,
was now commending his departing soul to God, impart
ing the farewell blessing of the members of the church
militant to their dying brother, and, by his presence
and imposition of hands in these last moments of earthly
existence, rendering up the trust committed to him by
that God who had appointed him a minister in his
church upon earth ! This however differed widely from
the Romish custom of employing such a ceremony as
a species of spiritual passport for the admission of souls
into Heaven.
A domestic conducted me to my chamber, which was
a long apartment with a low arched roof. The night
was excessively cold ; so much so, that I found writing
out ofthe question, and had to take refuge in bed, where
I enjoyed undisturbed rest, not forgetting that I was
sleeping on the most elevated point in the old world upon
which man has established a permanent habitation.
July 24th, — About four o'clock in the morning, a ser
vant entered my apartment to light a fire, which was not
ill-timed, as I had been already awakened by the cold.
Snow had fallen during the whole night, and there was no
probability of a speedy change in the weather. About
seven I descended to the refectory, and found the Cla
vendier, and several of the monks assembled. Till ten
o'clock, when a high mass was to be performed in honour
of the King of Sardinia's birth-day, I occupied myself
with my pen, and in a leisurely examination of the
chapel. Some carved work in the choir, and the monu
ment erected here by Buonaparte, in memory of his
favorite general, Dessaix, after the battle of Marengo, in
which he fell, are well worthy of notice ; otherwise, there is

CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST, BERNARD, 281
nothing very extraordinary in either painting or ornament.
The service was very splendid. Five of the canons,
attired in the most superb embroidered vestments,
officiated at the high altar. The missa triumphalis, per
forraed on the occasion, was not a composition in unison
with such an august ceremonial ; a raore light-minded,
miserable production, I have hardly ever heard.
The organ is good, and contains some sweet and
powerful stops. Many of the official persons from various
government offices in the town of Aosta usually ascend
the St. Bernard to attend this service on the birth-day
of their sovereign. The terrible snow-storm, however,
prevented the influx of strangers, and we were the same
company this morning, as the preceding day. At half-
past eleven we dined in the refectory.
The weather on the mountain being so wretchedly bad,
I determined to set forward on my journey in the course
ofthe afternoon, not doubting but I should find a better
climate at Aosta, Besides, not beingable,if I staid, to fulfil
the main end of my visit, that of becoming well acquainted
with the mountains in the vicinity, I did not think it
right to draw too largely upon the time and hospitality
of my entertainers, when it was evident they were in great
confusion from the bustle and inconvenience consequent
upon the new repairs. As they had already demolished
the end of the building next the lake, and the weather
was too inclement to allow of labour in the open air, the
workmen were all employed in the entrance and corridors.
After dinner, I waded through the drifts of snow with
one of the monks, to visit an isolated building a few
paces from the convent, in which the dead bodies of such
as have been found frozen and not known or claimed by

282 CONVENT OF THE GREAT ST. BERNARD.
their friends, are left to fall into gradual decay and dust.
There is no possibility of practising the ordinary modes
of sepulture, as the whole vicinity of the hospital consists
of bare turfless rock, often covered, as during the time
of my visit, with snow to a considerable depth, even in
the height of summer. The monks themselves are
interred in a vault under the high altar in their chapel.
In this house of death, to which I found entrance by
springing through the opening in the thick walls, serving
at once for window and door ; the bodies of these poor
unfortunate wretches, are placed upright round the
walls, either sitting or standing, as is found convenient ;
and such is the clearness and purity of the air at this
elevation, that far from exhaling any putrid odour,
they dry up little by little and fall to dust. Their
decay is so gradual that bodies were still pointed out to
me in a partial state of preservation, which were deposited
here long before the oldest monk now living can remem
ber. It is truly a sad spectacle. No individual seems
to have been left here for some years back, as the
bodies are generally claimed by the relatives. One group
is irresistibly affecting, even now, though, by the state
of decay, I should think the bodies had been here very
many years. This is a poor mother, and a child at her
breast, who were found frozen, dead, stiff, and past
all recovery. The bone of the mother's arm can still be
distinguished among the mass of half-mouldered and
shapeless bones and rags, pressing the head of her infant
to her bosom. This needs no comment; but may be
considered as making a mute but irresistible appeal to
the best feelings of the stranger. No request is ever
made by the monks for charitable donations, or remunera-

ST. REMY. 283
tion of any kind, but the box in the chapel is seldom
passed b}' unnoticed by those who have been the objects
of their hospitable attentions, and feel admiration for the
purposes and noble ends of this singular institution.
After expressing my esteem for the inhabitants of the
convent, and the remembrance I should ever retain of
their kind attentions, I dispensed with their offer of a
guide, and set off on my descent of the southern side
of the mountain.
The new snow was at first full two feet deep, but
diminished rapidly in quantity as I advanced. I had not
descended far below the level of the lake, when the sleet
was exchanged for a drizzle, and another mile lower
down the weather was perfectly fair. In less than an
hour, I reached the first Italian village of St. Remy.
The descent to this point is very rapid, much more so
than the acclivity on the Swiss side of the mountain.
Here began the Italian inquisition : my person and
knapsack were searched for contraband goods ; and
though of course none were found, the douanier seemed
to have a wonderful inclination to believe that I was
really a smuggler. My pocket pistols were however
condemned, and marked for seizure at the next station
of carabiniers at Etroubles. Five or six miles' further
walk brought rae to this place, and to the barrier guarding
the bridge over the stream, which I must cross in my
way to Aosta, Here I was stopped a second time, by a
soldier, who demanded my passport,
I do not think it necessary to enter into a detail of the
vexations to which I now became exposed, in consequence
of some silly and unimportant informality in this docu-

284 ETROUBLES.
ment. By the carabinier I was raade over to the briga
dier, and a council was held, in which it was at first
decided, that I ought neither to be permitted to proceed
nor to return ; then it was thought advisable to search
my person once more, and exaraine raj' papers. I own I
was irritated and vexed enough, yet could not repress a
smile, when I saw them laying their heads together to
espy treason in a scrap-book, full of every species of
scribbling, scraps of poetry, caricatures, extracts from
various authors, and shreds of music. Nothing was to
be done, they had the play in their own hands, and they
managed to keep me in hot water for two or three hours.
It appeared to me that they feared, if I was allowed to
pass into Italy, with my pole, knapsack, and sketch-book,
I should certainly be the means of blowing the Holy
Alliance to the moon, or at least of producing a serious
rupture between the King of Sardinia, and his friend
and protector, the Emperor of Austria ; so, as may be
conceived, these poor understrappers were in a fearful
dilemma. At last, they resolved that I should be
allowed to proceed to Aosta, with a scrawl upon my
passport, which forced me immediately to present my
self before the higher powers, there ' pour etre pourvu
de nouveaux ordres,' under pain of being taken up,
- comme suspect.'
This farce being ended, though I own I felt it might
turn out none for me, if I fell into equally zealous, igno
rant, or vicious hands at Aosta, I crossed the bridge, and
continued my route down the valley towards that city,
making up ray mind, that the moment I saw my way
clear before me, I would turn my back upon Turin,
whither I had meant to find my way, never rest till

AOSTA. i',^.',
I had once more crossed the Swiss frontier, and got
out of the atmosphere of a country, where, it seemed,
I was to meet with little but disappointment and
vexation. The irritation of my mind rather distracted my atten
tion frora the scenery with which I was surrounded for
the next two or three hours, therefore my observations
must be brief.
Soon after passing Gignod, the valley begins to open,
and to abound in beautiful scenery. Fine trees, and wide
and fertile pastures, first give tokens of my descent into
a region possessing a very different climate than that
in which I had been for many hours. Vines on their
espaliers succeed, and, about two railes further, the de
lightful vale of Aosta, with the city of that name, opens
gradually at the termination of the valley.
At the Bureau de Police I fell into good hands, and
found no great difficulty in explaining the mistake, and
having it rectified ; yet I remained firra in my resolution
of getting out of the countiy with as little delay as
possible. I therefore got the passport signed to go over
the Little St. Bernard into Savoy. I must do justice to
the gentleman at the head of the police here, to say that
he apologized for the manner in which I had been treated
on the raountain, and said he would forward a reprimand
to the offending parties, though I did not precisely re
quire that kind of indifferent satisfaction for the insult
offered to my self-esteem.
A good inn, and a tranquil hour or two, soon made
me cease to look back upon one of the most harassing
adventures I ever passed through, with more than a usual
feeling of bitterness, and I enjoyed a rest only broken by

286 AOSTA.
imaginary skirmishes with Sardinian policemen, which
tormented me quite as much as the shadows of the
glaciers and precipices the night after crossing the Rawyl,
July 25th. — Far from seeking to scramble forward
to Turin, the events of the preceding day had quite
cured me, for the second time, of wishing to go deeper
into Italy, in my present state of equipment. There
would, I thought, be little wisdom in advancing farther
into a country where I was to be exposed, in every fresh
village to some new indignity and vexation frora a
faulty passport.
The system of espionage and suspicious examination,
which are the sure signs of a weak and cowardly govern
ment, are unbearable to an Englishman ; and, besides
this, there is danger of a more alarming description
hanging over a solitary wanderer on these frontiers. Let
not a nervous man travel alone in this part of the world ;
he raay see enough on the road, in the bye-ways, and in lone
inns, to make him feel that his life would hang by a
slender thread, if the providence of God did not watch
over him, and guard him from the evil t'noughts and
passions of others.
« It is true,' said my host to me, ' though the inhabitants
of these vallies are in general honestly inclined, there are
too many Piedmontese wandering about, to whom the
idea of murder is habitual, and who only want the op
portunity.' It is an unfair and detestable law which
prevents the lone traveller from carrying arms for his
defence, while it is acknowledged that the police
of the country is not competent to insure his life and
property.

VAL D'AOSTE. 287
The frequent recurrence of the cross by the road side,
pointing out where murder has been committed, is not
calculated to lessen this impression of insecurity.
The town of Aosta is raost beautifully situated on the
bank of the Dora, and under the shade of a finely formed
and elevated group of mountains to the south. To the
westward, the eye traces the fertile vale towards the
mountains and glaciers to the south of Mont Blanc.
The first object of particular interest are the remains
of a Roman triumphal arch, near the ruins of the
amphitheatre. They are in tolerable preservation, built
of a dark coloured stone, which, doubtless, was once
cased over with raarble. It is of the date of Augustus.
There are also the fragments of a bridge of white marble
at some distance below the place, and other tokens of
the flourishing state of this town under the Romans. It
is by no means regularly built, yet Italian architecture
is always picturesque. Many of the convents are good
subjects for the pencil. After spending a portion of the
morning in various parts of the town, I resumed my
journey, and quitted it by the road running up the
valley on the left side of the Dora.
This takes its course like others I have described in the
Italian vallies, in long stretches through rich vineyards,
provision grounds, orchards, and groups of magnificent
walnut trees, for many leagues. Now and then an Italian
villa, a village, a hamlet, or a castle, breaks the uniformitj'^
of the scene. There are numerous castles in the vale
of the Dora, and many very finely situated on the bold
rocky projections from the chains on either side.
After passing through St. Pierre, I crossed to the right

288 VAL D'AOSTE.
bank by a very picturesque bridge, at the outskirt of a
village. The Italian villages are picturesque, but, beyond thisj
nothing more can be remarked in praise of them, as more
desolate, forbidding human habitations than those of which
they are generally composed, it is not easy to conceive.
Always half in ruins, and otherwise built in such a con
fused manner, with unequal windows, blind alleys, low
arched doorways, winding staircases, and dismal-looking
vaults and court yards, that, had not the character of the
people fixed upon the scenes many a dark tale of murder
and crime, the spot would have suggested the dra
matis personae. Yet, for all this, the half-ruined edifices,
the bold stonework, the projecting ledges, low roofs and
arches, and windows like port holes, are good subjects for
the pencil.
How different a Swiss village, and its clean-built,
roomy habitations.
A second village, and second torrent rushing from the
mountain to the left, diversify the road, before it enters
a narrow defile, the savage character of which is equally
striking with that of many on the other side of the Alps.
Immense masses and blocks of rock shivered and piled
upon one another, surround and overhang the road cut
among them, while the river works its way at a great
depth beneath.
Avise is situated upon a high precipitous mountain on
the opposite bank. Its high quadrangular tower is a
striking object. A wooden bridge traverses the stream
about the middle of the defile, and leads to a village^
of which I do not know the name. In the narrowest

PRE ST. DIDIER. 289
part are the remnants of a rude breast-work with shot-
holes, and a gate-way bearing the date ofthe year 1795.
Crossing another bridge I proceeded along the left
bank of the Dora, to La Salle and Morgex, through a
varied and romantic tract of country, though bereft of its
most iraposing feature by the clouds which enveloped
the whole of the vast form of Mont Blanc.
My night quarters were taken up at Prfe St. Didier, a
bathing place, about a league below Courmajeur. My
impatience to get out of the country had rather increased
than diminished with this day's ramble. I was here at
the foot of the Pass of the Little St. Bernard. Toward
sunset the vapours began to set themselves in motion,
and in the twilight I gazed with enthusiasm upon the
huge round head of the vast mountain towards whose
base I had approached.
July 26th. — I have mentioned that the name of my
night quarters, where I was favoured with a tumble in a
suspicious-looking bed, was St. Didier, a bathing-place
frequented on account of its ferruginous springs. I
cannot say that I like these sainted places, they have
generally been fatal to me. However, I hoped the best.
I knew nothing of the saint after whom it was named,
any more than of St. Remy, yet trusted to fare better
under his protection than I had done under that of the
latter. Nevertheless, I had regarded the operations
and manner of my host with an awkward uneasy
feeling, I hardly know why. He was none of your
good, fat, bluff-faced English landlords, who leave
the answer of the bell to their understrappers, and only
make their appearance from time to time on particular
u

290 PRE ST. DIDIER,
occasions, to hope you find all to your liking, and to
wish you farewell, — not he, indeed, — none of your
Bonifaces. This man was cast in quite another
mould. He was a thin, spare, light, handy fellow, who
did all himself, and seemed to be every where at the
same moment, observed every thing, though seemingly
intent upon nothing, and all with one eye, and that his
left one. His right was loosely covered with a black
patch which passed over the ridge of his nose into the
shade of the dark eye-brow on the other side. This was
the part of his person which drew my attention most
frequently ; I could not decide whether I most disliked
the eye that was put out, or the one that was left. I
was annoyed by the first, because it was a deformity, and
opened no inlet to divine what he was thinking of on that
side ofhis face ; and I abominated the second, because its
expression was so sinister and so varied, that it was im
possible to say to what object its glance was directed.
Then his gait was unusually quick ; he carried his
knees always in advance, and put his feet to the ground
with the movement of a young mettlesome nag tightly
reined up. When he was spoken to, there was an
affectation of extreme politeness, which was equally
questionable, with his ordinary grave and silent demean
our. In short I took a dislike to him, and to every thing
about him, and found afterwards that in this aversion
there was something of a presentiment.
A cloudless morning threw an impediment in the way
of my going immediately over the Little St. Bernard. I
could not, it is true, resolve to linger much longer on this
side the Alps ; but to stop short at St. Didier, where the
intermediate eminences shut out the greater part of the

THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD. 291
vast glaciers of Mont Blanc, when an hour's walk to the
opening of the gorge beyond Courmajeur would give me
an unimpeded view, was equally impossible.
I therefore set forward, with the intention of returning
in a few hours to St. Didier. I reached Courmajeur barely
in time to have a brief but magnificent view of this im
mense pile of rock, ice, and snow, for soon after the whole
became first interspersed, and then enveloped with fleecy
clouds ; I therefore returned half disappointed and dis
satisfied to St. Didier.
The raanner in which I was treated by my rascally one-
eyed host on my retum fully bore me out in the dislike
I had already conceived to hira, and after being pillaged
and abused in a shameful manner, I left my inn, vowing
to give myself no repose till I should be out of the
country. Though the glaciers were covered with clouds, the
day turned out insufferably hot ; and yet such was the
temper of my mind, that I did not spare myself.
The pass of the Little St. Bernard may be said to
commence immediately behind the village, by a very
steep and rapid acclivity, leading into the pine forests.
I had not advanced a league and a half up a very steep
gorge, the rocky recesses and lonely windings of whicli
bore an ample harvest of crosses, commemorating violent
death, when I began to feel that I was very far from well.
The pathway, after keeping for some time to the right
of the valley, crosses to the opposite bank of the torrent,
and winds gradually up the steep sides of the bare rocks
on the left, by degrees conducting the traveller to a dif
ficult portion of the passage extending to the vicinity
of the bourg of La Tuille. Here, if any where, in the
V 2

292 THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD.
course of this passage, Hannibal's patience and vinegar
must have been in great request. Soon after passing
La Tuille, and the Pont-Serrant, I could no longer conceal
from myself that, perhaps by over exertion, I had sustained
some internal injury. My strength failed me minute
after minute ; my respiration became difficult, I shivered
and burned by turns, and felt all those symptoms which
betoken fever. My reflections were rather bewildering ;
I had no inclination to give in ; and yet of what avail is
the will, when the strength fails. I would willingly have
eased my shoulders of my knapsack, and seated myself,
but felt too weak to have resumed my burden, or my
journey, and therefore kept steadily striding forward.
I knew that in my peculiar situation, nothing but en
avant could help me ; that as I could not command the
usual prescription for an attack of fever, I must have
recourse to extraordinary ones, and try, by keeping in
constant steady exertion, to wear out its force. Having
once determined, I thought no more of weakness, and
after another hour's march, came into a more open region,
where the free and fresh air rendered advance easier.
To cut this adventure short, by the time I reached the
site of the ci-devant hospital, now occupied in part by a
miserable pot-house, I felt both health and philosophy
on the return. The first, I certainly owed, under God's
mercy, to my having kept steadily in motion, and the
latter, to those natural good spirits which were never
then depressed long together by circumstances of any
kind. I saw there was no other alternative, and that
I might as well make up my mind to bear the miseries
which must ever be more or less yoked with much
enjoyment, whether they proceed from adverse natural

THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD. 293
causes, or from the conduct of villains. As to my one-
eyed landlord, the countenance of one honest man will
at any time make me forget that of twenty such rascals.
The head of the pass of the Little St. Bernard is
formed by a plain of some extent, stretching between the
eastern and western declivities of the mountain.
The ruins of the hospital are situated near the former
descent, not very far from the Colonne de Joux, an
isolated marble column, surmised to be the fragment
of a temple.
This plain, ^ once probably covered by the strange and
uncouth encampment of Hannibal and his Carthaginians
during their two days' rest after the repulse of the moun
taineers at La Roche Blanche,'^ was in 1794, the scene of
a sanguinary struggle between the French and Austrians.
The view from the westem brow towards the fair valley
of the Is^re and the Tarantaise was unobscured, but
nevertheless regarded with no little uncertainty. My
original plan had been to traverse the Allee Blanche, and
the Col de Ferret, instead of the Little St. Bernard, and I
was not prepared to say how I should shape my route
towards the Col de Bonhomme, when I should have
gained the valley.
However, passing through the hamlet of St. Germains,
built on a steep declivity, about two hours after I had
traversed the summit, I was fortunate enough to meet
with an intelligent woman who spoke French, and who
• Plain ofthe Little St. Bernard, 7200 feet above the sea.
^ The work entitled " A Dissertation upon Hannibal' s passage of
the Alps, by a Member ofthe University of Oxford," is referred to for
a most entertaining examination of the claims of this pass to be the
scene of that renowned march.

294 SCEZ.
answered the three questions which concerned rae most ;
where I might find accommodation for the night, — what
distance I was from the foot of the Col de Bonhomme,
— and in what manner I could reach it.
In reply to the first query she gave rae to understand,
that there were two most excellent inns in the village of
Scez, about a league and a half distant ; then, that from
thence to Chapui, at the foot ofthe Bonhomme, was four
long leagues up a range of vallies, the direction of which
she pointed out to me. All this gave me great satisfac
tion, broken only by the discovery that my map and note
book were both missing, and that now I must trust to my
memory and theoretical knowledge of the face of the
countiy till I should reach Geneva, and to that alone.
Between St. Germains and Scez, the mule path des
cending the mountain runs into the narrow gully ofthe
Reclus, and passes the stream at the foot of La Roche
Blanche, a remarkable mass of white gypsum, the
existence of which on this part of the mountain adds
much additional weight to the hypothesis of Hannibal's
passage having been effected over this portion of the
chain. I soon descended to the village where I was to pass the
night ; but when I entered the miserable, filthy cabaret,
which had become, in the description of my hostess,
an excellent inn, I made up ray mind to a change of plan.
As I was yet fresh, and had two or three hours of day
light remaining, I determined to attempt to reach Chapui
that night ; as at the very worst I should have to lie upon
hay in some chaiet on the mountain, which was pi-eferable
to the suspicious kind of accommodation here offered rae.
I consequently got such intelligence from the master

CHAPUI. 295
of the cabaret, as I fancied would carry me through, and
resumed my pole.
After crossing the valley in which Scez lies, I entered
a ravine running up for miles into the heart of the moun
tains to the north, very reraarkable for the vast and bare
precipices of naked rock between which it is inclosed.
In about four hours I reached the little cluster of chalets
that bears the name of Chapui. The la^t league and
a half of this defile, — from a certain ruined chapel with
the marble font for holy water still adhering to the right
side of the doorway, to the hamlet, — is one of the most
marked scenes of that awful and mingled description
of devastation and destruction so comraon araongst these
high and towering mountains, caused by the triple agency
of avalanches, the fall of rocks, and torrents.
Perhaps of all these, though the two former are more
magnificently awful, the latter is the most disastrous in
its effects,
A water-cpurse of sometimes a mile in breadth, which
is, in the summer, only occupied by an inconsiderable
rivulet not half-a-yard broad, becomes, in the spring
time or after heavy rains, the scene of the most
fearful deluge, rolling along rocks of vast size, and
spreading in every direction stones and gravel and mud.
In this manner, large tracts of some of the finest vallies
of Switzerland are rendered desolate and incapable
of cultivation.
In one of the chalets I was made welcome by an old
woman, who said she could harbour me in a spare sleeping
apartment. Into this I had to creep by a ladder and
trap-door, and found it a sad dingy hole in the roof; but
no matter, it was shelter, I supped upon some eggs ;

296 COL DE BONHOMME.
then secured my trap, and threw myself on a pallet in a
comer for the night.
The passage of the Col de Bonhomme, and the vallies
leading down to Scez, were in the line of march of Henri
Arnaud, and his 800 brethren, on their bold and romantic
return from the Pays de Vaud, whither they had been in
exile, to their native vallies in the Cottian Alps, in the
month of August 1689.
July 2Tth. — The grey of early morning was just
stealing over the deep valley, when I stepped out from
the low door-way of the chaiet in which I had passed the
night, and followed the track leading on to the heights
behind the haralet. I had before me seven or eight hours'
march, before I could reach Contamines, on the north
side of the pass of the Bonhomme. I set off for this pas
sage with that diffidence and caution, which total igno
rance of the ground, height, turnings, and windings, and
only a general idea of the direction to be followed must
occasion. After three-quarters of an hour's climb, I came to
some chalets, where I got as much milk as I needed, but
little or no information calculated to ipspire confidence.
The peasants were profuse with their warnings that I
should not go here, or turn there, but go the right way ;
for which I felt, of course, very thankful.
When I approached the higher parts of the mountain,
I found myself more and more at a loss, from time to
time ; and savv, with some anxiety, that the atmosphere
was filling rapidly with thick white mist, when from the
broken nature of the ground, I had the greatest difficulty
in keeping any track.

COL DE BONHOMME. 297
At the same time that I foresaw the trouble they would
occasion, I could not avoid pausing to admire the
manner in which one white and shining mass of clouds
after another dilated and grew as it were under
my very eye. They at first rested among the rocky
pinnacles, and on the slopes of the adjacent mountain,
then rose into the air, and hung suspended over the deep
vallies below me, till, increasing in number and volume,
they gradually shrouded all inferior objects, I could
then observe them slowly rising, till, the wind freshening,
they came rolling and labouring up the mountain-side
after me, and long before I gained the highest ridge, I
was enveloped in impenetrable mist.
For still another hour did I, with many an anxious pause,
turn my face towards the north, and persevere, in spite
of all the perplexity produced by innumerable rain-ruts,
sheep-tracks, and all those various accidents which,
aided by thick mist, add to the bewilderment of the wan
derer. Nevertheless, so far, I endured no very excessive
portion of fatigue from mistakes, as I found myself
suddenly on a ridge, where a pole, fixed in the rock, told
me I had gained the highest point of the Col de
Bonhomme. ^
But now what was to be done .' At this elevation the
wind was very fresh, and the mist was hurried too and
fro with rapidity, yet I could never distinguish the sur
face for many yards around. I followed some kind
of track, over a wide drift of snow, but whether that of a
mule or a number of sheep, I could not determine.
This led me into a deep water-course, and there I
' Col de Bonhomme 8030 feet above the sea.

298 COL DE BONHOMME.
lost it; and on no side could I distinguish the least
continuation. The whole head of the mountain, as far as I could
distinguish, consisted of a bed of rough rock, exfoliated
in every part by the action of the wind and weather, and
strewed with large blocks. Amidst all this chaos it was
impossible for me to discover a track.
To give a history of my wanderings on such a spot,
and under such circurastances, now led higher and higher
to the right by some flitting gleam or supposition, and
now further down the mountain to the left, in pursuance
of another idea equally fallacious, would aff'ord no
entertainment, even were it possible.
At the end of an hour, entirely passed in this fruitless
exercise of wit and patience, I had to return to the place
where the footmarks led to the water-course ; for of the
exact position of this I had taken care never to lose the
recollection. After breathing awhile, I set off afresh frora
this point on a new scent. The atmosphere had begun
gradually to brighten, and a gleam of sunshine, to the
north-west, gave me suddenly the glimpse of a valley in
that direction, yet far below me. Though I indulged at
first the idea of this being the direction with sufficient
avidity and pursued my course down the mountain
towards it, for about a quarter of an hour, yet I became
convinced, as the position of the sun allowed me to
determine the points of the compass with some exactness,
that I was still in the wrong, and that any valley in that
direction would carry me much too far to the westward to
bring me right, I therefore, however unwillingly, de
termined to turn once more about, and regain my old
post near the head of the mountain.

COL DE BONHOMME. 299
This done, I waited for a further brightening, and,
after sorae time, discovered, by narrowly watching the
partial glimpses upon the country below, afforded by the
shifting layers of mist, that there was another long valley
to the north-east, and towards this I instantly descended.
Soon after, I imagined I could distinguish something like
a deep track, in a snow-drift considerably to the right,
and making towards it, found myself relieved from two
hours' fatiguing anxiety, by striking into the regular
mule-path. By following this I was led gradually over the shoulder
of the mountain. The air began to dissipate, and by the
time I had reached the brow of the great descent, the sun
shone out warm and bright, and the summits of all the
mountains in the vicinity were cloudless.
The mists now formed a turbulent sea of rolling
vapour over all the country below me, while parts of
the chain of Mont Blanc to the right, the long line
of the mountains commanding the valley of the Arve
before me, and various high snowy summits of the
Savoy Alps to the left, rose high above their level into
the blue sky.
The descent ofthe Bonhomme to the north I found to
be craggy and broken, but not dangerous.
In this higher region of the mountain, I became an
object of curiosity and attention to a small troop of
the niost beautiful milk-white goats I ever saw. They
came down on my approach from a mass of rocks, and
amused me by their tricks and tameness for several
long miles of my downward course ; to be sure, I was
rather incommoded with their good companionship, not
only because when I halted for a moment to look around

300 COL DE BONHOMME.
me, they were always pressing forward to lick my hand,
and muiige my pocket-handkerchief if they could get
hold ofthe end ; but because I did not wish to decoy them
from their appointed pasture. However, they judged
otherwise, as in spite of many a menace, a gentle shower
of pebbles, torrents, and other impediments which nature
helped me to interpose in the way of their further progress,
they continued to follow me for two leagues, till, having
passed Mont Jovet, I had an opportunity of leaving
them in the care of a young Savoyarde, There is some
thing in the expression of countenance of the Savoyarde
infinitely more prepossessing that in the Piedmontese.
This was a good tempered free-spoken girl, knitting away
as fast as her fingers could move, and tending her cows
and goats on one of the alps near the last-mentioned spot.
She came and seated herself on the same mass of rock,
told me all I wished to know about my future route,
and that better than a map could have done ; said she
would take care of the goats — shook hands, wished me
a prosperous journey at parting, and then went on with
her song and stocking-foot,
I walked forward over alternate plains and steep
declivities, till about eleven, when I was glad to
arrive at the village of Contamines, and to obtain some
refreshment. Though the weather was fine and very hot, I did not
feel tempted to trust its continuing so ; I therefore con
cluded not to cross the Forclaz, and go to Chamounix
direct, but to proceed to Sallenche, and from thence,
according as the season should be favourable or not, to
the valley of Chamounix, or to Geneva on the morrow,
I was doomed to be unfortunate with regard to Mont

SALLENCHE. 301
Blanc, not a flake of whose snows could be discovered
through the clouds enveloping it. I had been advised
to take up my quarters at St. Martin, on the opposite
side of the river from Sallenche, but I had become
distrustful of the saints, and preferred the latter town,
where I found no indifferent accommodation.
July 28th. — My report of the glorious valley of the
Arve must be a short and melancholy one. Rain, and
thick mists, cutting the raountains almost at their base,
prevailed through the day ; and, however unwillingly,
I was obliged to relinquish Chamounix for the present.
I cannot give any details of the scenery in my day's
walk from Sallenche to Geneva, and my personal
adventures were not of a more interesting character.
The whole line of route abounds in gins, traps, snickles,
and nets, for the money of Messieurs les Voyageurs
in general, and that of Milor Anglais in particular.
Here an inn, a blind fiddler, and twenty beggars ; there an
echo, a grotto, and twenty more, and so on throughout
the whole day's journey. Among all these modes of
extracting the batzen of the traveller, none amused me
so much as the following. A mile or so beyond the
Nant d'Arpenaz, I carae suddenly upon a little grassy
plateau in the midst of the underwood, among which
I perceived a pole and board very gaily painted.
Before I could read the advertisement, I heard a voice
close to me say—' Bon jour, mon cher monsieur, si vous
etes amateur des echos, &c. &c.' I turned, and saw a
slight-made fellow posted between two pieces of wood
painted red, and before him a small piece of cannon
pointed towards me. An incident in the second chapter

.i02 GENEVA.
of Gil Bias flashed irresistibly strong upon my me
mory ; such was the similarity between the scenes, the
purpose, and the manner of attack upon the purse. How
ever the danger being less imminent, my alarm was pro-
portionably less ; though, after answering briefly, that
I had neither the ears, time, nor money for echoes just at
that moment, I had some idea that I should hear a
piece of turf from his howitzer whizzing after me in
despite. At Contamine I made a brief halt, after nine hours'
continued march, and had unexpectedly to engage in a
fierce debate with a Roman Catholic cure upon the
marriage of priests. In this he was the assailant, though
I flatter myself he had no other advantage in the argu-
ment. We squabbled a good hour, without, as might
be expected, either party giving signs of conversion, and
then parted pretty good friends. Eight or nine miles'
further advance brought me once more over the Swiss
boundary in the neighbourhood of Geneva ; and few
can imagine the satisfaction I experienced in shaking
from my shoes the dust of the dominions of his majesty
of Sardinia.

CHAPTER IX.

How sweet were leisure, could it yield no more
Than midst that wave-washed church-yard to recline.
From pastoral graves extracting thoughts divine ;
Or there to pause, and mark the summits hoar
Of distant moonUt mountains faintly shine ;
Sooth'd by the unseen river's gentie roar.

It would be difficult to describe that species of dis
comfort which is inseparably connected with the actions
and enjoyments of the traveller, in a country where the
movements are questionable, and may be inquired into
by every soi-disant officer with whora he meets. I am
willing to admit that my method of travelling was one
that laid me open to these petty vexations, and that
circumstances aggravated them ; yet every one, who
knows the pleasures of uncontrolled and unquestioned
personal freedom, will understand and enter into the
satisfaction I experienced on breathing once raore
the atmosphere of a free country, where there was
no spy upon my actions, and no spell upon my
enjoyment. When I find myself in the track of thousands equally
observant, I have not the same desire, nor indeed the
same excuse, for obtruding my observations upon the

304 MONTREUX.
patience of the reader. I shall therefore quit Geneva,
pass rapidly over the whole surface of the magnificent
lake, at whose lower extremity that ancient city is situ
ated, and transport rayself to the little village of Mon
treux, the spire of whose gothic church peeps over the
foliage, on the mountain-side above the high road from
Clarens to Chillon.
I here found, during the course of a long and glowing
summer's evening, a return of that quiet and tranquillity
of mind, which had been somewhat impaired during the
varied exertions and adventures of the preceding ten or
twelve days' march, and which the exterior bustle and
agitation of a large town had prevented my recovering at
Geneva. There are certain scenes, eminently calculated to pro
duce or to nurse this species of calra ; and it is by God's
mercy that we are so constituted, that the mute elo
quence of external objects have such influence over our
spirits. A village church-yard ! there is peace in the very
sound, A retired and silent village church-yard, with
its ranks of simple unadorned memorials to the dead ;
a place where the mourner may weep in secret ; where
the burdened may pray for relief; where the thoughtless
may feel himself incited to think ; where the agitated spirit
may become calm ; and where the wanderer may retire
from the hurry and distraction produced in the mind by
the rapid changes of situation and circumstance, and
the novel forms of men and things, to a scene where there
is no novelty ; and where all speaks a language known
to every heart, in whatever land its ideas and affections
may have been nurtured. How many have experienced

MONTREUX. 305
its influence upon the passing humour and feeling of the
hour, whether that were joy or sorrow.
The dead are of no nation. However strong and
deep the lines of distinction which separate men while on
the surface of the earth, all are erased for ever, as soon
as they are committed to the dust ; where all partake
of the same corruption, and await the same summons,
whatever their country or their parentage, or however
far separated the periods of their earthly existence. To
a traveller, therefore, a church-yard may be allowed to
have a peculiar charm ; and, on entering the little enclo
sure set apart for the repose of the dead, particularly in a
foreign country where there exists the sarae unobtrusive
siraplicity in the forra of sepulture with our own, he raay
well feel as though he were no longer in a strange land.
What place so fitting as this to open the heart, to bow
the reins, and to tum to God ; where the scene around
would invite one to number the few brief days that com
pose the past, and to glance towards the immeasurable
and incomprehensible future ?
When seated on the low wall that runs round the edge
of the rocky knoll upon which the church of Montreux
is perched high upon the mountain-side, my thoughts
passed rapidly over the events and scenes of the
journey which might now be considered as nearly
terminated ; and I may surely say I felt both thankful
and humbled.
Though we may believe, that the merciful providence
of God is ever watchful over his creatures, during every
period of their existence, yet there are certain situations,
in which the interference of that providence becomes
more cognizable, and more strikingly apparent. And
X

306 MONTREUX.
when, after the fever of spirit and body produced by
constant violent exertion had passed away, I recalled,
in solitude and silence, the many moraents during the
preceding days, when I knew I was risking life and
limb, not to speak of hidden dangers of which I was
unconscious, I felt self-accusation, and inclined to ask
why the providence of God had pursued me even to that
moment ; and why I had been preserved, Trulj^, God
loves us better than we love ourselves.
And is there care in heaven ? and is there love.
In heavenly spirits, to these creatures base.
That may compassion for their evils move ?
There is : — else much more wretched were the case
Of men, than beasts. But 0 the exceeding grace
Of highest God I who loves his creatures so,
And all his works with mercy doth embrace.
That blessed angels he sends to and fro,
To serve to wicked men, to serve his wicked foe.
How oft do they their silver bowers leave.
To come and succour us, that succour want?
How oft do they, with silver pinions, cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
Against foul fiends to aid us militant ?
They for us fight, they watch, and duly ward ;
And their bright squadrons round about us plant :
And all for love, and nothing for reward 1
O how can gracious God to man have such regard !
The outlines of the vast and magnificent scene dis
played around the head of the lake of Geneva, are easy
to describe ; but no pen and no pencil can embody and
pourtray the beauty and delicious colouring of the
picture, as the hand of God has painted it,
Vevay, Clarens, and Chillon, are naraes, which among

THE SIMMENTHAL, 307
thousands in the surrounding nations, as well as our
own, have become inseparably linked with the idea
of beauty : the mere mention of them seems to bring
sunshine upon the memory.
I watched the sun sink slowly behind the Jura ; the
shadows of twilight spread gradually over the water, and
deepen in the recesses of the mountains at the head of the
lake ; and when, still later, the stars had begun to glimmer
upon the calm surface and I turned to descend into the
village, I could still descry the snows of the Dent du
Midi gleaming aloft in the twilight, and tinged with
the lingering hues of departed day.
The following moming the sun rose bright and clear
upon the same magnificent scene ; and pursuing ray
homeward route across the ridge of the Pass de Jaman,
in the chain behind Montreux, I descended into the vale
of Saanen. The fever, of which I had experienced the
first attack upon the Little St. Bernard, retumed upon
me the day after quitting Montreux, and rendered my
subsequent advance through the Simmenthal and Berne,
where I was obliged to go upon business, a wearisome
pilgrimage, and a continual struggle between a body in
pain, and a spirit raised by the scenes around above its
ordinary strength.
Ten days' halt in the neighbourhood of Berne, and a
fortnight's visit to Neuchatel, occupied the greater part
of the month of August. The first days of September
I returned to my head-quarters in the Simmenthal, to
await settled weather before I bent my course towards
the east of Switzerland, the part I had fixed upon for the
scene of nij^ autumnal tour.

308 THE SIMMENTHAL,
I must now consider Erlenbach, and its vicinity,
tolerably well known to my reader, and therefore say less
about it than I otherwise should.
The weather had been stormy, and each heavy
shower left the head of the Niesen and his neighbours,
whitened with snow.^ However, the very first fine
day I determined to ascend the Stockhorn before the
season should be too far advanced ; and may be allowed
to add a few pages to those already occupied with a
sketch of this reraarkable mountain.
Accordingly I took advantage of a fine sun-rise
(September 9th) and with this view, left the parsonage early,
accompanied by Stumah, who seeraed to consider hiraself
in duty bound to be my companion as long as I confined
my rambles to a given number of hours, and a reason
able circuit round his home ; but he had a wonderful
knack of guessing when ray preparations boded a longer
departure, and of sneaking out of the way to avoid
taking leave.
The pathway leading up the mountains to this singular
rock I have described elsewhere. During the first hour's
climb towards the high ridge, on the opposite side of
which the Stockensee lies, I found the heat excessive,
1 For the sake of giving an idea, however rude, of the natural
phenomena of the Alps, I have attempted to add a scale, as far as my
observation has extended, of the superficial appearances of the differ
ent heights.
Above 10,000 feet which is commonly considered the limit of
eternal snow, rise the summits of the high central chain of primitive
mountains, presenting in general very sharp and precipitous outhnes,
and covered with the accumulated burden of centuries, except in parts
where the rocks are too perpendicular for the snow to settle. From

THE SIMMENTHAL, 309
though, for a considerable portion of this time, the road
winds through the pine forests.
All objects had begun to wear an autumnal air. The
mould and turf interspersed among the trees, damp and
covered with forest plants all going fast to decay— and the
air, perfumed with the odour of dead and dying foliage —
gave tokens of the decline of the year. In this raonth,
however, one plant is in its greatest beauty. The
Clematis, having gained the highest twigs of the
shrubs and j'oung trees to which it is indebted for sup-
these descend the glaciers, commonly so called, from various heights
to an average level of about 2800 or 3000 feet above the sea.
Feet above the sea,
10,000 Snow never melts,
9,000 Patches of snow often remaining unmelted for years.

8,500 ,
8,000 '.

Bare rock.

' ^ Rocks and patches of pasture,
7,000 5
6,500 Much rock ; highest pme forests ; scattered pas
tures and chSlets,
5,500 Rich pastures during the height of summer ; chalets.
5,000 Belt of pine forests. — ^To this level the country is
often covered with snow from storms in the height
of summer.
4,000 Pastures, and innumerable chMets.
3,000 To this level the glaciers mostly descend from the
flanks of the central chain of the Alps, to the
heads of the vallies.
2,500 Many mineral springs.
2,000 Pines, but few forest trees : broken country.
1,500 Many pines, pastures, and forest trees. — Level ofthe
hamlets, lakes, and vineyards, corn lands, villages,
&c.

310 THE SIMMENTHAL.
port, throws itself over and descends in luxuriant strings
of bright green foliage, sometimes to the veiy ground,
fully deserving its old fashioned English name, the
Traveller's Joy, from the skreen afforded by its grace
fully twisted branches.
While passing through the forests, I could not avoid
regretting for the hundredth time, the wanton waste
of timber which they exhibit ; the peasant cutting all
the pines and larch at the height of three feet from the
ground, to avoid the trouble of stooping, instead of baring
the roots and hewing as low as possible. The forest is
quite studded with stumps in every state of decay.
When I reached the higher pastures, I found the air
very fresh and even cold. Some few dozen cattle were
still lingering upon this part of the mountain, but the
vachers told me they must retreat lower down in a few
days. The bells attached to the necks of the cattle when
grazing, answer more than one purpose, particularly on the
higher ranges of pastures. They are of many different
forms and sizes, from the diminutive tinkling ornament
of the pet-goat, to the apparently ponderous and deep-
toned appendage of the leader of the herd.
The confusion of sounds, produced by the constant
movement of these, in a herd of sixty or a hundred head
of cattle, is more singular than agreeable, particularly
if their clashing and irregular tones are chiming unceas
ingly in the vicinity of the chalet, where you are seeking
repose at night. And yet this is the only situation
where this rude concert did not convey to my mind a
sensation of indescribable delight.

TIIE STOCKHORN.

THE STOCKHORN. 311
When raised high above the inhabited world on the
stupendous crag, how sweetly the chimes of the grazing
herds come sounding from the alps below. How cheer
fully their sonorous and varied peal coraes floating
over the wide pastures, or along the alpine valley at
even-tide, when the cattle instinctively begin to move
towards the chalets to be milked ; or, while leaving the
same neighbourhood at early morning, they wind in long
irregular lines up the mountain to their destined day's
pasturage. When hours have passed over the head of the solitary
traveller, while struggling with the difficulty of his way,
in those grey and mazy solitudes which lie at the base
of the higher mountains, faint in body with the heat of a
summer's noon, and bewildered in spirit by many a
heavy and questionable step ; it is not easy to conceive
the thrill of pleasure which passes through the frame
when the faint echo of the herd-bells strikes upon the
ear. But the custom of decorating the cattle in this
manner, must not be supposed to be merely intended
to give pleasure to the eye and the ear, however harmless
that sole purpose might appear.
On the immense and elevated pastures occupying the
beads of the secondary mountains, and the flanks and
off-sets from the main chain, where it is usual for the
herds to pass the summer, (ascending, according to the
season, in May or June, and returning into the vallies
about October), the ground is often very uneven,
interspersed with rocks, and bordered by vast and terrible
precipices. In these regions, it will not be supposed
possible for a vacher to confine ninety or a hundred

312 THE STOCKHORN.
COWS, each choosing her own pasture, and going her own
way, within a circle of any moderate circuraference ;
rauch less in sight of the chalet where he and his
people are occupied in carrying on the operations of their
dairy ; or without considerable labour to himself and
his four-footed assistants, to collect the cattle night and
morning for the purpose of milking.
In many herds, it is true, the cows are so well-trained
that little or no trouble is experienced in bringing them
into the neighbourhood of the chalets, at the accustomed
hour, the sound of the alp-horn being quite sufficient
to make them bestir themselves, and instantly to return,
in many instances often at a hand gallop. Even without
this signal, instinct will bring the herd home at the
proper hour. But this cannot always be expected to be
the case with every individual in a large herd, and yet
accidents rarely happen, because the vacher or his dogs
have, in their search after any straying animal, always a clue
in the bell ; the slightest tinkle of which is heard to an
unusual distance in these still and elevated regions. Yet
this is not all. The traveller may becorae convinced, by
his own observation, of the truth of what is generally
upheld amongst the Swiss peasantry, that the bell is
actually considered by the animal as a mark of distinc
tion and approval of good behaviour ; and the deprivation
of this species of ornament, as a punishment and sign
of displeasure. The discipline in the little monarchy,
of which the vacher is the undisputed lord and master,
tends in every way to inculcate this ; and experience has
furnished multiplied proofs that it has taken effect in an
extraordinary degree.
The cow, whose superior beauty, sagacity, or good

THE STOCKHORN. 313
conduct seems to calculcate her for leader, is always on
gala-days distinguished by the largest and finest-toned
bell and the bravest ornamented collar ; and so down
through all the gradations of good, to the small appendage
that marks the indifferently good or clever animal, and
the total absence of ornament and distinction, which
points out the self-willed or vicious.
If any animal has been guilty of straying, unseemly
behaviour, breach of discipline, or any vicious trick, the
displeasure of the vacher is not testified by blows, but
by the temporary deprivation of her bell ; and this seldom
fails to reduce her to ordef, and prevent a repetition of the
offence. It is only necessary to see the cow on a gala-day
with her badge of distinction strapped round her neck,
and then deprived of it for one or another reason, to
be convinced that this is true ; now gay, good-humoured
and frolicksome — and then sulky and gloomy. I have
never noticed that the moonies, or bulls, wore any thing
of the kind ; from which I have inferred, that the effect
on the animal may be attributed to the universal diffusion
of the hai-mless quality, called female vanity, through
the better half of the animal creation, whether biped or
quadruped. One anecdote in illustration. — It is well known, that
the day when the vachers leave their winter quarters in
the villages and set out to conduct their herds to the
high pastures, is considered a day of rejoicing and festi
vity. The master and his valets are dressed out in their
holiday clothes, and bedizened with ribbons and nose
gays ; the good wife and her children appear in their
best bib and tucker ; the cattle are all well cleaned, and
the largest sized bells, seldom used on any but like

314 THE STOCKHORN.
solemn occasions, on account of their weight, distributed
to the most worthy. The leaders, in addition, are deco
rated with garlands, and many bear between their horns
sorae light utensil belonging to the dairy, while a car
follows with the heavier materials.
The preparations being concluded, the leaders set
forward, generally preceded by one of the cowherds ;
the ranz de vache is struck up, and mingles with the
shouts and good wishes of the neighbours for a fortunate
and fruitful summer. As the whole body gets in motion,
the jarring sound of the bells soon fills up all intervals,
and the cavalcade, defiling through the village, disappears
among the inequalities of the ground at the foot of the
mountains. On one of these occasions, it was judged proper to
omit the decoration of the great bell, in the toilet of a
fine cow, one of the leaders in a large herd which was
upon the point of quitting a village at the foot of the
Alps, for the purposes just alluded to, on account of her
having calved but a few days before, and under the idea
that she might perhaps be injured by the additional
fatigue it might occasion. When the herd was on the
point of leaving the village, she was nevertheless turned
out of the stall to take her place ; but after proceeding a
few paces, she began to show signs of great uneasiness,
and at length replied to the attempts made to coax her
forward, by lying down on her side, as though in a
fainting fit.
A consultation was immediately held, and various
were the opinions broached, as to the cause of her
sudden indisposition. They would have lodged her
again in the stable, would she have moved. In this

THE STOCKHORN. 315
dilemma, one of the old vachers came up, and seeing how
the case stood, coolly went into the house, and brought
out the bell and collar, which the animal no sooner felt
about her neck, than up she got, shook herself, raised
and crooked her tail over her haunches in token
of complete satisfaction, went off prancing, kicking,
and curvetting, with every appearance of health and
gaiety, and, taking her place in the van, was, from that
moment, as well as ever.
The sumrait of the Stockhorn wa^.*tained about noon,
without particular adventure, except that, precisely at
the critical passage over the three ridges, I was surprised,
somewhat at disadvantage, by a violent tornado, which
forced rae, raore than once, to forsake the erect and
godlike position of my species, and scramble in all
humility, d quatre pats, after my four-footed friend.
The principal features of the view from this noble
rock, both towards the Oberland and the Jura, have been
for the greater part enumerated in the sketch given at a
former page of the panorama from the opposite summit
of the Niesen ; and though the idea I have attempted to
give of it should be very imperfect and very unworthy, I
feel unable to add to it.
Baron Humboldt has expressed (when araong like scenes
in another hemisphere) a sentiment to this effect : ' That
it is very difficult ta paint those sensations which act with
so rauch the raore force, as they have something undefined
produced by the immensity of the space, as well as the
greatness, the novelty, and the multitude of the objects
which are displayed before us,' I cannot hope to com
municate to any other bosom, by the mere details of

316 THE STOCKHORN.
description, the glowing sensations excited by the con
templation of scenes like these.
It is possible to give the outlines ; to throw the sun
shine over them ; to separate the broader masses of light
and shade ; to picture forth the wide expanse of smiling
country, stretched like a map beneath, farther and
farther to the dim horizon ; the glistening river and white-
walled town, the blue lakes embosomed in hills, and
piled-up mountains, over-topped by the vast glaciers, —
but to describe the height, the depth, and space of the
vast picture, to paint the blending of innumerable
colours and of lights and shadows ; to embody in
words the spirit and the feeling that rest upon the
whole, nnd give it its harraony and beauty, — that
neither the tongue, the pen, nor the pencil, can do
adequately. After some tirae spent in enthusiastic admiration of the
scene around me, I stretched myself on the short grassy
turf, which here and there occupies a few yards among
the rocks at the brink of the precipice, and for an hour
indulged in that half-dreaming half-waking state of
repose which is one of the greatest luxuries I am
acquainted with, under such circumstances.
In attempting to explain, I fear I may be unin
telligible to those who have not made experience
that it is one thing to doze and dream common-places, in
an arm-chair, after dinner, by a snug fire-side, and a very
different one to take your siesta on the summit of lofty
mountains, fanned by the gale which sighs around them,
and breathing freely the pure raountain atmosphere.
With what a voluptuous sense of tranquillity you feel
slumber stealing over you, withdrawing the blue sky

THE STOCKHORN. 317
from your gaze, and the consciousness of your position
from your senses. The wind sighing among the pine
forests below, or whistling shrilly for a moment among
the shivered crags around, or bearing to your ear the
chime of the bells from the pastures ; the short scream
of the falcon, wheeling his flight near the summit, or
some sudden and unusual sound rising up from the ' hoar
profound ; ' — these may bring you to your consciousness
for the moment, your eye fixes upon the deep blue sky,
a thought of where you are steals over your brain, and is
as quickly obliterated.
I am sorry that I can give no particular information,
from personal adventure, of that singular race of people,
called by the mountaineers Berggeister (spirits of the
mountain), corresponding to the dwarf of the old German
legends. They form a very considerable item in the trem
bling belief of the inhabitants of these vallies, where they
have the poetical appellation of Nachtv'olkli (little people
of the night) . And we raay yet speak with grandmothers,
who remember perfectly, and most positively record the
visits of these urchins, on long autumnal evenings, in
the farm-houses of their parents, and their good natured
offers of assistance, in any work which happened to be
going on.
Alas ! alas ! we live in a sad matter-of-fact age, when
incredulity is much more fashionable than that amiable
and unhesitating credence in raatters like these, which
distinguished the olden time. Of all the many and
diverse classes of beings, corporeal and incorporeal, which
in times gone by seemed to have formed the link between
the visible and invisible world, and administered, by their
casual presence, to the terrors, fancy, and amusement

318 THE STOCKHORN.
of old and young for so many centuries, there is scarcely
a single one sufficiently bold and unblushing to make his
appearance in the present age of general unbelief. Alas !
for Robin Goodfellow ! he chums cream for none of the
present race of gainsaying housewives. The fairy has
left the green sward of our summers, though both the
moon-bearas and the dew fall upon it as they ever did.
The brownie and the pixie have deserted the moor,
and the kelpie the ford. No one now sees any thing of
either Guy Trash or Gilpin Horner ; and even the place
of good Friar Rush, whom every child was accustomed to
see and to speak of, not raany generations back, is
usurped in our times by what the present enlightened
race of children call Ignis Fatuus !
My descent was deferred till towards evening. I then
took a new line of ix)ute in the direction of the Stockenfluh
and the second lake, and returned through the forests and
pastures to Erlenbach.
A great annual horse and cattle fair, a few days after,
converted our retired village and its environs, as well as
the roads leading to it, from Thun and the Ober-Sim-
nienthal, into a scene of temporary uproar and bustle.
The proposed nuptials of David the schoolmaster, which
were announced about the same time, set the tongues
of all the parish agog : so that, what between the conver
sation of the peasants, who were interested in the purchase
or disposal of cattle, and the continual palaver held by
select bodies of their wives and daughters in every corner
of the village, to decide upon the expediency of the match
in question, the character of my favourite retirement
seemed greatly changed.

THE THURNEN. 319
\' TTwo or three days set the first-mentioned point of dis
cussion at rest, by the complete disappearance of the
herds of cattle and strings of horses which had occasioned
it. The latter continued still a very engrossing subject
of interest, and the females kept the ball flying with great
perseverance for a considerable time longer. I found
after some time, that the debate, which had at first
confined itself solely to the fitness and propriety of the
match in question between David and Rozie-kateli, had
taken a rather different and more serious turn ; and the
question now was, whether it was likely to take place at
all. I was sorry to understand there was some reason for
the entertainment of a suspicion of this kind, as David
and myself had always been very civil to each other, and
I had every reason to wish him well.
A mountain-summit called the Thurnen,^ with the
Pfaffen adjoining, situated on the south side of the valley,
became the object ofa solitary and amusing excursion on
the ISth. I should not think it worth while to occupy a
page with any observations upon this mountain, had it
only its elevation or common features to recommend it.
As far as the point of view which it affords is concerned,
it is from its position as well as its height, necessarily
rauch inferior to the Stockhom in interest. Yet in its
geological structure it is infinitely raore curious than even
that reraarkable rock^ or any other mountain which has
come vinder my observation araong the Alps, where the
absence of volcanic phenomena is generally supposed.
After passing the Siraraen a little higher up than the
' Thurnen 6900 feet.

320 THE THURNEN.
village, I kept to the bed of a mountain torrent that rushes
down from a hollow in the Pfaffen for about an hour and a
half, and climbed on to the Rinder-alp, the route described
In a former part of these sketches. The whole ascent,
and particularly the Rinder-alp which crowns it, afford*
magnificent views of the Simmenthal, the two chains
of the Stockhorn and Niesen, and, in the distance, the
blue lake of Thun, and the range ofthe Faulhom behind.
The wide range of pastures known by the name of the
Rinder-alp is one of the finest I am acquainted with,
being of great extent, and almost entirely free from stone.
From this I mounted gradually, leaving the round sum
mit of this mountain a little to the right, and making
directly for the ridge, connecting it with the Thurnen.
Owing to the cattle and the lateness of the season,
the magnificent carpet which in the earlier months
of the summer covers all these high pastures, had
entirely disappeared. The exquisite butterflies which
then flutter in great nurabers araong the flowers had also
taken leave, and their place was usurped by myriads
of grasshoppers, much to the perplexity and amusement
of Stumah, who was kept busy on the hunt for miles
together. When I had gained the ridge, an unusual scene pre
sented itself. I stood upon the brink of an amphitheatre
of rocks, forming the wall of a precipice of several
hundred feet, which increases gradually in height as the
ridge ascends to the south west towards the summit of the
Thurnen. The interior of the vast cavity at your feet is covered
with a pine forest of the most sombre foliage. Over this,
deeper and deeper, the eye catches glimpses of the lower

THE THURNEN. 321
gradations of the mountain, and of the valley of the
Simmen ; while before the spectator rise the broken and
towering summits which form the advance range of
the Stockhorn chain.
But what most engages the attention is the wall of
rocks upon which you stand. Immense masses of lime
stone, whose substance strongly indicates the action of
fire, with streaks of blue, violet, red, and yellow, rise
up in the most grotesque and singular forms from the
sides of the precipice. The strata into which they were
originally divided, are broken, bent, and welded together
in the most singular manner, as if they had been kneaded
and worked into their present form while in a state of
fusion. From the bosom of the abyss isolated masses
shoot up like needles almost to a level with the brink
of the precipice, so high and pointed that in certain
positions it is difficult to conceive that they are
unattached to the further side of the amphitheatre,
from which they are in reality many hundred feet
distant. I saw them for a few minutes to the greatest possible
advantage, the flying clouds throwing their shade
upon the distant rocks, while a bright sun-beam illu
minated these isolated needles in the interior of the cavity.
My progress upon the ridge was very slow, as every foot
step brought fresh points in view, or changed the position
of those already seen. The Creux du Vent, in the
country of Neuchatel, is a cavitjr upon a still larger
scale, but has none of the singular volcanic appearances
which characterize this.
The swift advance of autumn reminded me that I
Y

322 THE THURNEN.
should not delay my departure for the prosecution of ray
rambles longer than needful. I therefore took advan
tage of an early opportunity to commence my tour
towards the Lake of Constance.
To Erlenbach, its quiet parsonage, and the social
and tranquil enjoyment which always awaited me there,
I proposed to return once more before I laid down my
Alpenstock and retreated for the winter to Neuchatel ;
as soon as continued motion, solitude, and spare com
mons, had rendered repose and society a welcome
blessing. September ISth — A seat in the post-boat from the town
of Thun to Interlacken and the Oberland, conveyed me
the whole length of the beautiful lake of Thun, after
three hours row to Neuhaus, the little port at
the upper extremity. As I had a visit to make at
Interlacken, I determined to remain the rest of the
day at Unterseen. In the course of the afternoon I
strolled forth, and after a few minutes' walk reached
Interlacken. The walnut is here in all its glory ;• indeed
the cottages, and trees, and meadows, which are inter
mingled in the narrow slip of land between the lakes of
Thun and Brienz, form a most enchanting foreground
to the noble mountain scenery which surrounds
them. Passing through the village of Interlacken, I crossed
the Aar a second time, and took a shady lane leading by
the lake and tower of Goldswyl to the village and church
of Ringgenberg, on the rocky shore ofthe lake of Brienz.
The church is remarkably picturesque ; in proof of which
it is only necessary to peep into the portfolio of every

UNTERSEEN. 323
traveller who bears a crayon or pencil. It is situated
upon a rocky projection of the shore, close to the dilapi
dated tower of the ancient castle of Ringgenberg, now
feathered over with trees and bushes. Two very pic
turesque flights of steps wind round either side of the
rock to the two entrances. The view on the lake com
prises the whole length.
Though the shortening days at this season of the year
occasion inconvenience to the traveller, yet they are
not without their advantages, as the length of a day's
march is more limited, and the time for meraorandura-
taking less brief and hurried. There is no proportion,
during the months of June and July, between the time
that the traveller is tempted to spend in raotion and
observation, and the hours left for recording and arrang
ing his gleanings.
September IQth. — ' Ho, ho ! ' muttered I, as soon as I
found myself delivered from the adieux and fair speeches
of mine hostess, and in motion towards the bridge of
Unterseen ; ' I have been very fairly entertained with bed
and board, and plenty of curtseys and polite speeches to
boot ; but I think I have paid a very unfair and shameless
price for these good things.' In short, I set out in high
dudgeon and with the same feeling of contempt and
righteous anger which have glowed in the breast of many
an Englishman, when exposed to the exorbitant charges
and open plundering of the Swiss aubergistes. And this
observation may give me the opportunity of making a
few remarks on one or two subjects relating to the
people of this country, and their connection with the
myriads of travellers, who have ascended hither in
Y 2

324 UNTERSEEN.
increasing numbers, year by year, since the peace of
1815. It cannot be denied, that the character of the majority
of the Swiss peasantry, whose habitations are unfortu
nately in the neighbourhood of the main routes of tra
vellers, or of the particular points of interest to which
thej' lead, is most contemptible ; that in such parts it
is not only vain to expect to find those simple and
guileless manners which in time past were associated
with the name of the inhabitants of these raountains,
but that even common morality is out of the question.
There is a disposition in the majority of those who have
been at all exposed to temptation, to take advantage of
the ignorance of travellers, to make the most exorbitant
deraands, and to go to the greatest possible length in the
system of extortion and deception. Even in those parts
of the country, where the open flagrancy of the cases
brought before them, has excited the attention, and pro
voked the surveillance of the magistrates, and where, in
consequence, a kind of just price has been set upon
various articles ; opportunities are always greedily
seized upon to turn a dishonest penny, when it can be
done without serious risk.
This the writer knows to be unquestionably the fact.
Yet he must candidly add, what he also knows from
observation, that the absurd conduct and unreasonable
folly of travellers have strengthened the spring of this
dishonest propensitj' in a very great degree : and while,
many a jv,st complaint has been made against the
extortion of those with whom the traveller must
come in contact, many an unreasonable accusation
has also been preferred under circurastances which

UNTERSEEN. 325
would not allow the plaintiff to make his case good. An
individual who is satisfied, while travelling in a countiy
like this, to identify himself as much as possible with the
people among whom he is thrown ; who is contented with
the general style of living, with the produce ofthe country,
and more especially with the customary hours of eating
and sleeping, has certainly reason to complain, if the
mere circumstance of his being a stranger is deemed a
sufficient apology for making him the object of unprin
cipled spoliation and imposition.
But if the travellers be of another mind and order, if
they pass through the country, as hundreds do, with their
eyes shut to the style and manners of the people and
difference of their habits from our own, and intent upon
keeping up their usual style of corporeal indulgence as
much as possible, such have not the same reason in their
complaints ; which is a lesson many have had to learn,
by the refusal of the magistrate to interfere in the quarrel,
or by having a verdict given against them.
I have seen a party of English arrive at a mountain
cabaret at nightfall, when the host and his family would,
in the usual course of things, have been thinking of their
beds ; they order dinner, and insist upon having flesh,
fish or fowl, foreign wines and liqueurs, just as though
they were at the Star and Garter at Richmond ; abuse
the master and the domestics, dine at eight or nine, and
sit over their cheer till past midnight. Mine host can
put up with a good deal of extra trouble, with no
small quantity of abuse, and will stay up all night with
considerable temper, because he knows he can make them
pay for it in hard money.
The next morning, as might be anticipated, he hands

326 UNTERSEEN.
in a bill of nearly as many dollars as they had expected
francs, without doubt exorbitant and overcharged, but at
any rate there are plausible excuses for this exorbitancy.
The host will shrug his shoulders, in answer to their
ill expressed and angry expostulation, and merely say,
that the gentleraen must not expect to have articles
which, however plentiful in towns, are luxuries on the
mountains, without paying well for them.
The worst is, that little by little the show ofjustice that
there once existed, and the distinction which was made
between the individual who gave no trouble and was
contented with what entertainment was easily provided, and
those last described, is fast waning away ; and to be a
foreigner, is sufficient to excite the plundering propen
sities of mine host and his coadjutors. He has frequently
a regular system to pursue, according as the visitor
announced is an Englishman, a Frenchman, or a German,
The latter obtains the most grace in his eyes, and pays
perhaps only ten or twenty per cent, ; the Frenchman
must expocket soraething raore in consideration of his
polish and politeness, and the old grudge borne him for
past events ; and the poor Englishman may esteem him
self very happy, if, after partaking of the same fare, he
finds himself desired to lay down a sum which only
excites his surprize and keeps him on the grumble for
the next three miles, and does not at once make him fly
into a passion, and get a prejudice for life against every
thing Swiss.
And it is not only those parts of the country through
which the great stream of travellers sets, that have by this
means become degraded ; the fame of these doings has
gone abroad throughout the greater part of the whole

UNTERSEEN. 327
community, and very few are the retired corners where
you do not detect more or less of this dishonourable bent
in the lower orders, if any way exposed to temptation.
But it is not only in this point that the moral character
of the common people is debased. It will not be a matter
of wonder that the present Swiss peasantry as a nation
cannot longer be supposed to be the simple, virtuous,
patriarchal race that their forefathers were. It is evident,
frora the perusal of their history, that the deterioration
had been steady and gradual for sorae time previous to
the close of the last century ; and that nothing contri
buted more to it, than that system of foreign military
service which, it would appear, had become necessary
to the existence of the community.
Then the overpowering deluge of the French Revolu
tion swept over the Jura, and gave accelerated impulse
to the downward current of moral feeling in every rank
of society in this unhappy country.
What evil influence this had at the time upon the
principles of the people in general, as well as the virtue
of families and individuals, it would now be a difficult
and ungrateful task to decide. Much of that evil may
at this time be supposed to have been already obviated ;
yet now that the waters of that fearful political phenome
non have retired, we may still see left behind the scum
and the mud with which their polluted streara was
heavily charged.
The peculiar customs of the mountain districts had
from time immemorial favoured certain irregularities in the
intercourse of the sexes, which only the general simplicity
of a patriarchal state could have kept within the intended
restraint, or given a semblance of propriety to. I

328 UNTERSEEN.
allude to the nocturnal visit of the betrothed to his
mistress. It is easy to conceive, that whenever a laxer
state of moral feeling should be introduced, a custom
like this, (under circumstances even the most favou
rable a questionable and hazardous one), would stand
ready, like an open door, for the inlet of immorality. And
such has not failed to be the case, aided as it was after
wards by the agitation of the times, and the rapid spread
of revolutionary and irreligious principles. Little can
now be said for the state of morality connected with this
subject in the peasantry in general. And, as for the
beaten road and path generally resorted to by travellers,
the less that is said the better.
' I have not been in the Oberland for years,' is an
expression I have heard time after time frora worthy
natives, and the reason is perfectly comprehensible.
A true lover of his country may well grieve over the
dishonour and the loss ef moral feeling in Switzerland,
and avoid going where he must be constantly reminded
of its downfall.
But I must proceed on my day's journey, and, in so
doing, retum again to those solitary wandering habits
which have been termed by some ' les gouts d'ours.'
But what says old Cowley ?
Ah, wretched and too solitary he
"Who loves not his own company ;
He'll feel the weight of it many a day.
Unless he call in sin and vanity.
To help to bear it away.
The deep gloom of the early morning, combined with

LAKE OF BRIENZ. 329
a hurricane of wind, which had risen suddenly, and raged
for several hours during the night, tended to make the
prospect of fine weather more a matter of hope than
expectation. However I was prepared to take what might fall to
my lot ; and, following the same direction as on the
foregoing afternoon, I left the village of Ringgen
berg to the right, and then proceeded along a lane on the
skirts of the lake of Brienz, leading up and down, as it
passed over the broken country at the foot of the pic
turesque range to the left, now through a copse of
brushwood, or a portion of the forest ; and then under
the shade of the impending scar, or over the broad and
stony bed of a winter torrent. Numbers of noble
walnut-trees clothe the lowest declivities of the raoun
tain towards the lake, and the hamlets through which
the road passes abound with beautiful specimens of the
rural architecture of the country, distinguished by
their wide-spreading roofs and richly-carved fronts.
In the first portion of ray walk I had to content myself
with the scenery in my immediate neighbourhood, the
mist hanging unusually low on the mountains, and in
many parts descending to the water's edge. About eight
o'clock, however, there were some slight prognostics of a
dispersion, and the wind soon after going round to the
east, and freshening, one layer after another began to put
itself in motion, and gradually to dissipate.
There is something uncommonly beautiful in the
dispersion of such an autumnal fog. The asto
nishing illusion which it favours, as to the heights and
distances of objects half-seen through its transparent
folds, or towering above them for an instant ; and its

330 LAKE OF BRIENZ.
gradual removal, as though by enchantment, till nothing
remains but one long narrow illuminated line, stretching
horizontally mid-way up the raountains, for miles to
gether, which, growing fainter and fainter, at last melts
insensibly into the blue atmosphere, — never cease to
excite wonder.
Brienz, near the head of the lake of that name, is
exquisitely situated, commanding a view of the whole
length from the entrance of the Aar to the tower of
Goldswyl at the lower extremity. The mountains on
both sides are very commanding.
A long, varied and novel ascent, of six or seven miles,
brought me, early in the afternoon, to the summit of the
Brunig separating the valley Oberhasli from the smallest
of the four Forest cantons, Underwalden. I was here
upon known ground.
At the little chapel upon the brink of the precipitous
descent above Lungern, on the Unterwalden side, I over
took a large party of Vallaisans, going on pilgrimage either
to the shrine of Engelberg, in the neighbouring moun
tains, or to that of Einsiedeln, in the Canton of Schwytz.
From this point, the vale, village, and lake of Lungern,
embosomed in mountains, forms one of the raost delicious
scenes in Switzerland. The waters of the lake are of an
intensity of blue I never saw surpassed even at sea ;
and are stated to be of an extraordinary depth.
The different style of building in the canton you have
left, and that of Unterwalden, strikes the eye instantly on
entering the village. The houses are taller, in proportion
to their length and breadth, and the roofs considerably
narrower, and the ridge forms a more acute angle. A still
more striking feature are the narrow slips of roofing over

SACHSLEN. 331
the line of windows in each story. The lattices are filled,
for the raost part, with small round or hexangular panes,
and are fewer in number than in the Berne cottages.
Then, the fronts are decorated with quite a different
style of carving and painting. The vine would seem more
plentiful here than in the Canton of Berne, and appears
to great advantage upon the dark coloured pine-wood
of which the cottages in this canton are commonly built.
The descent from the vale of Lungern to the valley
of Sarnen, is over a precipitous break in the country,
called the Kaiserstuhl; here the carriage-road commences,
so that there was even less chance of adventure than in
the earlier part of the route. I arrived early in the
evening at Sachslen, and took up my quarters in my
former inn near the church.
September 20th. — I quitted the village about six in the
moming with grey weather, as in the preceding day, and
leaving the town of Sarnen to the left, took the road to
Stanz, About nine o'clock, the sun broke out with
great splendour,
Stanz is situated near the entrance of the Engelberg.
thai, or valley of the Aa, at the foot of a high and
picturesque mountain, forming the left side of the valley.
Both in point of situation and historical interest, it is
one of the most remarkable towns of this quarter of
Switzerland. To both the N. W. and N. E, appear
ramifications of the Lake of the Four Cantons : the
first is that towards Stanzstadt, and the Alpnachersee,
backed by the Pilatus ; and the latter a portion of the
principal division of the lake, from Buochs to Brunnen,
Towards the last-mentioned, I continued my route

332 LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS.
through a fertile and beautiful countrj', and, about eight
miles below Stanz, reached the little port of Bekenried,
Here I procured a boat with three rowers, to take me
two leagues up the lake to Brunnen, I should have pre
ferred a smaller vessel, for every reason, but the prevalence
of a wind from the south called here the Fan, or the Italian
wind rendered the passage of such a light vessel dangerous.
The Fon is often the causeof accidents from the sudden
and violent gusts with which it is accompanied. It is a
local wind, acting from the Alps northward, much as the
Joran does on the southern edge of the Jura, though
depending upon other causes, which I do not understand.
It is a luxury to be surrounded by such scenes ! the
lofty impending mountains, with their mingling maze
of precipice and forest, the cheerful white-walled village
chequering the margin of the lake with its reflected
colours, the blue waters fading farther and farther into
the vista of raountains, till the eye can scarcely distinguish
the line where they ripple against the precipice ; the
white chapel half erabosomed in trees ; — and these in a
land which has been freedom's favoured sanctuary, and
surely in the day of her distress will become so again ;
where Winkelried has breathed, where the chapel of Tell
still gems the water edge, the Field of Griitli still
hangs like a watch-tower among the forests ; and the
homes of Stauffacher, and Furst, of the Redings, and
Attinghausen, and their brethren, still look down upon
the waters of the lake.
When our boat had advanced about half its little
voyage, the sky began to darken more and more,
particularly in the direction of the Pilatus, whose

LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS. 333
precipitous and distant cliff's might be seen, on glancing
back, to support high masses of lead-coloured cloud,
traversed by white strings of floating mist.
It is singular that almost all the thunder-storms rising
in this part of the country, are observed to brew in this
mountain, a circumstance that has conspired with the
name to render it an object of vmpleasant respect among
the inhabitants of the surrounding cantons.
The country people have believed, whether they be
lieve it now or not, that beside the unhappy spirit of
Pontius Pilate, whom vague tradition has contrived to
bring into this country, and to drown in one of the black
lakes on this raountain ; that the higher portions are
frequented by a malignant race of demons. Let that
be as it may, I was myself witness to the gradual rise of
a storm among its lakes and rocks on this occasion.
Loud thunderclaps began to issue from the raountain,
and echo from the Alps of Schwytz and LTri.
Meanwhile I had landed in safety at Brunnen, and
pursued my road to Schwytz. I had intended to pass
the night here ; but, as the day was not very far spent,
I preferred continuing my route in the direction of
Einsiedeln, trusting to find some kind of accommodation
at a village or hamlet on the road. An eminence, a little
to the N, W, of Schwytz, just above the point where
the roads to Lowertz and Sattel separate, commands an
enchanting view to the N, W. and S, The middle
ground is occupied by the village of Seewen, backed
by a broad and precipitous shoulder of the mountain
in connexion with the chain of the Righi ; beyond
it to the left, lie the lake, town and islands of
and Lowertz ; the Rossberg, furrowed with the line

334 SCHWYTZ.
of broad ruin, which twenty years have done little
towards clothing with verdure, and whose huge masses
of detached rock are seen heaped up at the end of the
lake, and even on the flanks of the opposite mountain.
The steep ridge of the Rigiberg itself rises on the
horizon. On the other hand appear the two towns of
Schwytz and Brunnen, with the fair cultivated track
between them ; the portion of the lake I had just tra
versed, and a noble pile of mountains and glaciers
rising in the back- ground.
But the Pilatus had not been brewing in vain, and
different portions of the thunder-storm began to spread
over the whole of the landscape. One heavily charged
mass of clouds went echoing above the surface of the
lake, between the high mountains towards the canton
of Uri, in the south. A second seemed to swing over
towards the Righi, and I had not proceeded many miles
to the northward, when the rising wind and louder thunder
warned me that I must expect my portion also.
A haralet called Ecce Homo, came very opportunely
to save me from being completely wet to the skin. While
I am waiting for a pause in the storm to proceed, I can
not do better than indulge ray spleen, and have a second
grumble about the innumerable beggars,
I will not pretend to say that this nuisance is as
unpicturesque as it is decidedly unpoetic ; for there
are figures among these mendicants that might fairly
stand comparison with any Dutch, Spanish, Italian,
Portuguese, or Irish beggar that ever stood with
hat in hand, ; such was the singular expression of
countenance, attitude, disposition of drapery, and rich
and varied colouring of their garments. But for poetry.

ECCE HOMO. 335
more is wanted, there is not sufficient dignity either
of vice or virtue in any of these Swiss beggars, to
render them objects in keeping with the poetic
feeling that seems to pervade every thing else in this
romantic region. They, therefore, considered abstract
edly, are perfectly a nuisance, and equally such in
reality. I had no sooner quitted the fertile neighbour
hood of the town, and advanced fairly into the hills, when
they sprung up and appeared at every turn and comer,
of every size smd dimension ; of every possible form and
age, from the toddling infant to the decrepit old man.
And the worst is, if you do not give your batzen, all the
saints in the calendar, who, in the supplicatory address,
were this moment called upon to bless you, are the
next entreated to plunge you neck and heels in purga
tory, if you should chance not to be charitably inclined.
I must not forget to remind the reader that I was here
upon the high road to the shrine of Maria Einsiedeln,
and that that accounts for their nurabers, and the pecu
liarly spiritual expression of their feelings.
At Ecce Homo, I was informed, to my great comfort
that at the hamlet of Rothenthurra, about a league
further, I should meet with super-excellent accommoda
tions at the sign of the Red Ox, kept by Dem Herrn
Presidenten, a lofty-sounding title in the ears of an
Englishman. However, as I recollected that the Lan-
damman, or principal magistrate of the canton of Schwytz,
was innkeeper of the Stag in the town of that name, I
thought his Honor the President might be the keeper
of a pot-house at Rothenthurm without any compromise
of dignity ; and made the best of my way thither.
As I passed Sattel, I caught a glimpse of the lake

336 ROTHENTHURM.
Egeri, and the scene of the battle of Morgarten, but
passed on with the intention of finding my way to it the
following morning from Rothenthurm.
At this village I found, as I had been informed, accom
modations at the Red Ox, though for their super-excel
lence I have but little to say. A very indifferent soup,
d I'eau panne^ was served up to me with most execrable
wine, and a most uneasy discreditable bed after that.
Mine host, Der Herr President, was the chief part of the
evening's entertainment. He was quite a study ! A man
of large dimensions, very tall and portly, with dirty
pantaloons, no coat or cravat, but with an open waistcoat,
and an inner garment, of the amplitude of which there
could be no suspicion, after noticing the superfluous folds
overhanging the waistband of his small-clothes, both
fore and aft. Yet under all this questionable garb, I
cannot deny but I could detect a considerable portion
of dignity and official consequence.
The common room, in a corner of which I had
ensconced myself with my pen and candle, was a long
apartment, serving as family-room, guest-chamber, and
kitchen, and was furnished accordingly with several sets
of tables and chairs, the largest of which was for the
greater part of the evening occupied by a number of
Swiss, of various ranks, as^ I afterwards found. The
apartment was heated by a large stove occupying a
corner of the room, in addition to a log fire on the hearth.
While his guests were engaged with their indifferent
discussions, and still worse wine, Der Herr President
perambulated the common room from end to end with
his pipe, with an air so erect, and a step so determined,
spoke to one or another of his guests at the long table

ROTHENTHURM. 337
from time to time with an air of such condescension, and
had in general so much deference paid him, that it was
easy to see that his dignity in the council was not for
gotten in the tap-room either by himself or his neighbours.
His very shadow seemed to borrow importance from him,
and stalked a little after him on the wall, darkening the
pewter dishes and saucepans, with corresponding dignity
and importance. The titles and bearings of one or
two, otherwise very homely looking individuals at
the table, were equally remarkable. A personage in
a shabby brown coat and woollen small-clothes was
always styled by a neighbour drinking from the same
mug, Der Herr Kleiner Raths-Herr, (his worship of
the little council,) and never failed to return the com
pliment by replying very respectfully to Der Ober Lieu
tenant (the First Lieutenant) ; and on a lumpish-looking
peasant quitting the company about bed-time, I was
equally astonished and amused to hear the remaining
dignitaries join in a full chorus of Guten abend Herr
Statthalter (Good evening. Master Deputy). Shortly
after Der Fremde Herr, (the strange gentleman) , whose
canton no one could guess, though I heard it attempted,
took leave for the night, with the best wishes of the
assembly. September 21st. — A lowering sky, and flying storms
offered but little opposition to the design I had long
formed of visiting the ancient field of battle in this
vicinity, if it were ever in my power. I accordingly
retraced my steps for half a league towards Sattel, and
took a pathway leading round the foot of the mountain
towards the lake of Egeri. z

338 MORGARTEN.
Morgarten,! the scene of the first struggle of the
ancient Swiss for the preservation of that independence
which was to them as the breath of their nostrils, is a spot
teeming with romantic historical recollections. The
history of none of their subsequent battles, striking
and spirit-stirring as their details may be, would seem
equally characteristic of the feeling of the people with
the one in question.
It was during the troubles in the empire, in conse
quence of the disputed claim of two princes, Lewis
of Bavaria, and Frederic of Austria, to the imperial
throne, that the Forest Cantons became the avowed objects
of the undisguised and long-brooded vengeance of the
princes of the House of Habsburg.
Eight years had elapsed since the expulsion of the
Austrian bailiffs from the country, by the patriots
of the Field of Riitli, in the days of Albert ; and during
this whole period constant disputes, either with the
Austrian princes themselves, or with their more imme
diate neighbours at Einsiedeln had kept the spirit of
hatred and desire of taking summary vengeance alive
in the breast of the proud nobles and prelates, whose
power and menaces they had so long set at defiance.
The Swiss of that day understood and practised
none of the politic arts of their enemies. They
simply opposed the assertion of their rights, and their
readiness to defend them, to the attacks of the
more courtly and wily nobles. Excommunication,
and the imperial interdict had hung over their heads,
without producing the effects desired ; an overwhelm-
' Vide Miiller's Schweitzergeschichte and Planta's Helv. Confederacy.

MORGARTEN. .339
ing force was therefore gathered together, under the
coramand of Duke Leopold, brother to King Frederic,
and forthwith prepared to act against the frontiers of
Schwytz and Unterwalden in three distinct places, with
the undisguised intention of extirpating the whole race.
Accordingly, in October 1315, 4000 men, commanded
by Otho, Count of Strasburg, advanced into the valley
of Oberhasli with the purpose of passing the Briinig,
and falling upon the valley of Sarnen in Unterwalden.
Twelve hundred from Lucern were appointed to make an
attack upon the same canton on the side of the lake.
The principal body of the invaders, under the com
mand of the Duke himself, including a large body
of heavy cavalry, the flower of the Austrian chivalry, all
the ancient nobility of the lower country, and the many
powerful retainers of the ducal house, amounting-,
according to the chronicles of that period, to 20,000
men, advanced upon the the canton of Schwytz from
the north. The confederates in the mean time had
been fully aware of the storm which had been so long
gathering and thickening in the low country beyond
their frontiers, and had done what they could to avert
its menacing dangers ; not by embassies or by depre
cation, but by assembling together and renewing their
ancient compact of brotherly union and co-operation.
To those of their neighbours, ivho endeavoured to persuade
them to listen to terms, they answered, ' that they were
the injured party, and would, with the help of God,
stand firmly by each other to repel any attack, however
violent.' Accordingly, when summoned by the near approach of
the danger, each of the confederated Cantons sent a body
Z 2

340 MORGARTEN.
of meh to the assistance of the Schwitzers, whose frontier
seemed in most danger. Four hundred men of Uri and
three hundred from Unterwalden, crossed the lake from
their several homes, and landing at Brunnen, repaired tothe
town of Schwytz. Here they assembled about the cottage
of the old veteran, Rudolph Reding, to seek his counsel
in the exigency in which they were placed. Though no
longer able to bear arras, his long experience and sound
ness of judgment, gave him the authority of a father
among the confederates ; and they did not hesitate an
instant to adopt the opinion which he gave. This was, that
they should raeet the attack of the enemy in the defiles of
Morgarten, through which he wisely judged that the
Duke would find himself obliged to pass. The whole
band then knelt and prayed to God, their sole trust, to
bless their arras in defence of their horaes and freedom.
They then raarched forward, 1 ,.300 in number, and took
their post below Sattel, near the southern extremity
of the lake Egeri, in such a manner as to command the
passage through the defiles of Morgarten.
While they were posted here, awaiting the approach
of the enemy, a circurastance occurred, which pourtrays
in the liveliest colours, the stern uncompromising princi
ples of the people, the sense of honour and consistency
which no circurastances could cause to waver, and the
strength of that love of their country for which the inha
bitants of these mountains have been so eminentlv
remarkable. Fifty men, proscribed and exiled from their homes in
the Forest Cantons for various offences against the magis
tracy, hearing of the danger impending over their native
mountains, assembled together on the frontier, and sent to

MORGARTEN. 341
the post of the confederates to pray, that, in the pressing
hour of danger which was approaching, they raight be
perraitted to join the ranks of their offended brethren,
and adventure their lives in the cause of their native land,
to prove, that, though banished and condemned, they
were not unworthy of their common ancestors.
Though the principle which actuated this request must
have thrilled through the bosoms of the party to whom
it was made, their petition was not acceded to ; it being
judged dishonourable to depart from a rule established
by law, because the danger was imminent.
Though repulsed, the fifty were not to be turned from
their devotion ; and taking a position overhanging the
defile, a little beyond the frontier, they collected a quan
tity of rubbish, raasses of loose rock, trunks of trees, and
missiles, and awaited the approach of the common enemy.
In descending from the village of Sattel towards the
lake, the pathway soon enters a short but narrow defile,
pent up and overhung by rocks of breccia. Above this
a sraall plain communicates with the mountain of Sattel,
whose steep and wooded flanks hem in the valley and
lake to the eastward. Immediately on emerging from
this narrow passage, the first object that presents itself is
a small chapel built on the slope towards the lake, the
waters of which have evidently once occupied a far greater
portion of the valley than at present.
The heights are every where clothed with wood, and
the sides of the mountains closing in the valley very
broken, and strewed with large disjointed masses of rock.
The road passes round the eastern margin of the lake,
and leads by a long narrow and rugged route to the lower
extreraity, and through the raountains to the north towards
the lake of Zug.

342 MORGARTEN.
It was from this portion of the country that the 1300
confederates posted over the upper end of the valley,
descried the advancing files of the invading host at early
dawn, on the 15th of October, slowly and cautiously
advancing over the rugged path towards the head of the
lake. Foremost came the cavalry, commanded by Montfort
de Tettnang, with their gorgeous and glistening display
of costly armour, clashing as they advanced with difficulty
over the rocky path, and through the forest between the
mountain and the water's edge. After them at a considerable
distance came the compressed line of infantry completely
shutting up the entrance into the valley by their numbers.
When the fifty exiles saw the advanced lines of the
cavalry toiling through the narrow passage below them,
thej- raised a shout of rage and defiance, and instantly
commenced the discharge of the missiles they had col
lected. Trunks of trees, voUies of stones, and large
fragments of the loose rock, which the peculiar construc
tion of their position supplied and rendered available,
were sent thundering down upon the startled nobles and
their horses, who, crowded and pent up between the
mountain and lake, were unable to advance with rapidity,
and still more to recede past the crowded infantry in
the rear.
The confederates, seeing the impression made by this
unexpected blow, instantly rushed down the mountain
on to the flank of the column. Here the combat was a
trial of strength between man and man, and the knight
with his skill and armour of proof could offer under such
circumstances but little effective defence to the attack
of the strong unshackled and active mountaineer, whose

MORTARGEN. 343
rude halbard, weighty two-handed sword, or still heavier
morning-star, ' dashed his armour to atoms, and threw
him from his affrighted charger. A slight frost added
to the difficulties of the enemy.
In this first attack the carnage was dreadful. Here
perished Landenberg, one of the expelled bailiffs and
relative of Herman Gessler, with two near kinsmen ofthat
baron, all burning with revenge against the confederates ;
— Rudolphof Habsburg-Lauffenberg, four barons ofthe
House of Toggenburg, three of Bonstetten, two Hallwyls,
three Urikons, and many other heads of noble families.
The lake was crowded with dead, and those who in
desperation sought a way of escaping through its waters.
The whole column gave way in a panic, and recoiled upon
the infantry, throwing it into equal confusion. The rout
now became general. Pent up in a narrow pass, there was
no room for evolutions, and the carnage continued
unchecked. Leopold himself, infuriate with rage and shame, when
he saw the defeat of his cavalry and the dismay of his
troops, was with difficulty extricated from the fate of
many of his nobles, and fled under the guidance of a
peasant by lone and solitary paths over the mountains to
the town of Winterthur.
Thus ended this memorable action : and in the course
of the morning the warriors, with comparatively little
loss, returned to their capital.
The same day both the other attacks made simulta
neously on different points of the Canton of Unterwalden
were alike repulsed ; a portion of the warriors who had
' A mace, termed so in the German language from the star-like ap
pearance given to the extremity by the steel spikes which surround it.

344 MORGARTEN.
battled at early dawn at Morgarten, crossing the lake on
a summons from the other points attacked, and assisting
in the defeat of the enemy at Burgen and Alpnach.
Something still remains to be mentioned. Before the
close of this eventful day the people met together to give
thanks to God, to whom they in the simple faith of these
early times never hesitated to give the glory of their success.
They then received the fifty exiles once more into their
body, as brethren and members of their confederacy,
wiping away the memory of their offences as an act
of justice for their devotion in the hour of need : and
finally agreed that this day should be consecrated and
annually observed with rejoicings forthe great victory, and
prayers for the repose ofthe souls of their brethren in arms,
who had fallen in defence of their comraon liberties.
This continued to be the case up to a very late period.
The chapel erected on the field of battle is a small
angular building, with spreading roof, rural portico, and
conical belfry. Over the entrance is a painting represent
ing the first attack ofthe confederates.
The ground has without doubt undergone considerable
and violent changes during the course of the five centuries
since this battle ; yet the position is so marked and pecu
liar, that none of these have been sufficient to destroy the
remarkable correspondence of the spot with the accounts
handed down to us of this day, and the exact scene of
action. I have been seduced into more detail in this single
instance than is properly consistent with the general
method pursued in these pages, but impulse has guided
me here, as it may have been observed to have done
in some other instances.

ST. MARIA EINSIEDELN. 345
After passing some hours at this place, I retraced my
steps the third time to Rothenthurm, and, breakfasting,
bade Der Herr President farewell, and continued my
route. Two hours' walk over an indifferent style of country
brought rae to the monasteries and chapel of St. Maria
Einsiedeln. Frora the time that I quitted the neighbourhood of
Schywtz, I had met or overtaken great numbers of pil
grims, going or returning from the shrine of this chapel,
most of them, rosaiy in hand, and repeating aloud their
aves or paternosters. Several groups were sufficiently
picturesque, frora the mingling costumes of the various
Catholic cantons. Many of these pilgrims were from
the Vallais and the canton of Freyberg, and there
were even individuals from the Tyrol and the Black
Forest. The village of Einsiedeln consists of 180 or 200 houses,
nearly all of which are inns and lodging-houses for the
entertainment of the pilgrims. Surely such a number
of signs were never seen together since the old-fashioned
custom once prevalent with tradesmen in English
towns was done away with. All the saints in the
calendar, the sun, moon, and stars, all things on the
earth, above the earth, and under the earth, seem to
have been put in requisition to furnish forth a sufficient
choice and variety. The consequence is the most ap
palling confusion and ludicrous proximities. There is
St. John hung between the Red Cow and the Calf's
Head, and the Cod-fish dangling between holy St,
Benedict and one of his contemporaries.
The raonasteries and the great church form a very

346 ST. MARIA EINSIEDELN.
spacious and iraposing quadrangle. The latter, in the
centre of the southern fa9ade, has two high towers and a
miniature cupola or lantern in the centre. The plan
ofthe whole may be called magnificent.
For some reason or other, I was informed that I should
not be allowed to see the interior of the monasteries and
the libraries till evening, I had therefore to content
myself with a passing glance at the church and the ex
terior. This foundation is extremely ancient, said to have
been in the ninth century. The very first notice extant
of the existence of the ancient Swiss in the neighbouring
mountains, is in the record of a quarrel between them
and an abbot of Einsiedeln, in the beginning of the
twelfth century ; and it would appear that, at that time
already, the abbots of this monastery were very powerful,
and possessed large influence with the emperors. They
were very bad neighbours to the Schwitzers, and never
failed to do them mischief, and to catch at a quarrel
when it was possible. A body of the retainers of this
abbey appeared in the ranks of Leopold at Morgarten,
under the special protection of the sacred banner of the
abbey, which, however, seems not to have had much in
its power, nor to have fared much better than the lay-
pennons, with which it was unfortunately associated.
The present buildings are of modern construction,
and situated quite free of the village on an elevated
plateau. In advance of the great flight of steps
leading to the entrance, stands a magnificent foun
tain, consisting of a cupola, supported upon seven
columns, and surmounted with a gilt image of the Virgin,
The water continually flows from fourteen lions' heads
in the pedestals.

UZNACH. 347
The Grecian interior of the church corresponds with
the general plan. But my head aches with the remem
brance of the gaudy finery which covers the whole from
the cieling to the pavement. Numbers of pilgrims were
on their knees before the altars. As might be supposed,
the votive paintings deposited here in acknowledgment
of the miraculous preservations, interpositions, and cures
of our Lady of the Hermitage are innumerable.
From Einsiedeln I proceeded to the summit of the
Ezel, a ridge bounding the valley of the Sihl on the
right, and came in sight of the lake of Zurich, stretching,
with the delicious country which covers its banks, far
northward. My further route to Rapperschwyl, a
venerable old town on the opposite shore, and thence
eight or nine miles to the east, to the town of Uznach,
beyond the upper extremity of the lake, offered nothing
deserving of notice. I had been walking in heavy rain
the greater part of the day. There appeared more than
ordinaiy resemblance between the corner of St. Gall,
through which I had passed from Rapperschwyl, the fron
tier town, to Uznach, and certain portions of English
scenery. The gentle hills, hedges, fine green verdure,
and numerous factories and mills, and, perhaps I may
be permitted to add, the steady rain — brought the latter
constantly to my mind.
September 22nd. — Uznach was once a fortified town,
and is still marked as such in the maps, though all the
pretensions I could discover at present to that class,
consisted in the crowded character of the exterior houses,
with their backs facing a narrow fosse, and the occasional
projection of an old tower or gateway.

348 UZNACH.
Immediately to the north-east rises the tract of high
country called the Himmelwald ; and, in front, the wide
plain between the lakes of Zurich and Wallenstatt, inter
sected by the canal of the Linth, extends far towards the
south-east, in the direction of the latter. Uznach was
of considerable importance in early times, as it com
manded the pass into the valley of the Graster.
The passage of the Himmelwald, from Uznach to the
vale of the Thur, was long, and rendered less amusing
than I had hoped, by the thick clouds covering the
higher country ; and I regret that the same observation
applies to the greater part of this day's route.
At thetown of Lichtensteg I left the bank of the Thur ;
and, crossing a portion of the mountainous district called
the Toggenburg, entered the canton of AppenzeU,
through which I proceeded over an undulating country
to Herisau the capital. -¦
Upon a high ridge, between the hamlet of Schonen-
grund and this town, I had come in sight of the wide
lake of Constance to the north, and large portions of the
cantons of St. Gall and Thurgau in the middle ground ;
and descended rapidly, with a brightening sky and warm
sun, towards the low country.
My object was to reach the town of Rorschach, a
flourishing port towards the upper extremity of the
lake. I accordingly made no stay in the town of
St. Gall, but, making the best use of the shortening day,
pursued my route through a delightful tract of country,
sloping gradually from the mountains, and entered
Rorschach, just as the last beams of a setting sun
were illuminating the agitated waters of the noble
lake of Constance or Bodensee, to whose margin I had
now advanced.

CHAPTER X,

The stars are forth, the moon above the tops
Of the snow-shining mountains.

However little the scenery of the Bodensee may bear
comparison with the peculiar magnificence of that which
is spread round a large portion of the basin of the lake
of Geneva, it raay still lay claim to a very considerable
degree of interest and beauty.
Towards this extremity of Switzerland, Alpine scenery,
properly so called, may be said to be confined to the
southern side of an imaginary line drawn from the head
of the lake of Zurich, to the lower division of the great
valley of the Rhine ; the character of the country to the
north assuming a perfectly distinct aspect, among the
details of which the traveller must no longer look for the
imposing and abrupt features distinguishing the higher
Alps. The district of the Himmelwald, the northern por
tions of the Toggenburg, and the canton of AppenzeU,
though hilly and maintaining a considerable elevation
above the level of the lakes of Zurich and Constance,
would not appear to possess very striking features,
presenting for the most parts a naked undulating sur
face, whose ridges, though divided by deep dells, rarely
rise to any great elevation above the mean height of the

350 RORSCHACH.
district, and are seldora broken into picturesque
forms. And these features prevail till the traveller
approaches the canton of Thurgau, and the northem
portion of St. Gall. Here the mountains break down
more or less rapidly towards the valley of the Thur, and
the lake of Constance ; and the character of the scenery
is again completely changed. Towards the lower ex
tremity of the lake, a large tract of fruitful countiy,
worthy of being called the garden of Switzerland, studded
with villages, and appearing frora the heights like an
immense orchard, intervenes between the shore and the
base of the mountains ; while, towards the opening into
the Rhine valley at the upper extremity, the broken
declivities of the latter advance close to the water's
edge. Frora the portion of the heights rising behind the
town of Rorschach, the eye commands an horizon of
singular interest, comprising the whole of the tract just
spoken of, the city of Constance at the further extreraity
of the lake ; portions of the states of Baden, Wirtemberg,
and Bavaria, on the opposite shores ; the Austrian fron
tier, and the estuary of the Rhine to the east ; the Rhein
thal receding among the mountains of the Grisons ;
many snowy points of the Alps in that romantic country
and on the Tyrol frontier ; and portions of the Toggen
burg, and even of the Jura, and Black Forest, in other
parts of the panorama.
Rorschach and its neighbourhood might have become
tolerably familiar to me, during the course of the three
weeks' stay, which followed my rencontre with a hospi
table family of friends from the west of Switzerland,
at that time resident in the vicinity ; but the unpro-

RORSCHACH. 351
pitious state of the weather during the greater part
of that interval, was a sad hindrance to excursions of any
length. A bright hour from time to time, and a
fair autumnal day, which was a still greater rarity,
afforded rae, nevertheless, some few brief opportunities
of looking about the neighbourhood ; and, such as it may
be, I am tempted to preserve among my sketches some
record of my visit to the east of Switzerland.
Not far from the outskirts of the town, upon the slope
of the hill, stands the Statthalterei, an ancient palace of
the former proud and powerful abbots of St. Gall, once
th^ lords of the greater part of the fine and fertile region
now comprised within the limits of the canton. It is a long
dilapidated pile of building, and now devoted to the
purposes of a farm-house, and more remarkable for the
beauty of the view commanded from its terrace, than for
any thing in its present appearance. The only sign of its
former appropriation, as far as I know, consists in the
pilgrimage made by the Roman Catholic inhabitants
of the town, to attend early mattins in the forlorn old
chapel, every Friday.
My attention in the early morning strolls in the
vicinity was soon directed towards another antiquated
building, rising out of the forest about half a mile higher
up the broken slopes of the mountain.
I have in no country seen a wilder-looking, more
desolate group of buildings than that which composes
the old castle of St. Anne. It is perched upon a small
jutting promontory of sand-stone rock, rising on a
steep acclivity ; round which, two deep and narrow
gullies have been mined by the torrents, and form

352 RORSCHACH.
natural defences to the approach by their depth, and
the trees and brushwood by which they are concealed
and choked. The main entrance is at the back. The
buildings consist of a very ancient tower, or keep, with a
comparatively modern erection attached to it. The whole
mass is tightly packed together, and has in height
what it wants in breadth. A gloomy strip of forest
clothes the declivity immediately beneath it. No one
will doubt its being thoroughly haunted, (as I found
it is accused of being,) who has any inclination to
involuntary credence in these matters. As I stood in the
entrance of the wood below, and looked up to the huge
and time-stained facade, with its numerous windows and
loop-holes of all sorts, sizes, and forms, not two alike ;
some with plain grating, others half walled in ; some with
a sort of iron cage appended to them, others deep in
the wall, or overhanging the abyss ; and hardly two
in a straight line ; and thought ofthe dreary apartments
to which they afforded a twilight, I felt my belief in
the marvellous wonderfully excited, and almost ex
pected, though in broad day-light, to see some uncooth
figure peeping out of one or another of these cheer
less loop-holes.
At a second visit I made my way into its interior. It is
inhabited by a farmer and his family, if I may so term the
occupation of one or two of the smallest apartments ;
while the larger and by far the greater number are dreary
and untenanted, except by the bat, the owl, the rat, and
the spider. The walls throughout are of great thickness,
particularly those of the ancient quadrangular keep.
Into this there is no entrance frora without, and the vast
bulk of the materials employed in its construction must

RORSCHACH. 353
have shut out all hope for ever from the wretch immured
among the foundation stones. A low portal in the interior
wall, communicating with one of the upper chambers
of the castle, allows the visitor to enter the tower, and
glance into the horrible abyss into which a portion of the
floor has sunk.
The apartments are extremely rude in their disposition
and formation. The dwelling-room of the present oc
cupants is well decorated and fortified with crucifixes, the
portraits of saints, and so forth, besides a paper of acknow
ledged virtue in cases, where, as in the present, there is
some reason to dread the unwelcome visits of visible or
invisible spiritual guests : it is called Heiliger Jacobs
Haus-segen (St. James's house-blessing) .
I was more than ever struck by the desolate ap
pearance of the exterior, rising so abruptly on the
mountain side, and swathed in a body of light mist in
constant motion.
The castle of St. Anne is one of a line of castles, built
or renewed in the times when the Austrians held the
sovereignty here, at such convenient distances as rendered
communication by signal easy. Most of them are now
level with the ground.
The next, to the westward, is the Sulzberg. It is by
no means so romantic in appearance as its neighbour,
though situated on much the sarae kind of knoll on the
mountain side over the village of Ober-Goldach. Its
reputation as the resort of the restless and dissatisfied
spirits of the departed is even worse than that of the other ;
and I was much amused to hear the farmer who rented
it own, that, in consequence of the fearful midnight
rout in the deserted apartments, and the visits of an
2 A

354 RORSCHACH.
equally disagreeable solitary visitor, who now and then
came to peep at his wife and himself when in bed, iu
spite of both Saint James' house-blessing and holy
water, the whole family preferred sleeping at the miller's,
without the walls.
This castle suffered a long siege by the Swedes, in the
thirty years' war. It is now dismantled, and in a great
measure demolished; the keep reduced to two-thirds
of the original height, the drawbridge and portcullis
taken away, and the fosse filled up. The view from every
unobstructed point on the declivity of this line of hills is
magnificent for its extent and richness.
A wide stretch of open country on the Austrian fron
tier, to the east of the estuary of the Rhine, was fre
quently resorted to by my host and myself, during the
intervals of fair weather. The quantity of game in
those thinly inhabited plains was our proper lure, yet, in
default of sport, there was sufficient entertainment to be
gathered from the displays of the surrounding scenery, to
make up for light game-bags, when such were our fortune.
Trifling as these excursions were, I shall venture to
select one for insertion, as it will afford an opportunity
of giving the outlines of the scenery, amidst which the
Rhine, after its long and distracted course in the deep
vallies of the Grisons, pours its variable stream into the
bosona of the noble lake of Constance.
The route from Rorschach to the entrance of the
Rheinthal passes between the mountains and the lake for
some time, and then following the bent of the former, as
they retire to the southward, enters the Rhine-valley and
reaches the frontier town of Rheinek. A mile or two

RORSCHACH. 355
further up the stream, we generally passed the river
with our vehicle to the Austrian post at St. Johan, and
thence proceeded to the N. E. to Fussach. The plains,
toward the upper extremity of which this village is
situated, stretch for many miles to the south and east,
having the Rhine as a boundary to the west, and the
shore of the lake to the north. The greater part appears
to be alluvial, and formed by the depositions brought
down for ages by the river, which has gradually worked
its way more and more towards the mountains of Appen
zeU, and now in many places touches their base.
Southward, the country has been subjected to a rude
process of draining and cultivation, but towards the
mouth of the Rhine and the lake, lie extensive tracts,
unreclaimed by the labour of man, and exhibiting
either a soft spungy soil covered with short grass, or
flats entirely under water, and overgrown with extensive
plantations of towering reeds, flags, and rushes, extending
for miles along the shores. This was to be the scene of
action on the occasion in question.
I am no great shot, and a still worse fisherman ; and
had I not found more amusement than that which was
to be gathered from my ovvn success, I should have but
little pleasure in recollecting how I had submitted to
wade like a heron for the greater part of an autumnal day.
Before quitting Fussach, it was thought advisable that
our party should be augmented by no less a personage than
a regular and acknowledged poacher, whose profession
is equally common in these parts as in our own country,
and rather more kindly and civilly dealt by, as the gentry
find it sometimes impossible to get a fair day's sport in
these marshes, without the help of their ill-gotten
2 A 2

350 FUSSACH.
experience ; such was our case. Our guide, for as
such he acted, was as complete a specimen of the poacher
as it is possible to imagine ; he had the true poacher's
eye and gait, his gun was the most decided poacher's
gun I could ever have imagined, and his dog Spitz would
have matched the most villainous quadruped in the train
of Starlight Tom.
After about an hour's walk from Fussach, we reached
the above-mentioned raarshes. The objects of our chase
were snipes, ducks, and bustards — but that is not
my business at present. The ensuing hours were spent
partly alone, and partly in the neighbourhood of my
companions, as we happened to be drawn nearer or
farther from each other, for the most part mid-leg
deep in water and mud, and buried among the throng
of gigantic reeds and rushes which often rose several
feet above our heads, and hid every thing from us but
the sky above.
Somehow or other, the birds were very wild, and both
the poacher, his gun, and his dog seemed once or twice
to have lost their cunning. I never saw a trio linked
together who were capable of such contradictory be
haviour. In the first place, Hans took offence at his
great hound not standing quiet and pointing, when his
education should have taught him to do so ; and, before
either Spitz or the rest of the party were aware, turned
sharp round upon the poor brute, and gave him the
contents of his gun ;  and away ran Spitz bleeding
back to Fussach, where we afterwards saw him in tolerable
spirits. In the second place, the gun, as if resenting the
offence offered to its four-footed coadjutor, took it into its
head to let fly at the breech instead of at the muzzle, and

FUSSACH. 357
with that both the lock and stock came off. But, in no
wise astonished, Hans took a knife, a couple of nails, and
some packthread out of his pocket, and, by the help ofa
large pebble, which he used as a hammer, with the
utmost coolness fastened the refractory members together
again, drew the shot, reloaded, and went on shooting with
as much assurance as if he had been handling one of
Forsyth's best percussion fowling-pieces.
I avow, that after I had had such specimens of their
humours, I preferred seeing Hans and his gun at a con
siderable distance.
The day was one of those tranquil sunny days of
autumn, when the mists which obscured the early rays
of the sun, having dissipated late in the morning, would
seem to have purified the air, and leave the atmosphere
clearer and more transparent than ever. As long as I
was plunging with stealthy steps in the water and mud
of the marsh, breaking a narrow pathway for myself
through the reeds, I was not in a situation to remark
much in my vicinity. But, when, after toiling for
half an hour through such a belt of plantation, I
emerged upon one of the little fields with which they
are interspersed, where the serf takes advantage of an
accidental rise, to drain the ground and mow the
coarse grass which it produces; the view which burst
upon me was ten times more beautiful and welcome
frora the contrast, and the green sward truly grateful to
the sight which ached with long exposure to the sun, the
bright yellow of the reeds, and the blue sky against
which the latter displayed themselves.
On one occasion I found myself almo;,t close upon
the bhore of the lake. The wide expanse of water.

358- FUSSACH.
gently agitated by the breeze, reflected the deep blue
of the heavens, by a yet deeper and more intense
hue. To the N, W, no land was visible, so that the
water-line forraed the horizon. Directly over against me,
on the north shore, lay the town and citadel of Lindau,
so distinct and bright in the clear atmosphere, that, though
several miles distant, it seeraed as though a shot from its
battlements raight strike the shore on this side the Bodensee.
Westward of this town the coast of Wirtemberg and
Baden ran narrower and narrower, till it faded into indis
tinctness, and mingled with the hue of the waters. Two
or three picturesque vessels, with large white sails stretched
upon their masts, were slowly making their way towards
Bregenz ; and others, in the distance, off Rorschach and
Arbonne, lay like flakes of snow on the blue surface
of the water. To the S. W. I saw the Rheinspitz, a long
low promontory, stretching far into the waters and the
vast plains, with the marshes in the foreground. The
eye lost all idea of distance, while passing its rapid
glance over this wide extent of level country, and, but
for an instant detained by the receding spires of Fussach,
Lustnau, St Johan, Maria-Bildstein, and others, rested
upon the long line of mountains forming the southern
and western horizon, swathed in the blue atmosphere, and
here and there chequered by a fleecy cloud.
The snows of the Scesa Plana and other more distant
and elevated Alps on the Tyrol frontier, rose far above the
green and forested chain of the Vor-Arlberg forming
the boundary of the plains ; and a little more to the
left the long vista of the Rhine-valley receded farther
and farther into the mountains of the Grisons, even
to the Galandu, vising over the town of Coire. This was

FUSSACH. 359
a scene which my occasional attainment of a more
open spot of ground, after long immersion in the marsh,
gave me frequent opportunities of beholding with renewed
pleasure. By degrees we drew insensibly together as
the reddening hue that began to spread over the moun
tains gave warning of the speedy close of the short
autumnal day. Between six and seven we returned to
Fussach, resumed our seats in the vehicle, and, crossing
the Rhine, returned to Rorschach with the produce
of our day's sport.
Bregenz, the most considerable town upon this portion
of the Austrian frontier, is situated at the eastern
extreraity of the lake, at the foot of a range of low
hills, which form a barrier to its waters, and at the
same time the boundary of the plains towards the east.
It was formerly considered a place of considerable
strength. Perched on a high and singular rock, some
what to the S, E, of the town, is the chapel of St, Geb-
hard, the site of a ci-devant strong fortress. The garrison
church is built upon a tumulus raised over the bodies
of an unsuccessful band of Appenzellers, who here met
with defeat from the Suabian chivalr}'.
During the long and bloody wars, waged in the
fifteenth contury, between the confederates and the
Suabian league, the whole of this frontier was the
scene of numerous and fierce encounters ; and the
repulse of the Appenzellers at Bregenz, was one of
the very few laurels of which the Imperialists could
boast. The snow, which covered all the heights, after one or
two days rainy weather in the second week in October,

aeo RORSCHACH.
warned me of the approach of a season when the prosecu
tion of my plan of retum would be impracticable,
if delayed much longer. I therefore took advantage
of the first favourable change, towards the close of the
week, and made my arrangements for quitting Rorschach.
My friend had formed a plan of accompanying me into
the Rheinthal, and we accordingly started together in
an open carriage [October 14th) for Balzers, a village in
the principality of Lichtenstein, adjoining the Grison
frontier. Passing through Rheinek, we continned our route
to the second ferry over the Rhine, at Mondstein,
and there crossed to the Austrian side of the river,.
Though I have nothing personally to complain of, from
having always gone to and fro through the lines of
the Austrian douaniers under good escort, I have seen few
frontiers better garnished with official dignitaries of every
kind. The whole right shore of the Rhine, from Feld-
kirch on the boundary of the principality of Lichtenstein
to the Rheinspitz, is one continued line of spies, patrols,
chasseurs, and revenue officers, ever on the hunt after
smugglers. There had just been an affray at this point be
tween two companies of these adverse professions, in which
a poor smuggler had lost his life. The booty raust have
been worth fighting for, as one of the soldiers told rae
his share had amounted to above a hundred dollars, or
near twenty-five pounds. The penalty upon the smug
gler is, eight times the value of the articles intercepted,
or the galleys in case of non-payment.
From the bank of the river we crossed the plains to the
small town of Hohen-Embs, principally inhabited by
Jews, of whom it is said to contain upwards of 30OO.

THE RHEINTHAL. 361
Here the Prince of Sei I has a palace; and there are
sulphur baths and springs in the vicinity.
Hohen-Embs is situated at the foot of a diversified
and rocky line of inferior hills, which would appear to
have rolled down from the heights of the Vor-Arlberg,
whose high broken ridges rise into the vapours im
mediately behind. There are the ruins of two castles,
perched among the woods and precipices, both extremely
picturesque. Leaving the town to the east, we entered the valley
of the Rhine. Though enclosed by mountains, it still
continues of a very considerable width for raany leagues
higher up, the bottom of the vale being occupied by a
strip of fenny and level countiy. A lofty range of
precipitous raountains runs at some distance from the
west bank, and forms the boundary of St. Gall and
AppenzeU, Our route lay by Gotzis to Feldkirch, a small town
with a wall and ditch, and commanded by a strong castle.
This town is situated at the entrance of the valley of the
III or Montafun, leading into the Tyrol,
We here crossed the boundary into the Principality
of Lichtenstein, and soon arrived at the capital, Vadutz.
The Rhine valley, above Feldkirch, is bounded, to the
east, by high ridges covered with wood, stretching south
ward to the many peaks and pinnacles of the Falknis on
the Grison frontier. They abound with deer of the large
race, boars, and game of every kind, and afford shelter
to numerous bands of smugglers. The forest is chiefly
beech, A short time before we arrived at Vadutz, my com
panion pointed out to me a ruined tower but lately

362 THE RHEINTHAL.
discovered in cutting the pine forest on one of the huge
buttresses reared against the sides of the range to our left.
There was no sort of notice or tradition of its existence in
the annals of the country. It is a horribly black and
dismal looking building, confirming by its appearance
the idea of the country people, that it had been, in
former tiraes, the concealed retreat of banditti.
A second castle of this kind had been discovered about
the same time, while cutting down a forest in the environs
of Coire.
The vast number of ruined castles along the whole
course of the Rhine, the great natural boundary of so
many kingdoms, must surprise the generality of travel
lers, and particularly one whose progress is sufficiently
tardy to admit of a frequent digression from the main
routes into the recesses of the hills and forests, which
beset its valley in various portions of its long and
varied course from the Alps to the Low Countries.
An astonishing number of these ruined fastnesses are
dispersed among the latter on both sides of the Rhine,
vying with each other in strength as well as in singu
larity of situation.
With exception of some in the Eifel, a moun
tainous district between the Rhine, the left bank
of the Moselle, and the French frontier, but few are
posted on very commanding eminences with regard
to the surrounding country. The choice of position
seems to have fallen, either upon the advanced though
inferior rocky 'hills in front of the main ridges, as in
the case of those more immediately upon the Rhine
bank, or on some-detached kuoll rising from the bosom

THE RHEINTHAL. 36
of one of those profound hollows so common in the
recesses of the forests.
In the Eifel, however, many of the numerous castles
are situated on most imposing eminences. The huge
round-tower of the Aremberg, the Nuremberg in the
interior of the country, the Landscrone on the Aar near
Sinzig, and others in the same wild and peculiar region,
are visible from a considerable distance in every direction,
being much more elevated than any on the Rhine itself,
the Drachenfels not excepted.
Of all these innumerable rude fortresses not one has
survived the abolition of feudal rights and tyranny. Many
are in the last stage of ruin, hardly recording their site
by irregular mounds and low walls. All bear more or
less evident signs of the hot strife in which their bulwarks
were won and overthrown, and of the further wreck which
time is yearly working ainong their remains. Here or
there a gigantic donjon still bids defiance to the waste
of centuries, even as it has to the vengeance which levelled
the surrounding defences ; and promises fair from its
immense strength and scarcely perishable materials, to
stand forth for many long years, as a land mark for
future generations.
There is something singularly romantic in the aspect
of these remains of past greatness and prowess, as they
arise before the wanderer of the hills and forests. The
wild legends attached to many, and the faint and partial
light which tradition or history throws upon some of the
most considerable, carries back the imagination to the
scenes and characters of early time ; while the thick veil
which envelopes the past destinies of most, instead of
benumbint;- the force of fancy, gives it greater play,

364 THE RHEINTHAL.
because no boundary lines are laid down for its
restriction, Vadutz is a small town placed close under the moun
tain, upon whose advancing ridges the castle is built.
It is the Residenz, or metropolis of the principality
of Lichtenstein, a tract of country about twelve miles in
length, and ten in breadth, lying between the Rhine and
the Austrian and Grison frontier, I believe it is the
most inconsiderable among the many small independent
principalities in Gerraany ; certainly the sraallest that
sends a vote to the Diet, It furnishes sixty-nine soldiers
to the Germanic confederation. The present prince is
field-marshal in the Austrian service, and has made over
his vote to the Eraperor.
Being a free country it is the paradise of smugglers,
who, having a large depot of their wares close upon the
Austrian frontier, take every opportunity to skulk across
the forested ridge before spoken of. This has been
rendered a more difficult enterprise, since the Austrians
have cut down a thick forest which formerly clothed
the raountain side, and gave them shelter in their
passage. Numbers of jauners or gipseys also take
refuge here, and are considered good and creditable
society. About dusk we arrived at Balzers, a small village at the
foot of the Falknis, and near the coram enceraent of the
pass called the Luciensteig, leading into the Grisons,
Balzers is situated at the edge of a low marshy
plain, considerably to the eastward of the general line
of the river. This plain is shut in on all sides
by high mountains, except towards the long valley
by which the Rhine runs off to the north, and a nar-

THE RHEINTHAL. 36fl
row pass through which it enters from the Grison
mountains. But little occurred during two days' stay in this
neighbourhood worthy of record. The Italian wind blew
uncommonly hard, and did not fail to produce the violent
pain in the head which is the usual effect upon those
unaccustomed to it,
A rapid excursion across the Luciensteig and the
Grison frontier was not favourable to observation of any
kind, I therefore pass on to October 17th — when, Mr, de
S, quitting Balzers on his return to Rorschach at early
morning, I felt there was nothing further to detain me,
and taking up my staff and knapsack commenced my
retum home also.
It is seldom that I have passed through the same
proportion of magnificent scenery in one day's walk as
that which displayed itself around me on this first
resumption of my usual raode of travelling,
A footpath led me across the marshes under the ruined
castle of Balzers to the Rhine, where I was ferried over,
and pursued the high road to the town of Sargans,
From the hamlet of Tr'ubbach on the left bank, the view
opens a considerable way up the Rheinthal, which here ex
hibits an even surface of considerable extent, but so liable
to be laid waste by the sudden and impetuous movements
of this unruly and powerful mountain stream, that a
large tract is left perfectly barren, or covered with
alders or other loose shrubs and bushes, without any
attempt at cultivation. This occasional bed of the river
stretches towards the foot of the eminences upon which
the town and castle of Sargans are situated, or in other

366 SARGANS.
words, to the low eminence separating the valley of the
Rhine from the small vale of the Seez, leading into the
lake of Wallenstatt.
This small valley, which is now threaded by an
inconsiderable mountain-torrent, may, it is possible,
and even probable, one day be the theatre of a singular
and terrific natural convulsion, and become remarkable
as affording a new channel for the Rhine. It is sup
posed, that there is considerable reason to apprehend
that this river may sooner or later quit the valley which
bears its name, and in which it has flowed for ages, in
consequence of the obstructions gradually accumulating
in it, and by its irruption into a new bed, and over a
new line of country, produce extraordinary changes in
the features of the east of Switzerland.
The grounds upon which this supposition is founded
are the following : — The Lanquart, a turbulent and capri
cious mountain-river, flowing through the Pratigau in the
Grisons, and whose junction with the Rhine occurs about
six miles above the town of Sargans, has for a number
of years been the means of causing the bed of the Rhine
below its j unction to change its level in an astonishing
degree, by the immense quantities of gravel, earth, and
sand which it yearly dislodges, and brings down into the
main stream.
As the fall of the Rhine at the point of junction is
considerable, and the bed narrow, this alluvial matter is
carried down by the force of the current to the open
country before Sargans, where the fall, and consequent
velocity of the stream is inconsiderable, and the sur
rounding land flat and marshy.
Here, precisely opposite the valley of the Seez, which

SARGANS, 367
bends off to the N. W. and which is only separated from
the valley of the Rhine by a narrow ridge of earthy depo
sition ; the greatest alteration in the bed of the river is
observed to have taken place, from the accumulation
of this rubbish, and the consequent rise ofthe level ofthe
stream. The geologist, M. de Buch, has measured the
relative heights of the bed of the Rhine in floods, and that
of the slope of the adjacent valley at this point, and finds
only twenty-four feet difference. He therefore surmises
that whenever the river shall, either by the gradual
rise of its bed, or in an unusual flood, gain this height, or
effect the smallest aperture, the greatest part of its waters
must precipitate themselves into this new channel, never
to return to their ancient bed. For the fall through
the valley of the Seez, into the lake of Wallenstatt is so
much greater than that in the present valley ofthe Rhine,
that the new channel must naturally become the ordinary
one. To speculate upon the probable effects of such a
change raay be thought absurd, but if it ever takes place
it may be safely said that the consequences will be
singular in the highest degree.
The lake of Wallenstatt, through the whole length of
which the flood must pass, far from diminishing the peril
to the lower country, must add to it in a great degree ; its
perpendicular shores keeping the mass of water together
in the same direction given thera by the line of their
new channel. Falling into the Limmat at Wesen, it is
probable that the whole of the flats to the lake of Zurich
will become an intermediate lake, joining the two lakes
of Zurich and Wallenstatt,
The city of Zurich, situated at the point of exit of the

368 SARGANS.
Limmat from the present lake, will be greatly endangered,
if not destroyed. The valley of the Limmat, will then
guide the stream to its junction with the Reuss and the
Aar, and the Rhine will not fall into its old bed before
the point where these united streams at present join it,
midway between Schaffhausen and Basle. The present
Rheinthal will be a marsh, the lake of Constance com
paratively stagnant, and the falls of the Rhine at
Schaffhausen a paltry cascade. So much for speculation,
M, de Buch is of opinion, from the deposition of
gravels in the valley of the Seez, identifying themselves
with the rocks of the upper Rheinthal, that at one time
or another a portion of the waters of the Rhine actually
forced a passage in this direction, and passed into
the lake of Wallenstatt,
Sargans is a small town, occupying a most romantic
situation at tbe foot of the elevated rock upon which its
castle is erected, and overlooks both the Rhine-valley,
and the vale leading to Wallenstatt,
To the right the rocky heights of Balfries are con
tinued by an elevated chain from Sargans, till they join
the remarkable mountains called the Sieben Churfiirsten,
or Seven Electors, which tower over the lake of Wallen
statt, The whole course of the valley of the Seez, to the
town of Wallenstatt, situated at the head of the lake,
is varied and romantic in the highest degree.
The town of Wallenstatt, I found situated under the
mountains on the right side of the valley, nearly opposite
a part of the chain, where a deep and black rift
deforms the face of the precipices. It was fair day,
and the inhabitants of these vallies were assembled
in pursuance of their various pursuits of business or

LAKE OF WALLliXSTArr. 3(j9
pleasure. The costume of the peasantry was very simple ;
the principal feature in the female dress was a close cap
with blue ribbons, and the same colour predominated
in the garb ofthe men.
After rounding the head of the lake I struck into a
footpath upon the south side, which I was directed to keep
for five leagues, till I should reach Mollis in the canton
of Glarus. This may be considered a fatiguing road, but
it is certainly a most delightful one, and rendered pecu
liarly so by its roughness and irregularity : now keeping
the water's edge, or running through the woods which
occasionally descend to the very margin, and then mount
ing many hundred feet above it to pass the rocky and
advancing headlands. This small lake is remarkable
for the truly wild and alpine scenery which surrounds
it. While the side on which the traveller advances is
broken into various irregular eminences descending from
the high summits of the Miirtsehenstock and Schilt-
horn, which tower up in the interior of the country
to the south, and is diversified by raany villages, forests,
pastures, chalets, and promontories ; the northern mar
gin is bounded by one long and continuous line of
tremendous precipices forming the flanks and base of
the Sieben Churfiirsten, and the still loftier Leistkamra.
These soar to several thousand feet above the lake, with
hardly a break on their whole surface sufficiently
horizontal to admit the scanty verdure of those high
regions to chequer the grey rock with green.
Soon after passing the village of Filzbach, situated ou
one ofthe bold promontories just mentioned, I began to
lose sight of the head of the lake and its tiara of moun
tains, and in its stead gained a view of thc country to the
2 B

371) GLARUS
west which might vie with it in beauty. Straight
before rae, across the valley of the Linth, rose the rocky
and varied mountains of the Wiggis chain ; in the deep
hollow, a little raore to the right, I saw the terraination
of the lake, the little town of Wesen, and the Linth
canal stretching far away over the flats towards the lake
of Zurich, of which the southern extremity was visible
in the distance, with the heights of the Himmelwald
indistinct and reddening in the glowing mists of the
evening. On my turning still more to the S. W. by
rounding the elevated promontory on which I had been
advancing for some time, the valley of the Linth displayed
itself with its numerous villages, and surrounding
mountains, among which the Glamisch, a huge square-
headed mass of precipitous rock, crowned with its heavy
burden of ice and snow, towered over the entrance into
the Klonthal. A long descent brought me to Mollis,
leaving the town of Nafels to the right. The vicinity of
Nafels is remarkable as being the scene of two great
victories gained by the confederates over their oppressors
in the 12th century.
By the time I reached and entered the town of Glarus,
the shades of evening had spread over the valley, and the
stars were glistening above the mountains by which this
romantic spot is completely environed. The inn to which
caprice directed me, turned out to be so singularly
constructed in the interior, that, as I went through the
lower apartments, I sincerely hoped that it might not
prove to be of equally bad reputation with the castle of
Saint Anne. However, nothing occurred during the
course ofthe night to strengthen the surmise.
At early morning, I was ready to start. The town

GLARUS. ;«1
is built in an irregular line, extending from the foot of
the eminences attached to the ^^oder-Glarnisch, towards
the Linth.
How exquisite, how beautiful are those few and sunny
da3's, which, breaking through the mists of autumn, give
an after-taste of the lavish beauties of the summer
months, and one glance more upon the smiling face of
nature, before the blasts of coming winter, which are never
long in the rear, tear down, change and deface all that
fragile splendour which clothes the forest and the hill-side.
On leaving Glarus, I struck across the meadows to get
into the line of the Klonthal, at the hamlet of Riedern,
a little to the west of the town. The majority of the
inhabitants of this canton seem to be Protestant,
as I saw few outward signs of Catholicism ; not even
beggary, which has hitherto been always its infallible
prognostic. The Klonthal is a glen lying between the precipices of
the two Glarnisches to the south, and the Wiggis and
Briisch-alp to the north, and terminated by the Bragel,
the passage of which mountain completes the line of
route from Glarus into the Mouttathal, and canton
Schwytz. Nothing could exceed the magical display of
colours in the lower part of this ravine. The disjointed
masses of rock which were thickly strewed over its sides
and bottom, were covered with brushwood and forest trees
of the most splendid tints and of all possible shades, from
the deep purple and red of the pear and cherry-trees in
the vicinity ofthe hamlet, the blight yellow of the beech,
the still lively green of the oak, and the pale orange
of the mountain sycamore sprinkled at the bottom and
flanks of the glen, to the dark blue and green of the
2 B 2

372 THE KLONTHAL.
fir and pine at a higher elevation. Deep in the
recesses of this valley, the traveller comes upon the
margin of a lake about two miles long, and perhaps two-
thirds in breadth, embedded deep at the foot of the
Glarnisch whose vast grey precipices descend at this point
almost perpendicularly to the water. Upon the breathless
and polished surface of this lake, I witnessed the
raagical effect produced by reflection to a degree far
beyond my power of description. Every rock, every
shrub, crevice, rill, and speck of snow, from the base of
the mountain, to the sparkling icy pinnacles which were
glowing in the morning sun at the height of several
thousand feet from its surface, were reproduced in the
tranquil and sunless mirror, so bright, so vivid, and so
clear, that on my first coming in view of this scene, ray
eye was for a moment bewildered, and scarcely able to
separate the real colours and forms, from those that were
imaginary. The lake being passed, the vale widens considerably,
and for some time I was sorely entangled in a tract
of soft marshy land occupying the lower grounds,
which brought me often to a momentary halt, and made
me muse with much admiration on the cleverness and
daring of Suworrow, who in the retreat of 1799, tra
versed the Bragel, and descended the Klonthal, because
more convenient paths were denied him. It is hardly
possible to conceive how an array and its materiel could
make its way over such a tract of country : and yet
what they suffered here was trifling compared with the
distress attending the subsequent passage over the
dreadful pass into the Grison- Oberland, at St. Martin's
Hole. That is indeed a tale of horror. If stern ne-

THE ALP-HORN.

THE BRAGEL. 373
cessity made the general conceive the plan of this retreat,
it was surely unconquerable perseverance that could
bring it to bear.
The ascent from this low ground is rapid ; well
wooded by groups of sycamore, and diversified bj^
chalets. The summit of the pass rises about 5500 feet
above the sea, and before I reached this, I had both
climbing and wandering enough. Little by little, how
ever, I lost sight of all the deep vallies in the rear, and
at length crossed the ridge. A long and stony descent
of three leagues brought me to the village of Muotta,
at the head of the valley of that name.
The whole length of the vale, till it opens upon the
country between the town of Schwytz and the lake of the
Four Cantons, abounds with most exquisite scenery.
The upper division is tolerably open, and at times
very well calculated for cultivation ; while the lower
contracts itself into a narrow obstructed gorge, more
similar in its character to those among the Jura than is
ordinarily met with in these mountains.
The inhabitants appeared to be a peculiarly light-
hearted race, if I was correct in drawing that infer
ence from the songs which reached my ear, from the
higher grounds, at intervals during every portion of my
passage. I have seldom heard more animated specimens
of the national species of melody. Still later, as the sun
sunk lower towards the mountain ridges, I listened to the
deep prolonged note of the alp-horn from the pastures
above, summoning the cattle to the neighbourhood ofthe
chalets, and could distinguish the tinkling of the bells,
as the herd assembled together in obedience to the call.
This peculiar instrument is most frequently met with in

374 THE MUOTTATHAL.
the more retired parts of the Forest Cantons. It is a
tube, about five feet in length, and of the most siraple
construction, and admitting of but a scanty display of
skill in the change and modulation of its tones, even by
the most practised lips. On raany of the higher alps it
is sounded regularly at sun-rise and sun-set, as well as
for the purposes of its ordinary appropriation.
Upon my emerging from the Muottathal into the vale
of Schwytz, I found the evening so far advanced that I
relinquished the idea of seeking a night's shelter in some
village on the shore of the lake of the Four Cantons to
the left ; and, turning to the right, soon entered the town
of Schwytz, and found a welcome at the principal inn of
the place. Of this, as I had been made aware, the first
magistrate of the canton was the master. I found him to
be a reverend-looking gentleman, and his lady quite mag
nificent in the holiday costume of the country, and the
head-gear of stiff muslin and artificial flowers that belongs
to it. In the pauses of the occupations which lightened the
long evening, I could not avoid casting many a curious
glance upon the worthy couple ; though an American
would never see what reason there was for my attention
and curiosity to be excited. To be at the same time
Landamman, the representative of the canton at the
General Diet, and the keeper of a homely house for the
general entertainment of town's-men and strangers,
seemed to involve anomalies which my English notions
could not immediately reconcile. However, my mind
was tolerably set at rest during the course of the
evening, by the inferences I silently drew in my corner,
from the demeanour and bearing of the individual in
question, and respectable dignity of manner in which he

SCHWYTZ. 375
appeared to reconcile his two-fold character of host and
ruler. There was nothing like assumed importance about
him, such as in Der Herr President at Rothenthurm,
no kind of affected indifference for his civil employraent,
or ill-timed display of his official dignity, nor any mark,
as far as I could discover, that he required more deference
or respect from any of his countrymen under his roof,
than they evinced to one another. His dame, somewhat
advanced in years, was his counterpart, and bore her
husband's dignities meekly, and with the same equani
mity as himself.
October IQth. — At the early hour of my departure,
all objects were enveloped in the usual motionless fog,
which however did not fail, ere many hours, to commence
that series of movements, which are productive of such
exquisite and rare effects in a mountainous country.
At the port of Brunnen, I fell into a ring of wonderfully
obstinate boatmen, who seemed to consider me as a
wind-fall, and were determined to make the most of it,
by demanding a most iniquitous sum for the use
of their boats in crossing to the port of Buochs, They
were perhaps the more persevering in steadily supporting
each other in the system of extortion, as they might
be inclined to surmise, with no despicable insight into
huraan nature, that, when a raan has driven his ad
vance up to the very water's edge, with every wish to
reach the opposite shore, and with no other alternative
than that which is afforded by returning step by step
upon the road already come, it really bears very hard
upon both a man's pride and his convenience to do the
latter. However, my obstinacy had also been roused.

376 BRUNNEN.
and needed but little additional encouragement to make
me submit to the inconvenience of retracing my steps.
This was afforded me sooner than I could have expected,
by the opportunity which presented itself of effecting
an honourable retreat : for, in the midst of our debate,
the bell of the church beginning to toll, each of my
opponents instantly pulled his cap over his eyes in
token of devotion, and commenced the voluble recitation
of some prescribed form of prayer, without paying
any further attention to the heretic. Hereupon I in
stantly seized my opportunity, and, not knowing how
long the enemy might continue hoodwinked, effected a
rapid but decent retreat round a corner, and being
favoured, like many ancient and modern fugitive heroes, by
the fog, fairly gave them the slip. I retraced my steps for a
mile, till I could find a bridge over the stream running
from the Muottathal into this corner of the lake, and then
pursued the line of the shore to the westward, over stock
and rock, and through a number of beautiful scenes, for
a couple of hours, to Gersau, a village of great beauty,
posted on the margin of the lake, under the impending
chain of mountains, which terminates in the ridge of the
Righi. Here I took a boat, and in an hour's time found myself
at the port of Bekenried in Unterwalden. The passage
had been rendered very chill, and rather wearisome, on
account of the mist which still rested on the surface
of the water ; however, long before I reached Stanz,
the sun had dissipated it entirely, and a cloud
less day's walk brought me to my old quarters at
Sachslen. This was my third visit, and I was more than ever

SACHSLEN. 377
struck with the peculiar beauty of the situation and the
surrounding landscape ; — but it is not necessary to occupy
many pages with my further route homewards.
What can be more exquisite than the mellow light
of an autumnal sunset, streaming over the rich meadows,
cottages, and trees, which cover the slope towards the
lake of Sarnen, and reddening the distant peaks of the
Pilatus to the north-east.
The following moming I rose before day-break, and
quitted the village just as the bells of the church chimed
six, and the dawn was stealing through the dense fog.
It was a true autumnal morning — a heavy mist shrouding
all objects, large single drops falling from the trees, and
ever and anon the broad withered leaf of the sycamore
twirling slowly down from the motionless bough.
This state of things lasted till I began to ascend the
Kaiserstuhl, when suddenly the sun broke in upon me,
and I found myself rising over the level body of mist
which filled the whole valley ofSarnen, and stretched far
over the country towards the lake of the Four Cantons,
leaving all the heights far and near perfectly unobscured.
Reaching Lungern, I imraediately ascended the Briinig,
often turning round to glance once more upon that
exquisite line of country through which I had passed.
Such a scene of autumnal splendour as I witnessed
on the heights, I shall never perhaps see again. The
slight frosts prevailing on the mountains, for an hour or
two before sun-rise, had changed the foliage of the scat
tered forest of sycamores, which bordered the sheltered
pastures on the crest of the mountain, from dark green to
the brightest orange ; a tint which was rendered doubly
brilliant by the rays of an unclouded sun, which shot

378 THE BRUNIG.
upon it from behind, and the dark purple back-ground
of towering mountains against which they displayed
themselves. The ground was strewed with leaves of the
same brilliant hue, and as the wind shook the branches,
thousands showered slowly down in the sunshine.
As I had some trifling business to transact at Meyrin
gen, I descended eastward to that village, and subse
quently pursued ray walk from thence through the whole
length ofthe Haslithal to the lake of Brienz.
A row of three hours over the surface of this noble
sheet of water, brought me to Interlacken a little after
sunset. The Jungfrau, in all her magnificence with the last
reflection of the glowing west on her gigantic form, was
still visible through the opening towards Lauterbrunnen.
The following day, I pursued a well-known path
upon the shore of the lake of Thun, by the baths of
Leisigen to iEschi and Wimmis, and reached Erlenbach
for the last time this season, after an absence of about
five weeks.
But a few days elapsed after my return, when all that
splendour and beauty with v/hich I had seen the foi-ms
of external nature clothed during the concluding period
of my rambles, began to vanish from the face of the
landscape. The early dawn struggled with difficulty
through the heavy masses of portentous cloud which
dragged themselves slowly over the upper regions of the
neighbouring mountains. Occasional gusts of a raw
and chilling wind came whistling through the valley,
scattering the foliage of the forest-trees in an irregular
but constant shower upon the earth ; and if, towards
evening, the sun struggled through the vapours, and

THE SIMMKNTHAL. 379
chased the clouds from tlie heads of the Niesen and his
neighbours, it was only to throw his red and glowing
beams upon a waste of snow now occupying- all the higher
portions of the country. Every thing boded the swift
approach of winter and the termination of the season
when wandering would be either agreeable or practicable.
The roads became crowded by longlines of cattle com
pelled to leave their last range of mountain-pasture, and
retum to the vallies ; day by day the snow-line descended
perceptibly lower and lower down the sides of the moun
tains, and the summons for my return into winter-
quarters could not be mistaken.
On the last day of October I quitted ray summer-
quarters in the Simmenthal, — with the intention of return
ing once more into the mountains before my departure
for England.
My route to Berne, and thence to Neuchatel, offered
little new to my eye. In my rapid march to the former
town, I was spurred forward by busy thoughts and a
sharp wind, often turning my eyes back towards the
Niesen, and my thoughts to the sheltered and tranquil
valley beneath it. The flying storms were evidently
adding a fresh coat to the preceding day's snow. Many
minor avalanches form and fall upon its precipitous
sides in the winter ; and in the beginning of spring a
single one, of considerable dimensions, descends into the
woods at a certain part of its base. Its fall is always
distinctly heard at the town of Thun at several leagues
distance. Till this has fallen, the peasants of the neigh
bourhood esteem the cuckoo, the swallow, and the prim
rose but indifferent prophets, and the spring not yet
fairly begun.

380 NEUCHATEL,
The immediate resumption of my winter's occupations
on my arrival at Neuchatel, and my subsequent pursu
ance of them for the four following months, prevent my
adding much to the sketches contained in the chapter
which I devoted to this corner of the country.
The winter of 1826-7 was very severe in both the Alps
and the Jura. The immense quantities of snow that fell
upon the slopes of both were almost unprecedented. Many
of the higher pastures were judged to be buried to the
depth of sixteen and twenty feet, and in still higher and
more exposed regions, no idea could be formed of the
vast accumulations.
It was towards the middle of February, that, having
commenced my preparations for departure from Switzer
land, I turned my steps one morning before daj'-break,
towards Berne and the Oberland.
Whenever my good fortune brings me into the open air
some time before sun-rise, be it either in winter or summer,
I am always inclined to wonder at the general indifference
to hours which may certainly be considered as the most
-beautiful and vivifying of any in the four-and-twenty.
Even in this unpropitious season, when all nature is buried
in the depth of winter, there is sufficient to warrant the
use of these terms, at least in this country.
The first glimmering of the early dawn stealing along
the eastern horizon, brings into strong relief the outlines
of the Berne Alps, behind which the sun rises at this
period of the year. Little by little they rear themselves,
bleak and grey, from the brightening sky. From mo
ment to moment they become more distinct, and their
outline harder, and better defined ; while, in the middle
ground, the pale and uncertain light steals gradually

NEUCHATEL. 381
over the surface of the lake, motionless under the influence
of the frost, and fading insensibly to the westward into
the shadow of the low coasts of Freyberg and Vaud.
Another quarter of an hour — -the air freshens, the stars
fade entirely from the sky ; day-light spreads rapidly
over the steep forested sides of the Jura ; the long ridge
of the Chasseral already glimmers with the earliest sun
beam striking the sheet of unbroken snow that covers its
heights ; the lake glows with the reflection of the golden
light which now shoots upward from the east in long-
streams : — the Jungfrau, the Eigers, and their brethren,
assume a depth of shade which approaches to jet, con
trasted with the flood of light behind their points ; here
and there a portion of the glaciers in other parts of the
chain, already reflect the sun-beam, and glow like a sea
of fire : another minute, — the sun's rays dart over the
whole landscape, and, at the same instant, the Berne
Alps, the intermediate country and a great portion of
the lake become hidden by the bright and glowing
atmosphere. Still one tranquil day among the Alps ! A clear
cloudless, winter's day ; the sun shining for a few brief
hours with almost insufferable brightness upon the
snows which now covered all objects, from the margin
ofthe Simmen, to the far peaks of the Niesen and Bett
fluh rising above their endless waste of frozen pastures,
except where the pine forest and precipices, afforded
points for the eye to rest upon amidst the dazzling
brilliance of the scene. The Bize blew with great
violence on the summits of the mountains, as we might
judge from a rose-coloured cloud of snowy particles, which

382 THE SIMMENTHAL.
appeared to linger about the highest pinnacles as long as
the sun was above the horizon. Yet all the splendours
of this display, and yet more wonderful spectacle of the
red sunset streaming upon the superior parts of these vast
mountains, must yield to the magic beauty of the
cloudless winter's night, ; when, after the last glimmer
from the western horizon had faded away, the full
round raoon rose majestically above the white ridges,
and hung over the mountains for many long hours ;
progressively shifting her accompanying masses of light
and shade from one portion of the snowy alps above
to another. That was indeed a scene of enchantment.
Distress of various kinds had been the consequence
ofthe great falls of snow. For a considerable time fears
had been entertained for the life of the individual wlio
farms the little hospital of the Schwarenbach, on the
Gerami-Pass, between the Daubensee and Kander-
steg ; as it was known that he had been buried with his
chaiet for a considerable time under the immense bodies
of snow accumulated over them. After suffering much
from hunger for the period of three weeks, and from fear
lest his roof might give way, he was at last rescued from
his distress. Many fruitless attempts were made to reach
him from the Kanderthal ; at length two peasants contrived
at the risk of their lives to make good their ascent, and to
reach the hospital with provisions ; but when there, the
weather changed so much for the worse, that there
was no practicability of an immediate return. Some
days after, six others undertook the same hazardous
adventure, and after narrowly escaping death under an
enormous avalanche descending- from the Altels, and
having been twice forced to recede, they also succeeded

NEUCHATEL. 3^¦^
and gained the chaiet ; whence, by seizing a favourable
moment, the whole company fortunately regained the
vale in safety.
The Baths of Leuk had been totally deserted on
account of the danger impending over them from the
avalanches : and the village of Biel in the Upper Vallais,
was suddenly overwhelmed and destroyed in the course
of the same month by an avalanche of extraordinary
power, which descended a ravine two leagues in length
before it reached the village.
But the task that I have prescribed for myself is
at an end.
The severity of the season retumed with ten-fold
rigour before the close of the month ; the violence of
the snow-storms and the period of their continuance,
was almost unexampled, and at the same time the frosts
were correspondingly severe. At La Brevine, the highest
village in the canton, situated in the Jura at the eleva
tion of upwards of 300iJ feet above the sea, the thermo
meter of Fahrenheit stood at 34° below 0. and in
Neuchatel itself the cold was proportionably severe,
though the prevalence ofa strong Bize prevented the lake
from freezing. The regular passage over the Jura was
for a time interrupted, and one stratum of snow after
another was added to those already blocking up the
roads, and heaped upon the mountain-sides. However, the
thaw comraenced ea'rly in March, and this was the signal
for my departure from a country, which, much as I may
love my own, had long ceased to be a foreign land
to me.
From the ridge near the hamlet of Brod, in the great

384 NEUCHATEL.
defile of the Reuse, whence the approaching traveller
catches his first view of the Alps, I turned once more to
look back upon the horae I was quitting.
The level beams of the rising sun were glistening on
the majestic forms of the Berne Alps on the horizon,
lighting up the nearer chain of the Stockhorn and the
broken country at its base, and shining bright and clear
upon the lake and shores of Neuchatel, at the foot of the
mountains by which I was surrounded. But why should
I scruple to record the bitterness of that moment ? If my
senses and imagination had indeed reaped true and
healthy enjoyment- from the contemplation of the vast
and indescribably beautiful scenes of God's creation
displayed in that land ; if the friends I had won were
indeed true and steadfast — sureh' I did well to sorrow
that I must see those scenes and those friends no longer :
and, if at this hour, doubt hangs over the future, and the
path I must pursue would seem to be questionable and
obscure, surely I do well to glance at the road I have
come and the years that are gone by, to mark the mercy
and goodness that has followed me hitherto.

THE END.

APPENDIX.

FLOHA OF THE CHAIN OF THE STOCKHORN.
CANTON OF BERNE.

Achillea atrata.
Aconitum lycoctonum. napellus.
Aira flexuosa.
caryophyllea.
Alchemilla alpina.
fissa.
Allium victorialis.schsenoprasum .
Agrostis rupestris, canina.
alpina.
Andromeda polyfolia.
Androsace bryoides.
chamsejasme. lactea.villosa.
Anemone alpina.
narcissiflora,vemalis.
Arabis alpina.
stricta.nutans.
Arbutus alpina.
uva-ursi.
Arenaria ciliata, multicaulis.
Arnica bellidiastrum.scorpioides.
Aster alpinus.
Astragalus campestris, montanus, uralensis.
Astrantia major.
Athamanta cretensis.
libanotis,
Bartsia alpina.
Biscu'tella Isevigata.
Botrychiom lunaria,

Bupleurum ranunculoides.
Bromus gracilis.
Briza media.
Cacalia alpina.albifrons.
Campanula barbata.
rhomboidea.
thyrsoidea,
alpiaa.
Carduus defloratus.
personata.
Cajrex atrata.
alpestris. clandestina.curta.
capiUaris.
firm.a. CBespitosa.ferruginea.
montana.mielichoferi.varia.
pendula.
prsecox.
ornithopoda, alba. stricta.
pauciflora.
Centaurea montana,
CersLstiuni alpinuin, strictum,
Cerinthe glabra,
Cherleria sedoides.
Cineraria aurantiaca,
Cirsium acaule.
Cnicus eriophorus,
Corydalis fabacea.
Crataegus chamsemespilqjs. aria.

For these lists the writer is indebted tothe friendship of M. le Pasteur
Studer, of Erlenbach. 2 C

APPENDIX.

Cratsegus amelanchier,
Crepis austriaca.
Convallaria polygonatum.
Circsea alpina.
Crocus vemus.
Cuscuta epithymum.
Dentaria pentaphylla.
Dianthus sylvestris.
Digitalis grandiflora.
parviflora.
Draba aizoides.
pyrenaica.stellata.tomentosa.
Dryas octopetala.
Elyna spicata.
Epilobium montanum.alpinum.
Erica herbacea.
Erigeron alpinum.
uniflonmn.
Erimis alpinus.
Eriophorum alpinum.
Euphreisia minima.
Festuca amethystina.
Halleri.
laevigata. nigricans.varia.
Galium sylvestre.
Gentiana acEculis.
bavaxica.ciliata.
campestris.
utriculosa. asclepiadea.
nivalis. lutea.
pmrpurea.
cruciata. vema.
germanica.
Geranium phceum.
sylvaticum.
Globularia cordifolia.
nudicaxilis.
Gnaphaiium leontopodium.
norvegicum. alpinum.
dioicum.
Geum montanum.
Gypsophila repens.
Hedysarum alpinum.
Helianthemum celandicum .
Hicracium aureum.
aurantiactun.
amplexicaule.Jacquini.paludosum .
villosum.

Hyoseris foetida.
Imperatoria ostruthium.
Juncus triglumis
flavescens.
Laserpitium latifolium.
siler.simplex.
Lepidimn alpinum,
Lilium martagon.
Linaxia alpina.
Lonicera alpigena,
coerulea.
nigra.
Luzula lutea.
Melissa calamintha.
Myosotis perennis.
Myagrum saxatile.
Mespilus eriocarpa.
Nardus stricta.
Ophrys cordata.myodes. monorchis.
Orchis globosa.
nigra.albida.
viridis.
Omithogalum luteum.
Orobus luteus.
Pedicularis foliosa.
versicolor.
verticillata.
Phaca australis.frigida.
Phalangium serotinum.
liliastrum.
Phyteuma orbiculare.
hemisphEericum
Phellandrium muteliina.
Phleum alpinum. Michelii.
Pimpinella magna. fl. mbro.
Pinguicula alpina.
Plantago alpina.
atrata.
Poa alpina.
dystichophyUa.
nem oralis.
Poly gala amara. chamEeboxus.
Polygonmn viviparum.
Potentilla aurea. crocea.
Primula auricula. Jarinosa.
fl. albo.
Pyrola minor.
Pyrcthrum Halleri.

APPENDIX.

387

Rununculus alpestris.
aconitifolius.
montanus. Villarsii.
Rhamnus alpinus.
Rhododendrum ferrugineum.
hirsutum.
Ribes alpinum.
Kufia alpina.
cinnamomea. pyrenaica.
Rum ex alpinus.
scutatus,
Rubus saxatilis.
Salix retusa.
reticulata. tenuifolia.
Salvia glutinosa.
Saponaria ocymoides.
Satyrium repens.
Saxifraga aizoon. Eiizoides. androsacea.
caesia.muscoides. oppositifolia.rotun dif olia.
stellaris.
Scabiosa lucida.
Scirpus caaspitosus,
Sedum atratum.
Sempervivum montanum.
Senecio doronicum.
Sesleria coerulea.
Silene acaulis. 4 dentata.

Soldanella alpina.
Sonchus alpinus.
Spergula saginoides.
Stachys alpina.
Swertia perennis.
Teucrium montanum.
Thalictrum minus.
Tliesium alpinum.
Thlaspi montanum.
Thymus alpinus.
Tozzia alpina.
Trifolium spadiceum. cEespitosum,
montanum.
TroUius europaeus.
Turritis hirsuta.
TussUago alba. alpina.
Uvularia amplexifolia.
Vaccinium uliginosum.
"vitis-idaea.
Valeriana tripteris.montana.
Veratrum album.
Veronica aphyUa. Edpina.
fruticulosa. saxatilis.
Vicia sylvatica.
Viola biflora. calcarata.lutea.
tricolor.

ADDITIONAL FLORA OF THE OPPOSITE CHAIN OF
THE THURNEN.

Alchemilla pentaphyllea
Arabis bellidifolia. coBrulea.scabra.
turrita.
Arnica montana.
Astrantia minor.
Arenaria polygonoides.
Azalea procumbens.
Cardamine resedifolia.
Carex juncifolia.' foetida. nigra.
Cerastium latifolium.
Eriophorum capitatum.
Festuca hirsuta.

Gentiana bractiphylia.
Hieracium alpinum.
albidum.
blattarioides. glaucum.
HaUeri.
Schraderi.
Hypericum dubium.
Hypochaeris uniflora.
Iberis rotundifolia.
Juncus trifidus. Jacquini.
Leontodon hispidumes.
Leontodon montanum.

388

APPENDIX.

Linum alpinum.
Luzula spadicea.flavescens. spicata.
OnobrycMs montana.
Phaca astragalina.
Phalangium liliago.
Pedicularis comosa.
Poa laxa. minor.
Pyrola uniflora.
Pyrethum alpiaum.
Ramunculua platanifolius.
Rumex digrynus.

SaUx herbacea. prunifolia.
Saxifraga biflora. cuneifolia.
Schcenus fuscus.
Senecio cordifolius.
sarracenicus.
Sibbaldia procumbens.
Silene acaulis. fl. albo.
Thrincia hispida.
Trifolium alpinum.rubens.
Viola montana. cenisia.

ERRATA.

Page 60 line 4 from bottom, for grtis's eitch, resid gruss^euch,
142 line 8, and throughout, for Sanetch, read Sanetsch.
219 line 4, for eat, read eaten,
236 line 6 from bottom, for holds, read rolls.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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