116

Route 39.

precipice. The effect of approaching it from the side of Sierre is grand in the extreme, and totally unexpected, after turning a corner of the rock. The path is carried along a narrow ledge in front of the cliff; beneath it is a gaping abyss, extending nearly down to the bed of the Dala, and above, the rocks lean so far forward, that stones falling from their tops would descend upon the road, and it is therefore partly protected by a roof. This spot is called the Gallerie, and was the scene of a bloody combat in 1799, when the Vallaisans defended this spot for several weeks against the French, effectually checking all attempts to pass, by rolling down stones and logs from above.

A rough and steep descent leads from this, in about 1 hour, to Sierre, upon the Simplon road (Route 59).

ROUTE 39.

PASS OF THE RAWYL.-THUN, OR IN

TERLACHEN TO SION, OR SIERRE,

CROSSING THE GRIMMI.

22 stunden =72 English miles. The pass of the Rawyl begins at An der Lenk, at the N. foot of the pass, a good halting place; thence to Sion, over the mountain, forms a day's journey of about 10 hours. It is difficult, but scarcely deserves to be called dangerous; it is traversed sometimes on horseback, but is better calculated for the pedestrian. Indeed, there must be considerable hazard in attempting to ride up on the N. side from An der Lenk. From Sion to the top of the pass, there is a good mule path, recently much improved. Nothing but a little milk is to be had between An der Lenk and Sion; therefore provisions ought to be taken. The scenery on both sides of the pass resembles that on the S. side of the Gemmi.

It is about 12 miles from Thun, along the margin of the lake (see

Route 38. p. 111.), to Lattenbach, and

3 Erlenbach, at the entrance of the Simmenthal. As that valley (described in Route 41.) makes a considerable curve, the shortest way to the Rawyl is to strike up the Diemtigen Thal, running nearly due S. from Lattenbach. The path crosses the stream of the Chivel, and follows its 1. bank through Diemtigen and Narrenbach, then re-crosses it to

23 Thiermatten, where there is an inn. About a mile beyond this it again passes the stream, and, leaving it on the 1., gradually ascends to the pass of the Grimmi (5580 ft.). Descending through the Fermel Thal (a fertile valley, only 6 miles long), it reaches

4 Matten, in the Upper Simmenthal, on the Char road leading from Zweisimmen to An der Lenk. About 4 miles above this, on the 1. bank of the Simmen, lies the village of

14 An der Lenk-(Inns: Crown, good (?); Bär; the inn on the 1. of the river is comfortable and moderate, but humble ;) beautifully situated, surrounded by high peaks and glaciers. "The Wildstrubel (11,000 feet), with the waste of snowy glaciers beneath it, forms the most striking and prominent feature, rising into the air above an unusually long line of grey precipices, down which 10 or 12 cascades are seen rolling into the country at the base.' Latrobe.

An der Lenk is 3 stunden distant from Zweisimmen -a drive of 2 hours by a good char-road.

The scenery of the Diemtigen Thal is far inferior to that of the Simmenthal; so that the traveller who has not seen it, had better proceed up it from Erlenbach to Zweisimmen (Route 41.), and thence by Blankenburg to Matten and An der Lenk. It is a char-road all the way, and not much longer than the path over the Grimmi.

"From Interlachen to Lenk I fol

lowed a path but little known, passing through Wimmis, and behind the rocky point that overhangs the Simmen, continuing on the rt. bank of that river till I reached the Diemtigen Thal, up which I proceeded by a well-defined but rather rough path until I joined the char road to Thiermatten at Narrenbach. By this route the walk from Interlachen to Thiermatten (where there is an inn) will occupy a good walker 8 hours; from Thiermatten to the summit of the Grimmi 3 hours more; to Andermatten on the Simmen 1 hour; and another hour to An der Lenk.

"The Diemtigen Thal does not possess any great degree of beauty, nor is the view commanded from the summit of the Grimmi, although extensive and fine, of that remarkable character that would make the pass worth visiting on its own account. I

should say that the cattle of the Diemtigen Thal are the finest I have seen in the Oberland. The timber is also very fine. The Fermel Thal, by which one descends to the valley of the Simmen, is very pretty. By this route I reached An der Lenk from Interlachen in one day.”—J. D.

The Simmen rises about 6 miles above An der Lenk, at the foot of the glacier of Räzliberg, from a source I called the Seven Fountains. In the source itself there is little to compensate for the trouble of the ascent to it, but the scenery around it is of great grandeur. Between it and An der Lenk, the Simmen forms several cascades.

It is a walk of 9 or 10 hours without stopping, from An der Lenk to Sion. The path, instead of proceeding towards the source of the Simmen, ascends the 1. bank of its tributary the Iffigenbach; and the gorge of that torrent flanked by vast precipices, is, in places, very grand.

The solitary traveller should beware of losing time by crossing a tempting bridge at about half-way to Iffigen, a little below a very picturesque water

fall.

117

Iffigen, a group of farm-houses at the N. base of the Rawyl, near which the Iffigenbach makes a very fine fall, is a good 2 hours' walk from Lenk. Another 2 hours will bring you to the cross on the summit by proceeding leisurely. A series of zigzags lead from Iffigen up the mountain, over some patches of snow. The path in several parts of this distance is very narrow, and runs along the edge of the precipice: some people might call it dangerous; there is, however, no real danger to a pedestrian of ordinary firmness. In this part of the pass, two small falls or jets dash down the face of the rock across the path, threatening the traveller with a shower bath when they are increased by heavy rains. At the second fall the footpath is only 18 inches broad, but as it is constantly washed by the water no loose stones rest on it, and as it slopes inwards away from the abyss it is not dangerous. A somewhat difficult and fatiguing zigzag surmounts the steep part of the ascent. From the brow of the precipice, looking N., a fine view expands over the valley of An der Lenk, and the mountains of the Simmenthal covered with fine pastures and farm houses. By crossing a bed of snow lying on the W. side of a small lake, the Rawyl See, the path leads up to the summit of the pass, marked by a cross (7450 ft.).

4 The summit of the Rawyl is probably 2 miles broad, the path across it is tedious from the number of gullies, and the alternately crumbling and slippery nature of the soil, consisting of clay slate, which gradually changes into clay. "Another small lake is reached before the traveller gains the brow of the S. declivity of the mountain, consisting of precipices similar to those on the side of Berne. The view hence of the mountains on the S. side of the vale of the Rhone, especially of the Matterhorn and its glaciers, is very sublime. A zigzag path conducts down the cliffs, to the

The descent is

chalets of Rawin. good, the path having been recently reconstructed. Close to these chalets, two large bodies of water burst, one on either hand from the cliffs, forming fine falls. That on the rt. has an uncommonly fine and singular appearance, bursting out of a black cleft in the face of a broad and precipitous rock, in 5 or 6 distinct columns, and afterwards forming a fine wild tumble of foaming water.

"Though apparently clear when issuing from the rock, it has no sooner touched the ground than it becomes a river of liquid mud, a large portion of which is a short way below separated from the torrent, and conducted very ingeniously along the face of the mountain, and at one part against a perpendicular cliff, till, after a course of several miles, it fertilises the meadows near Ayent. Two paths branch off at the chalets of Rawin; the one leading through the village of Lens, and in 5 hours to Sierre; the other through Ayent to Sion in 4 to 5 hours. For nearly half an hour from Rawin the rt. hand path runs nearly on a level it next rises for some distance to turn a rocky barrier, and then descends on Ayent. Foot passengers can, as I myself did, avoid this ascent by following the bank of the water-course before mentioned; the path is however in places so extremely narrow, the footing so insecure, and the height above the valley so great, that I should do wrong did I otherwise than strongly dissuade travellers from pursuing that line."-J. D.

:

"The short cut above mentioned along the watercourse saves about an hour. The most dangerous part takes 10 minutes or hour to traverse. The only way of passing is along trees supported on cross bars over the water. The scene here is very grand. The rock hangs over on the rt. side, and on the 1. recedes beneath to a depth of 1000 ft. The trees are placed singly above the bed

of the watercourse, and are not more

than a few inches wide, and not very firmly secured, which increases the danger." R. E.

"The rock in some places hangs so low over the path as to make it necessary to go in a creeping position. This path is altogether so dangerous, that although it may be worth going to see as a curiosity, the writer would recommend no one to traverse it." Yet men, women, and children, often heavily laden, take this short cut without accident.

The other and longer road is practicable for mules from Sion up to the top of the pass. For some distance it lies amidst forests of fir. It unites with the foot-path before reaching

Ayent (no Inn) about two hours' walk, passing the hamlet Grimisois (in German Grimseln) to

Sion. (Route 59.)

At Sion, experienced guides and mules may be obtained for the ascent of the Rawyl.

Having been aware of the existence of the path on the left of the torrent, and wishing to reach Sierre, I had to cross the valley just opposite Ayent to the little village of Icogne, whence I reached Lens, from which point the path to Sierre is very straight." J. D.

Sierre.

(Inn: Soleil, good).

ROUTE 40.

120

Route 41.

the year the latter preponderate. It is difficult to imagine how they pass their time in this solitude. Three weeks is the "cure" or period allotted to the trial of the remedy of the waters, which are sulphureous, and are supposed to be most efficacious in removing all internal obstructions. Great must be their power to induce patients to remain in so melancholy a place; yet the scenery around is highly picturesque, but inaccessible to all but stout climbers, except along the road to Weissenburg. The source is situated about a mile higher up in the gorge, and the water, which has a temperature of above 22° Reaum., is conveyed to the baths in wooden pipes carried along the face of the precipice.

"The bath house is entirely of wood: the food Isaid to be coarse but good; table d'hôte at 12; salle à manger large but low; bed rooms small. The whole expense, baths included, 9 fr. a-day for the superior class, and about half for the peasants."-L.

Some way up the ravine the peasants have formed a pathway out of it to the upper pastures, by cutting notches, or rude steps, in the face of the rock, and partly by attaching ladders to it. By this means they scale a dizzy precipice between 200 and 300 feet high. The pedestrian bound for the upper Simmenthal need not retrace his steps to Weissenberg, as there is a short cut direct from the baths to Oberwyl, on the high road.

2 Boltingen (Inn: Bär ;) village situated 2600 feet above the sea, a little to the S. of the old castle of Simmeneck. The gorge of Laubeck, on the road between Weissenburg and Zweisimmen, especially merits the traveller's attention as a scene of grandeur.

The river is

crossed three times before reaching

2 Zweisimmen-(Inn: Crown; a Swiss wooden house, good, clean, and cheap)—a village situated at

the junction of the great and lesser Simmen. The Castle of Blankenburg crowns the height about a mile above it. Until the last democratic revolution in canton Berne, it was the residence of the landvoght, who now occupies his own humble farmhouse beside it. It is still the seat of the government, and the prison. A char road runs hence past St. Stephan (Inn: Alter Schweitzer), in 1 hour, to Matten (see Route 39. p.116.).

The road to Bulle now quits the Simmenthal, and, turning to the S. W., crosses an elevated track of pasture land till it descends upon

21 Saanen (Fr. Gessonay)-(Inns : Landhaus, not good; the Bear, opposite, small, but clean, comfortable, and very reasonable ;-1839)-the principal place in the pastoral valley of the upper Saane (Sarine), whose inhabitants are almost exclusively cattle owners, or occupied in their dairies, and in manufacturing most excellent cheese, exported to all parts of the world as Gruyères cheese. A kind peculiar to the valley, and which is too delicate to bear exportation, is called Fötschari-käse.

Here the new made road ends (1841) beyond this it is a hilly and very narrow cross-road. A mile below Saanan we pass out of Berne into canton Vaud. German, the language of the upper extremity of the valley, is soon exchanged for a French patois, in the lower portion, which is called Pays d'en haut Romand. The first Vaudois village is Rougemont (Germ. Retchmund). Its château was formerly a convent.

2 Château d'Oex-(Inns: L'Ours, clean and comfortable; Maison de Ville;)—a village of 612 inhabitants, 3030 feet above the sea, lately rebuilt after a conflagration which almost entirely consumed it. The road next crosses the Saane, and traverses the narrow pass of La Tine, between the mountains. It is so precipitous and narrow, as to be dangerous for carriages, especially as, for the greater