Route 68. Appenzell. 191 com Leagues. There still are 26 Hoch Gerichts; the number of communes was 49; that of the smaller communities is not known. Amidst such a labyrinth of government -a plication of machinery, wheel within wheel- - it is difficult to understand how any government could have been carried on; and we accordingly find the history of the Grisons little better than a long series of bickerings, feuds, revolts, conspiracies, massacres, intrigues, and peculations. The wisest decisions of the diet of the canton were annulled or frustrated by the votes of the general assemblies, accordingly as the interest or caprice of the most influential popular leader might sway these meetings at the moment. Two great families, those of Planta and De Salis, in the end, long monopolised the chief influence, as well as the patronage and offices of the federal government. Such, then, was the practical result of this democracy of the purest form in theory. The Grisons were united with the Swiss confederation in 1803, and are represented by a deputy in the diet. The Three Leagues are still composed of 26 high jurisdictions (HochGerichte), cach possessing its own constitution, which often differ entirely from one another. The supreme federal government of the canton is vested in the great council of 70 members, which meets at Coire. ROUTE 68.* ST. GALL TO ALSTETTEN AND COIRE BY THE BATHS OF GAIS, APPENZELL, AND THE PASS OF THE STOSS, WITH EXCURSIONS TO THE WEISSBAD, THE WILDKIRCHLEIN, AND THE HOCH SENTIS. This is a much shorter road from St. Gall, or Constance, to the Splugen than that by Rorschach (R. 67.), and * Additional information respecting R. 68. would be acceptable to the Editor. is perfectly practicable for a light carriage. The excursion to Appenzell may be made from Gais. It is a very striking and interesting route. The canton Appenzell lies somewhat out of the beat of travellers, com pletely surrounded (enclavé) by the territory of canton St. Gall, and shut in, at its south extremity, by the Alps; no great high-roads pass through it; and Appenzell itself lies in a cul de sac of the mountains, except for such as will take the difficult paths over the high Alps and glaciers. On this account, it is but little visited by English travellers. The canton is divided into 2 parts or districts, called Rhoden, quite independent of each other, but enjoying only one vote at the diet. Outer Rhoden is a very thickly peopled district, having 8,781 inhabitants to the German sq. mile. These are almost exclusively engaged in manufactures, chiefly of cotton, muslin, tambouring, &c. Inner Rhoden, on the contrary, is a land of herdsmen; its high and bleak mountains produce nothing but rich pasturage and sweet grass, upon which vast herds of cattle are fed. The government, in both states, is a pure democracy: the General Assembly, or Landesgemeinde, is composed of every male born in the canton. travelling through this somewhat primitive district, two unusual objects attract the traveller's attention,- the pillory, by the road-side, furnished with a collar (carcan), a hole for the neck, a padlock, and a chain; and the bone-houses, or ossuaires, in the church-yards, destined to receive the sculls and bones, which, after lying a certain number of years below ground, are dug up to make room for others; and, having been ticketed and labelled with the names of their owner, are laid out for show on shelves in the bone-house. In St. Gall to Appenzell, 3 stunden =11 English miles. Thence to Gais, 2 stunden=7 English miles. St. Gall to Alstetten, 4 stunden = 15 English miles. The road quits the canton of St. Gall and enters that of Appenzell (Ausser-Rhoden) a little before reaching, by an excellent road, 1 Teuffen (Inns: Hecht; Bär). The inhabitants of this village are chiefly engaged in the manufacture of muslin. Grubenman, the carpenter, who built the celebrated bridge of one arch at Schaffhausen, was born here. 1 Gais (Inns: Ochs (Boeuf); Krone (Couronne); the two best, and both said to be good. Rooms cost from 4 fl. to 10 fl. weekly; table d'hôte, 1 fl.; whey, 20 kr. daily — it is brought from the high Alps every morning.) The bread is very good here. This little village of 42 houses, mostly converted into lodging-houses by the peasants their owners, irregularly scattered over lawn-like meadows, is situated in a bare bleak country, with scarce a tree or shrub; nothing but pastures around, at an elevation of 2900 ft. above the sea level. Yet the reputation of its pure and bracing air, and of its cure of goat's whey (molken-kur; cure de petit lait), annually attract hither many hundred invalids from all parts of Europe; and during the season, in July and August, the principal inns are generally crammed full. The peasants' houses are particularly neat and clean, trimly painted outside, as though they had just issued from a bandbox. Gais lies at the S. side of the Gäbris, and the view from the top of that mountain is delightful, and may be attained with little trouble, in 1 hour, on horseback. The native songs of the cow-herds and dairy-maids of Appenzell are highly melodious. It is a walk of about five hours from Gais to Herisau (see Route 69). -Stoss-Appenzell. 2 miles to the E. of Gais, on the road to Alstetten, is the Chapel of Stoss, erected on the summit of the steep pass leading down to the Rhine Thal, to commemorate the almost incredible victory gained by 400 men of Appenzell over 3000 Austrians in 1405. The Archduke of Austria and the Abbot of St. Gall had hoped to take the Swiss by surprise with this preponderating force. But a handful of the mountaineers, under the conduct of Count Rudolph of Werdenberg, assembled in haste, gave them battle, and defeated the invaders, with a loss of 900 men, losing only 20 of their own party. blood of the slain discoloured the mountain torrent which flowed past the battle-field as far as its influx into the Rhine. The view from the Stoss over the valley of the Rhine, 2000 ft. below, and of the snowy mountains of Tyrol and Vorarlberg beyond, is of great beauty. The A very steep descent leads from the Stoss to Alstetten. You hire a spare skid at the top of the hill, and go down with both wheels locked. From Stoss to Alstetten, in the valley of the Rhine, is 1 hour's drive, about 5 miles. It takes 13 hours to ascend. Coire (Route 67.) It is a distance of about 7 miles S. W. from Gais to 2 Appenzell-(Inns: Hecht (Pike); Weisses Kreutz; respectable alehouses). Though the chief place of the district of Inner Rhoden, this is but a dull and dirty village of 1400 inhabitants, consisting of old and ill-built houses, with two convents, and a modern church, hung with several flags and contains nothing remarkable in it. It derives its name from the country seat of the Abbot of St. Gall (Abten-zelle, Abbatis Cella), having been anciently built here, when the country around was an uninhabited solitude. The Landesgemeinde, or Assembly of the canton, meets on a square, near a lime tree, every year. In the Record Office, Archiv, are preserved a number of banners, conquered by the Appenzellers of old, and the only surviving trophies of their valour. Here are the flags of Constance, Winterthur, Feldkirch; the Tyrolese banner and free ensign, inscribed "Hundert Tausend Teufel," conquered at Landek, 1407; the Genoese banner of St. George, and two captured from the Venetians, 1516, in the battle of Agnadel. It is stated on all hands that a remarkable change greets the traveller, on entering Roman Catholic Inner Rhoden, from Protestant Outer Rhoden. He exchanges cleanliness and industry for filth and beggary. What may be the cause of this, is not a subject suitable for discussion here. The Appenzellers are passionately fond of gymnastic exercises; and a part of every holiday is devoted to wrestling and boxing matches. Hurling the stone is another frequent exercise. A mass of rock, varying in weight from a half to a whole cwt., is poised on the shoulder, and then cast forward a distance of several feet. 1805, a man of Urnäsch hurled a stone, weighing 184 lbs., 10 ft. Appenzellers are also capital shots: rifle-matches are held almost every summer on the Sundays, and the cracking reports resound on all sides. The laws of the canton (especially of Outer Rhoden) restrict dancing to 3 or 4 days of the year; but, as the people are much addicted to this amusement, the law is frequently infringed, and the peasants will often cross the frontier of the canton in order to enjoy unmolested their favourite amusement. In The There is a road from Appenzell to Herisau. (See Route 69.) About 2 miles S. E. of Appenzell is Weissbad, "an excellent boarding house and bathing establishment, situated in a beautiful and retired spot, Switz. at the foot of the Sentis, surrounded by pleasure-grounds, from which run walks leading up the mountains, The house is capable of accommodating 200 visitors. I have seen few places in the course of my travels where a person fond of exploring and desirous of tranquillity, combined with accommodation on a superior scale (to be procured without trouble or effort on his part), could spend a few days in greater enjoyment." Dates and Distances. In addition to the cure of goats' whey, there are also mineral springs at Weissbad, and the bath-houses contain 80 baths. Three small torrents, issuing out of 3 Alpine valleys deeply furrowed in the sides of the Sentis, in whose glaciers they take their rise, unite at Weissbad, and form the river Sitter. About 5 miles up the middle valley is the singular hermitage and chapel of the Wildkirchlein. It is reached by crossing the Alpine pasture of the Ebenalp, which, in spite of its elevation of 5094 ft. above the sea, is in summer a perfect garden, unfolding a treasure to the botanist, and affording the sweetest herbage to the cows. In a recess scooped out of the face of a precipice, 170 ft. above these pastures, a little chapel has been perched. It was built 1756 by a pious inhabitant of Appenzell, and dedicated to Saint Michael, and on that saint's day mass is celebrated here annually. A bearded Capuchin occupies the hermitage adjoining, and will conduct strangers through the long caverns hung with stalactites, which perforate the mountain behind his dwelling. The pilgrimage will be repaid by the charming prospect from the window which he opens. The Sentis (from Latin, sentis, a thorn?), the highest mountain in Appenzell, 7700 feet above the sea level, may be ascended from Weissbad. The view from the top is much extolled, and a panorama of it has been engraved. Various paths lead up to K 194 Route 69.-St. Gall to Rapperschwyl Herisau. it; the best and easiest, which is also perfectly safe in the company of a guide, leads by way of the Meggisalp (3 stunden); Wagenlucke (2 stunden); to the summit, (1 stunden), a walk of nearly 20 miles. In 1832, an engineer named Buchmuller, while making trigonometrical observations on the summit, accompanied by a servant, was struck by lightning. The shock took away his senses, and he remained in that state nearly an hour; when he came to himself he found his servant dead beside him, and himself so severely injured in one of his legs, that it was with the utmost difficulty and danger that he could crawl down to the nearest human habitation. A steep and difficult path leads S. over the ridge of the Sentis from Weissbad to Wildhaus, the birthplace of Zwingli, in Toggenburg (Route 71) a distance of 20 miles. Another path leads in about 4 hours from Weissbad to Sennewald in the valley on the Rhine. It passes over the shoulder of the Kamor, on the right hand of that mountain, whose top commands a remarkable panorama. Even from the road to Sennewald, the traveller has a delightful prospect over the Sentis and canton Appenzell, on one side, and over the lake of Constance, Tyrol, and the Rhine on the other. ST. ROUTE 69. GALL TO RAPPERSCHWYL ON THE LAKE OF ZURICH, BY HERISAU AND THE HEINRICHSBAD, 421 Eng. miles. 13 Stunden A diligence runs daily from St. Gall to Ragatz in 14 hours. by There is a post road from St. Gall 1 posts, Flavil. 21 13 Lichtensteig. Herisau, the flourishing and industrious chief village of the Protestant district of Appenzell, called Ausser-Rhoden, contains 2200 inhabitants, and is advantageously situated at the junction of two streams, the Glut and Brühlbach, which turn the wheels of its nume rous manufactories. "It is a very singular place from its extraordinary irregularity of construction, and is quite unlike any other town in Switzerland." There are beautiful walks on the surrounding heights; two of them are topped by ruined castles, the Rosenberg and Rosenburg, which, according to the story, were once connected together by a leathern bridge. The lower part of the Church Tower, in which the Archives are deposited, is the oldest building in the canton, dating probably from the 7th century. The articles chiefly manufactured here are muslins, cottons, and silk, the last, a recent introduction : 10,200 persons are employed in Ausser-Rhoden, in weaving muslins, and a very large number in embroi dering them. There is a direct road from Herisau to Appenzell (Route 68), by Waldstadt, (1 stunden); Urnäsch, (11), and Gonten (1), in all 5 stunden = 16 miles. About a mile to the E. of Herisau is the watering-place called Heinrichsbad. The Badhaus is the most elegant establishment of the sort in Switzerland, after Schintznach, surrounded by agreeable pleasure grounds, the creation of one Heinrich Steiger, a rich manufacturer. Two springs rising out of gravel, and About 4 miles from St. Gall, a variously impregnated with iron, Route 71.-Schaffhausen to Coire. The road soon after surmounts the steep ascent of the ridge of Himmelwald, From its top a beautiful prospect expands to view; in front the lake of Zurich, with the castle, town, and bridge of Rapperschwyl, in full relief on its margin; behind it the pine-clad and snow-topped Alps of Schwytz and Glarus; on the E. the remarkable peaks of the Sieben Kuhfirsten, and behind the fertile vale of Toggenburg. The road divides on the opposite side of the hill; those bound for Glarus or Wallenstadt, take its 1. branch, leading to Utznach: we follow the rt. to Eschenbach, and 7 Rapperschwyl. (Route 14.) ROUTE 71. SCHAFFHAUSEN TO COIRE BY TOGGENBURG AND WILDHAUS. 5 Frauenfeld, in Route 9. 195 31 Wyl, a little town of 1064 inha bitants in the valley of the Thur, distant about a mile from its 1. bank. We here leave on the 1. the road to St. Gall, and continue up the 1. bank of the Thur, as far as Dietfurth, where we cross to 13 Lichtensteig (in Route 69.) Ebnat. - Toggenburg, as the long and fertile valley of the Thur is called, extends for nearly 40 miles, from Wyl up to the source of that river. It is bounded by high mountains; on the N. by the Sentis, and on the S. by the peaks of the Kühfirsten. It was anciently governed by counts of its own. When their line became extinct, 1436, the district was claimed by canton Zurich. In the feud which ensued, the Zurichers were worsted; it fell to the Abbot of St. Gall; and, since 1805, forms part of canton St. Gall. It is thickly peopled; its inhabitants, an industrious race, are chiefly occupied with the manufacture of muslin and cotton. 13 Neslau. The inn is said to be good at Alt St. Johann. Upon the high ground, dividing the valley of the Thur from that of the Rhine, stands the remote village 1 Wildhaus, 3450 ft. above the level of the sea, and at the S. base of the Sentis. It is remarkable as the birthplace of the Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zuingli. The house in which he first saw the light (Jan. 1, 1484) still exists; it is a humble cottage of wood; its walls, formed of the stems of trees, its roof weighed down by stones to protect it from the wind. It has resisted the inroads of time for more than 350 years; and the beams and trunks which compose it are black with age. Zuingli's family were humble peasants; he quitted home when 10 years old, to go to From Wyl to Coire the road is school at Bâle. supplied with post-horses. A good carriage-road leads through Schlatt and Neusom to Wildhaus to Sennewald 2 posts. Wildhaus to Sewelen 21 posts. The road descends into the valley 2 |