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Route 67.

Baths of Pfeffers.

or shelf, suspended by iron stanchions to the rocks, and partly laid in a niche cut out of the side. It is carried all along the chasm as far as the hot spring, and affords the only means of approach to it, as the sides of the rent are vertical, and there is not an inch of room between them and the torrent, for the sole of a foot to rest. Formerly the passage was along two, sometimes one plank, unprotected by railings; at present a platform, 4 feet wide, protected by a balustrade, renders the approach to the spring easy for the most timid, and perfectly free from risk. Each person pays 24 kr. for admittance. A few yards from the entrance, the passage is darkened by the overhanging rock. The sudden chill of an atmosphere never visited by the sun's rays, the rushing and roaring of the torrent, 30 or 40 feet below, the threatening position of the rocks above, and the trembling of the planks on which you tread, have a grand and striking effect; but this has been diminished of late by modern improvements, which have deprived the visit to the gorge of even the semblance of danger. In parts, it is almost dark, where the sides of the ravine overlap one another, and actually meet over-head, so as to form a natural arch. The rocks in many places show evident marks of having been ground away, and scooped out by the rushing river, and by the stones brought down with it.

For

several hundred yards the river pursues an almost subterranean course, the roof of the chasm being the floor, as it were, of the valley. In some places the roots of the trees are seen dangling through the crevice above your head, and at one particular spot you find yourself under the arch of the natural bridge leading to the staircase mentioned farther on. Had Virgil or Dante been aware of this spot, they would certainly have conducted their heroes through it to the jaws of the infernal regions.

The shelf of planks extends nearly

a quarter of a mile from the baths. At its extremity, at the bottom of a cavern in the rocks, rises the hot spring; its temperature being about 100° Fahrenheit; it is received into a reservoir nearly 15 feet deep, from which it is conducted in pipes to the baths. The first baths were miserable hovels, built over the spring, and suspended, like swallows' nests, to the face of the rock the only entrance to them was by the roof, and the sick were let down into them by ropes and pulleys. The springs generally cease to flow in winter, but burst forth again in spring; they are most copious when the snow has fallen in abundance, and continue till autumn, after which their fountains are again sealed. The water has little taste or smell; it bears some resem. blance, in its mineral contents, to that of Ems, and is used both for bathing and drinking.

After emerging from the gorge, at the spot where he entered it near the baths, the traveller should next ascend the valley above it, as far as the staircase (Stiege), reached by a natural bridge of rock, beneath which the Tamīna, out of sight and hearing from above, forces its way into the gorge of the hot springs. Ascending this staircase, formed of trunks of trees, you reach an upper stage of the valley, formed of gentle slopes, and covered with verdant pasture on one side, and thick woods on the other. The two sides are separated by the deep gash and narrow gorge, along the bottom of which the Tamina forces its way. On turning to the 1. a little wooden shed is perceived on the very edge of the precipice, and projecting over it; this contains a sort of crane, intended to lower down provisions, &c. into the baths, which lie so nearly under the cliff, that heavy articles can be let down from above through a trap door in the roof. This is, perhaps, the best point for obtaining a general view of the baths and this singular spot in which they are

Route 67.-Pfeffers.

sunken. On looking over the verge of the precipice, you perceive, at the bottom of the ravine, at the vast depth of 600 feet below, the roofs of the two large buildings, like cotton factories, in size and structure. The upper valley, also, with its carpet of bright green, its woods, and the bare limestone cliffs which border it on either hand, and above all, the huge peak of the Falkniss, rising on the opposite side of the Rhine, form a magnificent landscape.

About 1 mile from this point, on the rt. bank of the Tamīna, stands

The Convent of Pfeffers, finely placed on an elevated mountain-platform, commanding, on one side, the valley of the Rhine, backed by the majestic Falkniss ; on the other, opening out towards the lake of Wallenstadt and the peaks of the Sieben Kurfürsten. The Benedictine monastery of Pfeffers, founded 713, was suppressed, after an existence of 10 centuries, in 1838, by a decree of the government of the canton of St. Gall, in consequence of the finances of the convent having become involved, and at the request of a majority of the brethren.

"The Government wisely acquiesced in their petition, and allowed a pension of 2000 fl. to the abbot, and 800 fl. to each of the monks, on condition it would be spent in the canton. In consequence, the agents of the canton took possession of the convent and all that belonged to it, among which were the establishments of the baths, and the summer residence of the abbot: the latter was fitted up for an hotel."— D. S.

The convent once possessed a very extensive territory; its abbots were princes; but the French, as usual, appropriated their revenues; and but a small part of their property was restored to them at the termination of the French rule, including the baths. This is now to be appropriated to pious works, the education of the people, &c. The revenues of the

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convent were valued at 216,365 Swiss florins. The Convent, a vast edifice, but not otherwise remarkable, was built 1665, in place of one destroyed by fire. It encloses a church in the centre, like all the convents of the Benedictine order. Near the convent stands the ruined castle of War

tenstein.

The Kalanda, or Galandaberg (the mountain on the rt. bank of the Tamīna, above the old baths, which separates the valley from that of the Rhine), is sometimes ascended on account of the view from its top-a 5-hours' walk.

There is a path from Pfeffers direct to Reichenau up the valley of the Tamina, crossing at its head the pass La Foppa am Kunkels, a walk of about 24 miles. Another foot-path leads up the Kalfeuser-Thal to Glarus. (Route 76.)

Diligences from Ragatz to Zurich daily, 11 hours; to St. Gall twice a day by Rorschach, and once by Utznach and Toggenburg; to Constance, to Feldkirch, to Coire, twice a day; to Milan, daily; to Bellinzona, by the Bernardin, twice a-week.

The pedestrian traveller, going from the old baths to Coire, need not return to Ragatz, but may proceed by the Convent of Pfeffers, whence a path strikes down directly to the bridge over the Rhine, called Untere ZollBrücke, a walk of about 2 hours.

A char-à-banc, with 1 horse, may be hired from Ragatz to Coire for 10 zwanzigers.

The high road from Ragatz runs along the 1. bank of the Rhine as far as the Untere Zoll- Brücke (Lower Toll bridge), the only bridge on the Rhine between the Lake of Constance and Reichenau. It was entirely swept away by the tremendous flood in the autumn of 1834, which did immense injury to the valley. In crossing this bridge, the traveller passes out of canton St. Gall into the Grisons. The valley of the Rhine has a grand appearance from this point. The

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Route 67.- St. Gall to Coire.

peak of the Falknisberg is a conspicuous and striking object in the view to the N. E. The Rhine alone is unpicturesque, from the width of its bed and the large space of unsightly sand and gravel left bare in summer. Its bed is constantly rising, so as to threaten more fearful inundations; and a plan has been proposed of cutting a new channel for its unruly stream, from this point as far as the Lake of Constance. A short way above the bridge, the Landquart, an impetuous torrent, descending from the valley of Prettigau, enters the Rhine. The road up it is described in Route 81.

Beyond this, the Convent of Pfeffers is visible from the road; the snowy heights of the Galanda rise into sight on the opposite bank of the Rhine; and the ruins of feudal castles, perched upon rocky knoils, overlooking the valley, give a highly picturesque character to the scene. One of the most conspicuous is Haldenstein, nearly opposite Coire.

N. B. From Ragatz to Coire is 21 St. Gall posts, and 1 Grisons posts.

1 Coire, Germ. Chur. (Inns: Weisses Kreutz (White Cross), good; Post, or Freyeck, good also; Capricorn, Steinbock, outside the town, very civil people, and a moderate and good house). The wine of the Valteline is generally consumed in the Grisons, and may be had of the best quality here.

The capital of the Grisons, the Curia Rhetorum of the Romans, is an ancient walled town of 4786 inhabitants, about a mile from the Rhine. Its prosperity arises almost entirely from the high roads upon which it stands, which form the channel of communication from Italy into Switzerland and Western Germany, and unite the great commercial towns of Milan and Genoa, south of the Alps, with Zurich and St. Gall on the north. Coire is the staple place of the goods transported over the two

great Alpine carriage roads of the Splügen and Bernardin. It is the place of meeting of the Council of the Grisons; a member of which claims the title of "Your Wisdom" ("Euer Weisheit").

The town has narrow streets, and stands on uneven ground; much curious domestic architecture will be found in it. The Bishop's Palace, and the quarter around it, inhabited by Roman Catholics, occupy the summit of an eminence, and are separated from the rest by walls and battlements, closed by two fortified gates. Here is situated the Church of St. Lucius, or the Dom-the oldest parts of which, in the circular or Romanesque style, date from the eighth century. The detached portal, its sculptures, and the monsters which support its pillars and form the capitals, are very curious "they are the prototypes of those existing in the Lombard churches." The statues of the Four Evangelists standing upon lions, and similar specimens of sculpture in the crypt, are probably as old as the 4th century, and exhibit traces of the Frankish period. Within, there are one or two singular old paintings one attributed to A. Durer (?). In the sacristy are preserved the bones of St. Lucius, " a British king, according to the 'English Martyrologie,' and the founder of St Peter's Ch., Cornhill," and one or two specimens of church plate, a bishop's crozier, a monstrance of the 14th century. The crypt is supported by a single pillar, the base being a monster.

The Episcopal Palace, near the church, is an antique building; the staircase and halls are singularly decorated with stucco-work; and the chapel, within a tower, is said to be one of the earliest specimens of Christian architecture. Coire is the oldest bishopric in Switzerland. Behind the Palace is a kind of ravine, lined with vineyards, across which a path leads to the Roman Catholic

Route 67.- Grison Money Romansch Language.

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Seminary, from which is a remark- | languages. In this remote part of ably picturesque view of the town.

Besides the roads from Coire to Italy by the Splügen (Route 88) and Bernardin (Route 90), and those to Zurich and St. Gall, and along the rt. bank of the Rhine to Feldkirch and Bregenz, several new lines lead in different directions through the Grisons. A carriage road, commenced some years ago, between Coire and the Engadine, over the Julier Pass, is now finished. See Route

82.

Diligences go daily to Zurich (Route 14), communicating with steamers on the Lakes of Wallenstadt and Zurich; to St. Gall; to Milan; and to Lindau.

Post-horses are kept on all the great high-roads leading from Coire through the Grisons and canton of St. Gall. The postmaster at Coire will furnish travellers with a printed tariff of the charges and distances. (See also Introduction, § 5.)

Money. - The canton of the Grisons has a coinage of its own; though the traveller need not perplex himself with the intricacies of this currency, since Napoleons and francs, Austrian florins and zwanzigers, and Brabant dollars, are current on all the high roads; but may desire his bills to be made out in francs or florins. It will probably suffice to remember that 1 Grison flor. == 2 zwanzigers, or 1 French fr. 74 centimes. 1 Fr. fr. = 34 Grison kreutzers. 1 Brabant dollar 3 Gris, flor. 20

kr.

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Europe it has kept its ground since the destruction of the Roman empire. It is said, however, to be gradually disappearing before the German language.

It may be divided into at least three distinct dialects: 1. The Ladin, spoken in the Lower Engadine and vale of Münster: it comes nearest to the Latin, and is, perhaps, not very dissimilar from the vulgar tongue, spoken by the Roman peasantry, as described by Livy. 2. The Romansch of the Upper Engadine, the valleys of Bregaglia, Oberhalbstein, Schams, &c. 3. The patois of the Grison highlanders in the vale of the Vorder and Hinter Rhine.

The difference between the three may be shown in the following translation of the first sentence in the Lord's Prayer: —

Pater noster qui es in cœlis.

1. Bab noss, qual ca ti eis entschiel, &c.

&c.

2. Pap noss, quel tii est en cêl,

3. Pap noss, quel chi esch in'ls cêls, &c.

According to a very obscure tradition, the inhabitants of this part of the chain of Rhætian Alps are the descendants of some Tuscan fugitives, driven out of Etruria by inroads of the Gauls. Many curious resemblances have been traced between the existing names of obscure villages of these remote valleys and those of places in ancient Etruria and Latium as Lavin, Lavinium; Thusis, Tuscia; Ardez, Ardea; Romein, Roma; Falisc, or Fläsch, Fulisci; Madullein, Medullinum ; Peist, Pastum; Umbrien and Mount Umbrail, Umbria.

Owing to the scanty literature, there being but few printed books, except a translation of the Bible, one or two of the New Testament, and a few other books, the Romansch lan guage is not rich in words. From the circumstance, however, of its hav

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Route 67.- Language and Government of the Grisons.

ing been made the language of the pulpit at the Reformatior, when the greater part of the population of the Grisons became Protestant, it has kept its ground till the present day.

The whole of Romansch literature may be comprised in about 30 books, mostly religious works, including the Bible, liturgy, and catechisms. The first grammar and dictionary of the Romansch language was published by a clergyman named Conradi at Zurich, in 1820 and 1823. In 1836 a newspaper, called Il Grischum Romansch, was printed in the Romansch dialect at Coire.

History and Government of the
Grisons.

The government of the Grisons deserves some consideration from the traveller.

It must not be supposed that the conspiracy on the Grütli, in 1307, and the exploits of Tell, gave freedom to the whole country now called Switzerland, or even influenced more than a very small part of it - the forest cantons except in as far as such a spirit-stirring example is capable of influencing the minds of a neighbouring people. For more than a century after the first Swiss union, the country of Rhætia, now called Grisons, groaned under the tyranny of almost numberless petty lords, who, though they possessed but a few acres of land, or even no more than the number of square feet on which their castle stood, yet assumed the rights of independent sovereignty, waging perpetual petty war with their neighbours — oppressing their own subjects, and pillaging all travellers the ancient form of levying duties and customs. The best notion of the state of society which existed during this period of the Faustrecht (club law), may be formed from the quantity of feudal ruins which stud not only the main valleys of the Rhine, but even the lateral valleys and gorges of the Rhætian Alps. Åt

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last a day of retribution came. peasants rose in revolt, and threw off the yoke of the nobles—with less violence than might be expected, chiefly because the great ecclesiastical potentates, the Bishop of Coire, the Abbots of St. Gall and Dissentis, and some of the more influential barons sided with the peasants, directing, instead of opposing, the popular feeling.

The result of this was a Rhætian Confederacy, quite distinct from the Swiss Confederacy, composed of Three Leagues (Bünden)-the Upper, or Grey League (Ober, or Graue Bund), 1424 (named from the simple grey home-spun coats of those by whom it was formed); the League of God's House (Ca Dè in Romansch, in Germ. Gotteshaus Bund), so called from the church of Coire, the head and capital of this league, 1396; and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions (Zehn-Gerichte), of which Mayenfeld is chief town (1428).

The government produced by this revolution presents, perhaps, the most remarkable example the world has yet seen of the sovereignty of the people and of universal suffrage. Not only every valley, but, in some cases, every parish, or even hamlet, in a valley, became an independent commonwealth, with a government of its own, with peculiar local administrative rights and privileges, in many instances existing at the present day. Sometimes one of these free states, sometimes several together, form a commune or schnitze, literally slice (gemeinde or gericht); each mune has its own general assembly, in which every citizen of the age of 18, sometimes younger, has a vote, and by which the magistrates and authorities, down to the parson and schoolmaster, are elected. A number of communes forms a Hoch-Gericht, under a magistrate, styled Landamman, Podesta, or Landvoght. Above this comes the Diet of the League; and, above all, the Diet of the Three

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