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Route 58. Bex to Sion, by Les Diablerets, &c.

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mile off the shore, at Meillerie, the lake attains its greatest depth, 920 Fr. ft. Here Byron was nearly lost in a storm. Rousseau, in the N. Héloïse, has conducted St. Preux and Mad. Wolmar also to this port for shelter from a tempest. On the opposite shore is seen Clarens, and the white wall of the castle of Chillon (p. 160).

21 St. Gingough -(Inn: Poste, comfortable). A deep ravine here divides Savoy from the Swiss territory of the Vallais; travellers entering from the Vallais are subjected to custom-house regulations here.

Bovaret, the next village, lies within the valley of the Rhone, here a broad, flat, and unwholesome swamp (p. 161). Port Vallais, in the days of the Romans, stood on the water-side; all the ground between it and the lake has been produced since the records of history, by the deposits of the river. At Port du Sex the rocks on the rt. encroach so far upon the Rhone as barely to leave a passage for the road at their base. Advantage was taken of this pass in ancient times to construct a fort with loop-holes for arrows, and embrasures for cannon, which effectually closed the entrance to the Vallais, the only passage being over its drawbridge and through its gate. There is a ferry over the Rhone near this, but the cross-roads leading to the opposite side of the valley among the morasses are very bad.

The canal of Stockalper, running nearly parallel with the road, was cut about a century ago, to drain this portion of the valley.

2 Vionnaz. Owing to an abrupt bend in the valley, and a projecting rock which hides the upper portion from view, the road comes suddenly upon the town of

2 St. Maurice (Route 56).
21 Martigny (Route 59).

ROUTE 58.

BEX TO SION, BY LES DIABLERETS AND COL DE CHEVILLE,

11 stunden

=

37 English miles, a walk of 9 to 10 hours, excluding stoppage.

Bex is described in Route 56. This is a highly interesting pass, both from the geological phenomenon of its Bergfall, or mountain slip, and for the extreme picturesqueness of its scenery: "neither is it dif ficult nor dangerous for any one who goes with his eyes open. The part which runs high above the Liserne skirts fearful precipices, and in parts would not be very secure to ride, though I met 20 or 30 mules laden with hay, a bulky load, passing it, but it is perfectly safe for foot passengers."-F. M. There is no inn (worthy the name) by the way. The path ascends the valley of the Avençon, running in a direction nearly due E. from Bex, passing Bexvieux to the châlets of Charnemey (2 hours), and the châlets of Anzeinde (2 hours), through some of the most pleasing pastoral scenery in Switzerland. Here the path begins rapidly to ascend in a tortuous course (43) to the summit of the Col de Chéville. The valley into which it descends on the E. side of the pass is nearly occupied by the wreck of the fall of the Mont Diablerets, a name given to the spot by the peasantry, it is said, because they regard it as the vestibule of hell. This mountain is composed of limestone strata, much deranged and steeply inclined. The lower beds, being soft and shaley, are disintegrated by the infiltration of water from the vast glaciers on the N. E.; and, after the supports and foundation are thus removed, large masses are detached from the mountain into the valley below, forming éboulemens of the most tremendous kind. During the last century two catastrophes of this kind occurred, in 1714 and 1749. By the former, 15 human beings, 100 head of

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cattle, and 55 châlets, were buried alive. Subterranean noises produced by the commotion in the mountain gave warning for several days beforehand, so that most of the peasants and their cattle removed out of the way. Among those who did not profit by this was a man belonging to the village of Avers in the Vallais. His friends gave him up for lost, his wife was looked upon as a widow, and his children as orphans. Three months afterwards, on Christmas eve, he suddenly makes his appearance in the village, pale, haggard, with scarcely a rag to cover him, having all the appearance of a spectre. door of his own house was shut in his face, and the people in the village repaired in the greatest terror to the minister, begging him to lay the ghost. It was with great difficulty that he at length convinced them that it was himself. He had been overwhelmed in a châlet on the mountains, but escaped being crushed to death by two masses of rock, forming an angle over it. He had managed to support life upon a store of cheese laid up for the winter, and with water from a brook which found its way through the fallen rocks. After many weeks passed in the dark, and many vain efforts to extricate himself, he at length, by creeping and scratching among the rocks, formed a passage through which a gleam of daylight appeared, and through it succeeded at length in working his way out.

At the moment of the fall the surrounding district shook as with an earthquake, a thick cloud of dust rose high into the air from the friction of it, masses of rock were hurled a distance of 6 miles, and the current of air produced by it, threw down trees which were not touched by the avalanche itself. The inhabitants of one of the neighbouring villages derive this singular advantage from the fall of the peak of the mountain, that they enjoy summer at a certain

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season of the year several minutes earlier than they did before the event occurred. The fall of 1749 arrested the course of the Liserne, forming two small lakes, called Derborenze, which still exist. Along the W. side of these the path runs, crossing, for the space of two leagues, heaps of rubbish and fallen rocks. The scene is one of the utmost desolation; overhead towers the ridge of the Diablerets, 9862 ft. above the sea-level. Three of its five peaks have already fallen, and the two which remain threaten, sooner or later, to follow. The mountain is again rent with fissures, and scarcely an hour passes in which a slight noise is not heard or a fragment of stone does not fall. The accumulated debris of the mountain is said to cover a space of 8 miles. At one point, on reaching the borders of the Liserne, a narrow and dangerous path has been formed across the talus, at the edge of a precipice overhanging the stream: it is called Le Saut du Chien. "The beech woods in the valley of the Liserne through which the path runs for some distance are unusually fine, and the whole valley most picturesque, and peculiar in character; owing in part to the enormous depth at which the stream runs below, and the extreme steepness of the mountains on either side. No road, as far as I can recollect, except the Gemmi, skirts such precipices." F. M., took walking leisurely from Sion to the châlet of Cheville 6 hrs. 0 m. Châlet to top of the pass O 48 Top to Bex

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Thenceforth the path follows the 1. bank of the Liserne as far as the chapel of St. Bernard, where it bears away to the E., descending upon St. Severin and Haut Couthey, and thence enters the valley of the Rhone and the high road of the Simplon, within 2 miles of

63 Sion (Route 59.).

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Pass of the Simplon - The Vallais.

THE PASSAGE OF THE SIMPLON; MARTIGNY TO MILAN, BY SION, BRIEG, AND DOMO D'OSSOLA.

36 posts = 174 English miles. This grand and finely engineered road was almost destroyed by two successive storms in 1834 and 1839, and though barely passable in 1840, the damage on the Italian side was not repaired effectually, and it was in bad condition. It is tolerably well supplied with post horses, but travellers who require more than two to their carriage, must bespeak them by avant-courier, if they wish to avoid delays. With post-horses the journey may barely be accomplished in 3, or easily in 3 days, resting 1st night at Brieg, 2d at Baveno, 3d at Milan; or, 1st, at Turtman, 2d at Domo d'Ossola, 3d at Arona. There is a tolerably comfortable inn at Simplon, near the summit of the pass.

Diligences go daily to Milan, making numerous halts, and performing the distance to Milan in less than 3 days and nights.

The picturesque round tower of the castle of La Batie, rising on a rock, with a village at its foot, is seen some time before the town of Martigny is reached. It was destroyed by George Superax in 1518.

Martigny (German Martinach). Inns: Post: Cygne, tolerably good and moderate; daily table-d'hôte, 3 fr., wine included. La Tour said to be good.

Martigny (Octodurus of the Romans) consists of two parts the one situated on the Simplon road, the other, Bourg de Martigny, more than a mile distant up the valley of the Dranse. Its position on the high road of the Simplon, at the termination of the char-road from the St. Bernard, and the mule-path from Chamouni, renders it the constant resort of travellers. It is a small town of no prepossessing appearance, 1480 Fr. ft. above the sea, placed near the

spot where the Rhone receives the Dranse, a torrent by which Martigny itself, and the village of Bourg de Martigny have been twice nearly destroyed, in 1545 and in 1818. Marks of the last inundation (described in Route 109) are still visible on the walls of many of the houses; and the massive construction of the lower walls of the post-house is designed to protect it from the effects of similar catastrophes. The monks of St. Bernard have their head quarters in a convent within the town, from which the members stationed on the Great St. Bernard are relieved at intervals] The monastery of the Great St. Bernard is a journey of 10 hours from hence. (See Route 108.)

The valley of Chamouni may be reached in 7 or 8 hours by the Passes of the Tête Noire (Route 116), or Col de Balme (Route 117.).

The waterfall of the Sallenche is 4 miles from Martigny, lower down the valley. (See p. 164.)

At Martigny the Rhone makes an abrupt bend, forming nearly a right angle. For many miles above the town, the bottom of the valley through which it flows is a flat swamp, rendered desolate and unwholesome by the overflowings of the Rhone and its tributaries, which, not being carried off by a sufficient declivity in their beds, stagnate, and exhale a most injurious malaria under the rays of a burning sun. From this cause, and the absence of pure drinking-water, the valley is a hot-bed of disease; its inhabitants are dreadfully afflicted with goître (§ 19.), cretinism, and agues; and the appearance of decrepitude, deformity, and misery, arrests the traveller's attention at every step. A tolerable wine, called Coquempin, is grown upon the hills; the low flats produce little except rushes, rank grass, and alders. The mountains which here bound the valley have a bare and desolate aspect.

21 Riddes. After crossing the Rhone the road passes the footpath

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21 Sion (German Sitten). Inns: Poste; Croix Blanche, dirty. This town, anciently the capital of the Seduni, is the see of a bishop, whose predecessors were at one time among the most powerful and wealthy seigneurs in Switzerland, and who still convoke and preside over the General Assemblies of this democratic canton. It is the chief town of the Vallais, and has 2450 inhabitants. It has no less than three extensive castles, which give the town a picturesque and feudal aspect from a dis. tance. Tourbillon, the castle seen on the 1. in advancing from Martigny, built 1492, and long the bishop's residence, is now a complete ruin. That on the 1. or S. peak, called Valeria, contains a very ancient church, and serves now as a Catholic seminary. Beneath there is a third castle, called Majoria, from the majors, or ancient governors of the Vallais, its first occupants; it was burnt in 1788 by a conflagration which destroyed the greater part of the town. The Jesuits have a convent in the town; they have formed a collection of the natural history of the Vallais.

The Hospital, under the care of the Sœurs de la Charité, contains many victims of goître and cretinism, the prevailing maladies of the district.

There is a mule-path from this over the mountains to Bex, passing the Diablerets (Route 58.).

Above Sion, German is the prevailing language of the Valais.

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The post-road, after crossing the Rhone, and winding for some distance among irregular hillocks, passes, on the rt. bank of the river, at the mouth of the gorge of the Dala, the picturesque village of Loèche. The Baths are situated about 9 miles above the village; a mule-path* leads to them. Travellers coming from the Simplon, turn aside here to visit them, and ascend the Gemmi. (Route 38.) 2 Tourtemagne (Germ. Turtman)

Inns: Poste, Soleil, very good; Lion. 20 minutes' walk behind the inn is a Cascade of some repute. The volume of water is considerable. Though on the whole inferior to the fall of the Sallenche near Martigny, it is still worthy of a visit by those who are amateurs of waterfalls: the scene is interesting on account of its entire seclusion. The neighbourhood is overspread with marshes and stagnant pools.

21 Visp (Viège), a miserable village, with no good inn, but finely situated at the junction of the Visp with the Rhone. The valley divides at some distance above Visp into two branches; the 1. leads to the foot of Monte Rosa by the pass of the Moro, one of the finest in Switzerland (Route 105); that on the rt. ascends the vale of St. Nicholas to the Mont Cervin (Route 106).

The Gamsen and other torrents which fall into the upper end of the Vallais are most dangerous neighbours to the villages and cottages on their banks. The bed of the torrent Visp is 13 ft. above a part of the village, and the Saltine is nearly 11 ft. higher than Brieg. The miserable and poverty-stricken inhabitants are in consequence obliged to construct very considerable dykes to restrain them, but even these defences are liable to destruction every 2 or 3 years.

The desolation which the torrents spread over the fields, by their debris, will attract the remark of every traveller; and the evil is constantly in* A char road is said to be in progress.

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170

Route 59. The Simplon.

creasing, as the beds of the torrents rise as fast as the dykes are raised to restrain them, till they flow along the top of a colossal aqueduct or wall of loose rocks, which the road ascends and descends like a hill.

The ascent of the Simplon properly begins at Glys, a village distinguished by its large church; but, as the post-house and inn are both situated at Brieg, a detour of about 2 miles is made to pass through it.

1 Brieg. (The Inn, Poste, (tolerably good.-J. D.) is the usual halting-place of travellers before or after crossing the Simplon : it contains 50 beds.) Brieg is a small town of 650 inhabitants, situated on a sunny slope by the side of the Saltine, and overlooking the course of the Rhone, which here makes a sharp bend. The most conspicuous building is the Jesuits' College. The number of brothers at present (1837) does not exceed 10, and their pupils amount to only 30. There is also an Ursuline Convent.

The upper valley of the Rhone above Brieg, and the route to the Grimsel and Gries, are described in Routes 28 and 29. An interesting excursion up it might be made as far as Vieschi, where the scenery is very beautiful.

At Brieg the Simplon road quits the vale of the Rhone, beginning to ascend inmediately from the posthouse. The distance from Brieg to Domo d'Ossola is 13 leagues = about 25 or 30 English miles; and the journey usually occupies 10 hours 7 to reach Simplon, and 3 thence to Domo d'Ossola. On foot it will take full 10 hours' good walking to go from Brieg to Domo d'Ossola.

The construction of a route over the Simplon was decided upon by Napoleon immediately after the battle of Marengo, while the recollection of his own difficult passage of the Alps by the Great St. Bernard (at that time one of the easiest Alpine passes) was fresh in his memory. The plans

and surveys by which the direction of the road was determined, were made by M. Céard, and a large portion of the works was executed under the superintendence of that able engineer. It was commenced on the Italian side in 1800, and on the Swiss in 1801. It took 6 years to complete, though it was barely passable in 1805, and more than 30,000 men were employed on it at one time. To give a notion of the colossal nature of the undertaking, it may be mentioned that the number of bridges, great and small, constructed for the passage of the road between Brieg and Sesto, amounts to 611, in addition to the far more vast and costly constructions, such as terraces of massive masonry miles in length; of 10 galleries, either cut out of the living rock or built of solid stone; and of 20 houses of refuge to shelter travellers, and lodge the labourers constantly employed in taking care of the road. Its breadth is throughout at least 25 ft., in some places 30 ft., and the average slope nowhere exceeds 6 inches in 6 feet.

To use the eloquent words of Sir James Mackintosh, "the Simplon may be safely said to be the most wonderful of useful works, because our canals and docks surpass it in utility, science, and magnitude, but they have no grandeur to the eye. Its peculiar character is, to be the greatest of all those monuments that at once dazzle the imagination by their splendour, and are subservient to general convenience." It may be observed in addition that (except the Cenis) the Simplon was the first of the great carriage-roads opened across the W. Alps; and, though others since constructed, surpass it in some respects, especially in the elevation attained (e. g. the Stelvio), yet this has the merit of originality, and the others are mere copies. This is the first example of the triumph of human power and intellect over nature, apparently invincible.

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