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Route 28. Hospice of the Grimsel Aar Glacier.

for a month or two, the cows belonging | to the hospice, and the servants cross the lake twice a-day, in a boat, to milk them. It is a landscape worthy of Spitzbergen or Nuova Zembla. This wilderness is the haunt of the marmot, whose shrill whistle frequently breaks the solitude; and the chamois, become rare of late, still frequents the neighbouring glaciers; both animals contribute at times to replenish the larder of the Hospice.

On the 22nd March, 1838, the Hospice was overwhelmed and crushed by an avalanche, which broke through the roof and floor, and filled all the rooms but that occupied by the servant, who succeeded with difficulty in working his way out through the snow, along with his dog, and reached Meyringen in safety. The evening before, the man had heard a mysterious sound, known to the peasants of the Alps and believed by them to be the warning of some disaster: it appeared so like a human voice that the man supposed it might be some one in distress, and went out with his dog to search, but was stopped by the snow. The next morning the sound was again heard, and then came the crash of the falling avalanche. The Hospice has since been rebuilt and enlarged.

During the campaign of 1799 the Austrians actually encamped for some time upon the top of the Grimsel, and during their stay gutted the Hospice, using every morsel of woodwork for fuel. Every attempt of the French General Lecourbe to dislodge them had failed, when a peasant of Guttanen, named Nägeli, offered to conduct a detachment by a circuitous path, known only to himself, to the rear of the Austrian position, on condition that the mountain he was about to cross should be given to him as his reward. This being agreed to, a party, commanded by General Gudin, led by Nägeli over the Doltihorn and the glaciers of Ghelman, fell upon the Austrians una

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wares, from a point above that which they occupied. They were seized with a panic and fled at once; many in the direction of the glacier of Aar, where escape was hopeless, and those who were not shot by the French, perished in the rents and chasms, where human bones, rusty arms, and tattered clothes are even now met with, and attest their miserable fate. The guide of the French did not profit by his barren mountain, remaining as poor as before he became possessed of it, but it has since been called after him, Nägeli's Grätli.

The source of the Aar lies in two enormous glaciers, the Ober and Unter-Aar-Gletscher, to the W. of the Hospice. The Unter-Aar glacier is the best worth visiting, and the lower extremity of the ice may be reached in 40 minutes from the Hospice. It is remarkable for the evenness of the surface of ice and the rareness of cavities on its surface. It is about 18 miles long, and from 2 to 4 broad. Out of the midst of it rises the Finster- Aarhorn; the Schreckhorn is also conspicuous. A path has been made by which it is accessible even on horseback. These Aar glaciers are among the most interesting in Switzer land for those who would study the natural history of those singular natural phenomena, their progression, moraines, &c. (§ 17.)

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They are accessible without danger and with little difficulty, and the scenery around is sublime in the extreme. A visit to them ought on no account to be omitted. The line of junction of the two glaciers of the Upper and Lower Aar is marked by a high and broad ridge of ice, covered with fragments of rocks, the combined moraine from the 2 glaciers. It rises in some places to a height of 80 ft., and resembles an artificial causeway or pier. The progressive annual march of the glacier is marked by the present situation of a rude hut now in ruins, built by M. Hugi in

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1827, at the foot of the rock Im Abschwung, the last projecting promontory separating the 2 glaciers, which, in 1840, had advanced 4600 ft. from that spot. Its situation now is marked by its vicinity to a large granite block of white colour. It takes about 4 hours, of which 3 are on the ice, to reach this hut, and 3 to return. On this glacier M. Agassiz of Neuchâtel has erected a rude cabin of dry stones, ¡under a block of mica schist, known as Hotel des Neûchatelois, and here he carried on a series of interesting investigations and experiments respecting the glaciers for several seasons in succession.

The best panorama of the Grimsel and the neighbouring peaks and glaciers may be seen from the top of the Seidelhorn, a mountain on the rt. of the path leading to Brieg and the Furca; its summit may be reached in 3 hours from the Hospice: it is 8634 feet above the sea-level.

The summit of the pass of the Grimsel (8400 feet above the sea) is 2 miles from the Hospice a steep path, marked only by tall poles stuck into the rock to guide the wayfarer, leads up to it. On the crest lies another small lake, called Todten See, or Lake of the Dead, because the bodies of those who perished on the pass were thrown into it by way of burial. Along the crest of the mountain runs the boundary-line between Berne and the Vallais, and here the path divides that on the 1. side of the lake leads by the Meyenwand to the glacier of the Rhone (distant about 5 miles), and to the Pass of the Furca (Route 30); that on the rt. of it goes to Ober-Gestelen, but it would be worth the while of the traveller bound thither, to make a detour of about 6 miles by the 1. hand path to visit the glacier and source of the Rhone. By the direct road it is a walk of 6 miles from the summit of the Grimsel to

3 Ober-Gestelen (Fr., Haut Cha

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tillon). The inn, kept by Bertha, used to be a decent house. This is the highest village but one (Oberwald being the highest) in the Upper Vallais, and is 4360 feet above the sea-level. It is situated on the rt. bank of the Rhone, about 8 miles below its source in the glacier. It is the depôt for the cheese transported out of canton Berne into Italy, and is a place of some traffic, as it lies at the junction of the three bridle-roads over the Grimsel, the Furca, and the Gries (Route 29).

In 1720, 84 men were killed here by an avalanche.

The descent of the Upper Vallais to Brieg, a distance of 35 miles, is tame and uninteresting above Niederwald, below which, especially about Viesch, its scenery is singularly beautiful. The road runs along the rt. bank of the Rhone. For a part of the way it is practicable for chars, and will be finished, it is said, all the way, in 2 or 3 years. (?) Opposite the village of Ulrichen, the valley of Eginen opens out—up it runs the path leading over the Gries and the Nufanen (Route 35).

The Upper Vallais (Ober-Wallis) is very populous, and numerous unimportant villages are passed in rapid succession. One of the largest is

Münster, containing about 400 inhabitants, and a very good inn, La Croix. The natives of the Upper Vallais are a distinct and apparently superior race to those of the Lower. The language is German. The Romans never penetrated into the higher part of the Rhone valley.

4 Viesch lies at the entrance of a

side valley, blocked up at its upper extremity by a glacier, above which rise the peaks called Viescher-Hörner. There exists a tradition, that a path once led up this valley to Grin delwald: it is now entirely stopped by the glacier, and this circumstance is supposed to prove a great increase of the mass of ice. "Either at Viesch or Lax, very decent accom

Route 28.-The Echighorn.-29.- Pass of the Gries. 93

modation may be had: and it is worth while to pass a night at one or other, to ascend the Echighorn. This is an insulated point, commanding a superb view of the S. side of the Bernese Alps, and of the mountains of the Valais, from the Furca to the Matterhorn, and I believe still further, even to Mont Blanc. Immediately below, at the bottom of one branch of the great glacier of Aletsch, is a small lake, of deep cerulean blue, studded with floating icebergs a most picturesque and singular feature in the scene. Horses are little used at Viesch, and the traveller must not depend on finding them: we were told that ours were the first which had mounted. The ascent is by a sledge-path, very steep, through pine forests, for 2 hours; another hour to the highest chalet, where we left the horses; then 1 hour 30 minutes to the ridge of the mountain, where we left the ladies; then 45 minutes stiff climbing to the summit of the Horn, a sharp pile of huge stones, heaped together, it is hard to guess how. The Finsteraarhorn, though nearer, looks less imposing than from the Faulhorn. This is a new expedition, just beginning to be known, and is a fatiguing day for ladies: few would attempt to climb the horn; and, indeed, the view is not so greatly superior to that from the lower ridge as to make it essential to incur the additional fatigue. Those of our party were said to have been the first who ascended; they descended from the chalet on a cheese sledge, fitted up for the occasion, with a cushion, &c., with great ease, rapidity, and satisfaction. Descent from horn to chalet, 50 minutes, quick; thence to Viesch, near 2 hours 30 minutes. About 8 hours going; it would be done quicker on foot."-A. T. M.

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Opposite to Viesch, a pass, parently of no particular beauty, leads into the Val Formazza.

From Lax to Brieg the char-road is completed.

The stream of the Massa, descending from the W., is supplied by the great glacier of Aletsch, a branch of that vast expanse of ice which extends to Grindelwald in canton Berne (§ 17).

3 Naters, a village of 600 inhabitants, lies in a beautiful situation and in a milder climate, where the chestnut begins to flourish. Above it rises the ruined castle of Fluh, or Saxa (Supersax).

A wooden bridge leads across the Rhone to

Brieg, at the foot of the Simplon (Route 59).

ROUTE 29.

PASS OF THE GRIES, OBER-GESTELEN то DOMO D'OSSOLA, BY THE VAL FORMAZZA (POMMAT), AND THE

FALLS OF THE TOSA.

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About 14 stunden 46 Eng. miles, A mule-path, not dangerous, though it crosses a glacier, but difficult and very fatiguing. A guide should be taken over the Col. The traveller who follows it will be rewarded by the scenes of wildness and grandeur of the Val Antigorio and Formazza, which " are nowhere exceeded among the Alps."

On the Italian side of the Pass at Crodo and Premia there are tolerable inns, and from either of these places it is easy to go in one day across the pass of the Val Tosa into canton Tessin. The passage of the Gries requires a long summer's day, as, notwithstanding the apparently short distance on the map, the walk up the valley from Crodo to Formazza (Wald) requires full 6 hours, and thence to Ober- Gestelen 8 hours,

Below Ober- Gestelen (page 92) a bridge leads across the Rhone, and the path follows the 1. bank as far as the village Im Loch, where it turns to the l., and begins to ascend the Eginenthal, crossing the stream of the Eginen above a pretty cascade 80 feet high, which it forms. A hard climb

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of about 2 hours, first through larchwood, then across a steril, stony tract, and finally over a little plain of green meadow, dotted with the chalets of Egina, brings the traveller to the foot of the final and most difficult ascent. Near this point a path, striking off on the 1., leads over the pass of the Nüfanen (Route 35) to Airolo. Here vegetation ceases, snow appears first in patches, and at last the glacier blocks up the termination of the valley. It takes about 20 minutes to cross it. The direction of the path over it is marked by poles stuck upright in the ice. Along the crest of the mountain runs the frontier line separating Switzerland from Sardinia. The summit of the pass is 7900 feet above the sea.

"Bare and scathed rocks rose on either side in terrible grandeur out of the glaciers to an immense height. The silence of the place added greatly to its sublimity; and I saw, in this most appropriate spot, one of the large eagles of the Alps, the Lammergeyer, which was whirling its flight round a mountain-peak, and increased the deep emotion excited by the solitude of the scene." - Brockedon.

In clear weather a magnificent view presents itself from this point of the chain of Bernese Alps. The descent on the Sardinian side of the pass (as usual among the Alps) is steeper than that on the N.; it is also more difficult. The upper part of the Piedmontese valley of Formazza, or Frutval, presents four distinct stages or platforms, separated by steep steps or dips from each other. The first is called Bettelmatt; the second, Morast (morass), on which the miserable group of chalets, called Kehrbächi (the highest winter habitations), are situated; the third, is Auf der Frutt, with another hamlet of chalets, and a small chapel. Before reaching it, the traveller falls in with the river Toccio, or Tosa, which rises in the upper extremity of the valley, and

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terminates in the Lago Maggiore. Beyond the hamlet the path crosses to the 1. bank of the stream, and, descending the fourth steep declivity, arrives at the Falls of the Tosa, the approach to which has for some time previously been proclaimed by the increasing roar of the water. It is one of the most remarkable cataracts among the Alps, less on account of its form than for its vast volume of water, in which it is surpassed only by that of the Schaffhausen. It does not descend in one leap, but in a succession of steps, forming an uninterrupted mass of white foam for a length of perhaps 1000 feet, while the entire perpendicular descent is not much less than 500. Seen from below, it has a triangular appearance; above, not more than 80 feet wide, and expanding gradually towards the bottom. It is the only Swiss fall combining great height with a large body of water.

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2 miles below the Falls is the village of Frutval, situated on the 4th plateau, affording accommodation of the most wretched kind. Two miles farther is the village of Wald. The inhabitants of the upper part of the valley, as far as Foppiano, are of German descent, speaking that language; and, according to tradition (?), descendants of a colony from the Entlebuch. Owing to this intermixture of languages, almost all the villages have a German as well as Italian name. Wald, or Formazza, is about 23 miles from Ober- Gestelen.

The lower part of the vale of the Tosa abounds in exquisite scenery. The Gorge of Foppiano (Germ. Unter-Stalden), 5 miles below Formazza is particularly grand. Lower down it expands, and displays all the softer beauties of high cultivation, luxuriant vegetation, and thick population. Below the village called Premia, where there is a tolerable inn, a stream descending from the W. joins the Tosa, and the valley changes its name into Val Antigorio.

Routes 29, 30. Val Formazza

"The savage grandeur of the Val Formazza, down which the river takes its passage, and the delicious region through which it rolls in the Val Antigorio, 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 chestnut, and other proofs of the luxuriance of the soil of Italy, present themselves everywhere to the eye, intermixed with the grey blocks resting on the flanks and at the feet of the high granite ridge, 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 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

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Rhenish dress, but the true vine of Italy and of poetry, flinging its pliant and luxuriant branches over the rustic veranda, or twining its long garland from tree to tree." Latrobe.

This charming valley is the chosen retreat of numerous retired citizens, such as bankers, jewellers, &c., who have built themselves villas in it. The mica-slate rocks occurring near Premia and San Michele, are stuck as full of red garnets as a pudding is with plums.

At Crodo there is a good inn, and a Sardinian Custom-house.

From Crodo or Premia a pass leads into the Val Bedretto; it presents no great difficulties in fine weather, except that the path is so faintly marked as to be scarcely distinguished from the numerous tracks of cattle. It descends on Hospital al Acqua (see R. 35.), 3 hours' walk above Airolo,

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where a chalet affords a bed and tolerable minestra. — J.B.

The road below Crodo crosses the river twice before it reaches San Marco, and about two miles farther enters the Simplon road, at the lofty and beautiful bridge of Crevola, near the junction of the Vedro with the Tosa (Route 59).

3 miles farther on lies Domo d' Os. sola.

ROUTE 30.

PASS OF THE FURCA, FROM THE GRIMSEL, TO HOSPITAL ON THE ST. GOTHARD BY THE GLACIER OF THE RHONE.

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About 7 stunden 23 Eng. miles. A bridle-path, by no means dangerous, and not very difficult, excepting the part between the summit of the Grimsel and the glacier of the Rhone, which it is better to cross on foot than on horseback. The distance from the Hospice of the Grimsel to the glacier of the Rhone is about 5 miles. On reaching the summit of the pass (p. 92.), the path leaves on the rt. hand the gloomy little lake of the Dead, and skirting along the brink of a precipitous slope, called the Meyenwand, descends very rapidly. This portion of the road is the worst of the whole, being very steep, slippery, and muddy, in consequence of the melting snow, which generally lies near the summit. However, it soon brings the traveller in sight of the glacier, though at a considerable depth below him. On attaining the bottom of the valley, he will find a rustic Inn, affording very fair accommodation both for eating and sleeping, good provisions and clean beds. About mile above it the Rhone issues out to day at the foot of the Rhone Glacier, one of the grandest in Switzerland, fit cradle for so mighty a stream. It fills the head of the valley from side to side, and appears piled up against the shoulder of the

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