rise. The path descends along its 1. | projected. bank to the 6 Hospice al' Acqua, a house of refuge to accommodate travellers, 5000 feet above the sea. A path crosses the valley from this S. into the Val Formazza to the Falls of the Tosa (see p. 94.). The Val Bedretto, from its elevation, has but an inhospitable climate; long winters, and frosts not uncommonly in the height of summer, morning and evening. It is clothed with forests and pastures, from which its 612 inhabitants derive support in summer; while in winter the males migrate to Italy, to seek employment as servants. It is flanked on either side with glaciers, and is dreadfully exposed to avalanches (§ 18). The masses of fallen snow often remain unmelted on the margin of the Ticino till the end of September. At Bedretto, the principal hamlet, the church-tower, which has been once swept away, along with the parsonage, is now protected by an angular buttress, directed toward the side from which the avalanches fall, so as to break and turn them away. In the lower part of the valley a scanty crop of rye is grown. 2 Airolo, in Route 34, p. 108. ROUTE 38. PASS OF THE GEMMI, THUN TO THE = 17 stunden 55 Eng. miles. The Gemmi (pronounced Ghemmi) is one of the most remarkable passes across the Alps. Its scenery is, perhaps, extraordinary rather than grand, and to be seen to advantage it ought to be approached from the Vallais. There is a good char-road as far as Kandersteg, at the N. foot of the pass the pass itself, and the space between it to the Simplon road, can only be surmounted on foot or on horseback, though a carriage-road is 111 There are inns at Kandersteg, and at the Baths. The first part of the route lies along the beautiful shores of the lake of Thun. Near the tall tower of Strättlingen it crosses the Kander by a lofty bridge. That river originally avoided the lake altogether, and, flowing for some distance parallel to it, behind the hill of Strättlingen, joined the Aar below Thun. Owing to the quantity of mud and gravel which it brought with it, and the slight inclination of its channel in this part of its course, it converted the surrounding district into an unhealthy marsh, and gave rise to a project, which was executed in 1714 at the expense of the canton, of turning the river into the lake of Thun. This was effected by cutting a canal, 3000 ft. long and 272 ft. broad, into which the river was turned; and which, seen from the bridge in crossing, has much the appearance of a natural ravine. By this change of course the land on the banks of the Aar has been drained and made profitable, while the deposit of sand and stones brought down by the river into the lake has so accumulated as to form a delta around its mouth, extending already nearly a mile from the shore, and annually increasing. The road passes the mouth of the Simmenthal (Route 41), guarded on one side by the Stockhorn, and on the 1. by the Niesen, two noble mountains, between which the valley opens out, a scene of exceeding beauty, with the castle of Wimmiss* standing as it were in its jaws. On the margin of the lake rises another picturesque castle, that of Spietz. Skirting the base of the pyramidal Niesen we enter the valley of Frutigen, which is remarkable for its verdure and fertility, and may be said to exhibit Swiss pastoral scenery in perfection. At Mühlinen, about 3 way from Thun to Frutigen is a nice little inn, kept *See Barnard's Swiss views. 112 Route 38.-The Gemmi by an Englishwoman. Ascending by the side of the Kander we reach 43 Frutigen (Inns: Ober, and Unter-Landhaus), a village of 900 inhabitants: its houses are for the most part not older than 1826-7, at which time nearly the whole of the buildings were destroyed in two consecutive conflagrations. Behind it the valley divides into two branches : that on the W. leads to the Adelboden; that on the E. (down which flows the Kander) to the Gemmi. The road passes under the castle of Tellenburg, the residence of the amtman, or bailiff, of the district, and, crossing the Kander, proceeds up its rt. bank to 2 Kandersteg (Inn: Cheval Blanc; not good, and rather dear; can furnish a dish of trout). Chars may be had here to Frutigen -a ride of about 2 hours, for 74 fr.; also good mules to cross the mountain to the baths of Leuk, at about 8 fr. each, and 1 fr. to the driver—a journey of 6 hours. Kandersteg is the last village in the valley its scattered habitations contain about 700 individuals. It is beautifully situated 3280 ft. above the sea, at the N. base of the Gemmi. Wood cut in the mountain forests around is here set afloat in the Kander, and thus conveyed into the lake of Thun, where the logs are collected and separated by the various proprietors. : Those who have time to spare should not omit to walk about 4 miles into the remote Valley of Oeschinen, running directly E. from Kandersteg, where, hemmed in by precipices and glaciers, they will find a beautiful clear lake, which mirrors on its smooth surface the snowy peaks of the Blumlis Alp, at whose base it lies. From the Eschinen lake, there is a tolerably easy path over the Dündengt into the Kienthal, descending which you may reach the road to Thun between Reichenbach and Mühlinen; another leads over the Furca into the Seffinenthal, and thence to Lauter brunnen, but it is very difficult, especially from the side of the Kienthal. The valleys of Oeschinen and Gasteren include scenery as grand and impressive as any to be met with in the central chain of the Alps. The excursion from Kandersteg into the Lötsch Thal and to Tourtemagne is described R. 60. Above Kandersteg the char-road ceases, and in about 1 mile from the inn, the ascent of the Pass of the Gemmi commences in earnest. The path lies at first through forests, soon passing the boundary-line of the cantons Berne and Wallis, and then emerges upon a tract of open pasture land, rendered desolate by the fall of an avalanche from the Rinder Horn, in 1782. The path winds, for a considerable distance, among the fragments of rocks brought down by it. Farther on stands the 3 Solitary inn of Schwarenbach, originally a mere chalet, but improved 1840; it now affords tolerable refreshments and sleeping accommodations which, however humble, are doubtless often most acceptable in such a situation. The landlord is not well spoken of. A small toll is demanded here for the maintenance of the road. The German poet, Werner, has laid in this gloomy spot the scene of a still more gloomy tragedy, "The 24th of February." The extravagant and improbable plot has no foundation in any real event which happened here. About 2 miles above this, the path reaches and winds along the E. margin of a small lake, called Dauben See, supplied by snow, not by springs, which often swell it so as to cover the path for 8 months of the year it is frozen. Nothing can exceed the dreary aspect of the seared and naked limestone rocks which form the summit of the pass: they seem too barren for even the hardiest lichens. The culminating point traversed by the road is 7160 ft. above the sealevel. From a rocky eminence on The Gemmi Route 38. the 1. of the path a superb view is obtained of the Monte Rosa, and the chain of Alps beyond the Rhone, separating the Vallais from Piedmont, the Weisshorn (Cervin), and the Arc de Zan. It is one of the most striking views in Switzerland. Near the verge of the descent stands a small shed, capable of affording only partial shelter in a storm. A little lower down, the traveller finds himself on the brink of a precipice, from which a plumb-line might be thrown into the valley below, nearly 1600 ft., almost without touching the rock, so vertical are its sides. It is along the face of this vast wall, that one of the most extraordinary of all the alpine roads, constructed in 1736-41, by a party of Tyrolese, has been carried. Its zigzags have been very ingeniously contrived, for in many places the rocks overhang the path, and an upper terrace projects farther out than the one immediately below it.* It varies in width from 3 ft. to 5 ft., is bordered at the side by a dry wall, and is practicable for mules. There is no danger in it, but its proximity to the abyss must be a trial for some nerves. The wonders of this pass are increased to those who approach it from the side of Lenk. "The upper end of the valley, as you look towards the Gemmi, has all the appearance of a cul-de-sac, shut in by a mountain wall. Up to the very last moment, and until you reach the foot of the precipice, it is scarcely possible to discover the way out, or to tell whither the road goes, or how it can be carried up a vertical surface of rock. It is a mere shelf-in some parts a mere groove cut in the face of the huge cliff, just wide enough for a mule to pass; and at the turns of the zigzags you constantly overhang a depth of nearly 500 ft. We were recommended to dismount in several places, but I believe that the foot of an alpine mule is seldom less sure than that of the biped he carries. It is yet down this difficult road that invalids are carried to the baths: it is the only way of approaching them from the N., unless you were to make a slight detour of 200 miles by Berne, Friburg, Vevay, and Martigny. Persons who are very infirm are borne on men's shoulders, in a sort of litter, and it is said, often have their eyes bandaged to prevent the shock which might be given to weak nerves by the sight of the terrors of the pathway. "While at Leuk, I copied the following clause, relative to the transport of invalids, from the printed regulations issued by the director of the baths: Pour une personne audessus 10 ans il faudra 4 porteurs, si elle est d'un poids audessus de commun 6 porteurs, si cependant elle est d'un poids extraordinaire et que le commissaire le juge nécessaire il pourra ajouter 2 porteurs, et jamais de plus.' I was amused by this provision for excessive corpulence. The ascent from the baths to the summit takes up nearly two hours." 23 Baths of Leuk (Leukerbad, Fr. -Löèche). Inns: Maison Blanche, good; H. de Bellevue; H. de France; both new and good. - Chen. The accommodation is as good as can be expected, considering that most of the houses are of wood, not very well built, shut up and abandoned from October to May, The fare is tolerable, everything but milk and cheese being brought from the valley below. The baths consist of 5 or 6 lodginghouses, attached to a hamlet of about 300 inhabitants, situated more than 4500 ft. above the level of the sea, i. e. higher than the highest mountain in Great Britain. The hot springs annually attract a number of visitors, chiefly Swiss and French, during the season, viz., in the months of July and August, though the inns are open from May to October. From the dreariness of the situation, the coldness of the climate, and the defects of the lodgings, few English would desire to prolong their stay here, after satisfying their curiosity by a sight of the place. The baths and adjacent buildings have been three times swept away by avalanches since their establishment in the 16th century; and, to guard against a recurrence of the calamity, a very strong dyke is now built behind the village to ward off the snow. Such danger, however, is passed before the bathing season begins. One of the first patrons of the baths was the celebrated Cardinal, and Archbishop of Sion, Matthew Schinner. The springs, to the number of 10 or 12, rise in and around the village, and nine-tenths of them run off into the Dala torrent without being used. The chief spring of St. Lawrence bursts forth out of the ground between the inn and the bath-house; a rivulet in volume at its source, with a temperature of 124° Fahr. It is used for the baths after being slightly cooled. The other springs vary somewhat in temperature, but little in contents. They contain only a small portion of saline matter, and seem to owe their beneficial effects less to their mineral qualities than to their temperature and the mode of using them. The patient begins with a bath of an hour's duration, but goes on increasing it daily, until at length he remains in the water 8 hours a day-4 before breakfast, and 4 after dinner. The usual cure time (kur) is about 3 weeks. The want of the accommodation of private baths, and the necessity of preventing the ennui of such an amphibious existence, if passed in solitude, has led to the practice of bathing in common. The principal bath-house is a large shed divided into 4 compartments or baths, each about 20 ft. square, and capable of holding 15 or 20 persons. To each of these baths there are two entrances, communicating with dressing-rooms, one for the ladies, the other for the gentlemen. Along the partitions dividing the baths runs a slight gallery, into which any one is admitted, either to look on or converse with the bathers below. The stranger will be amazed, on entering, to perceive a group of some 12 or 15 heads emerging from the water, on the surface of which float wooden tables, holding coffeecups, newspapers, snuff-boxes, books, and other aids, to enable the bathers to pass away their allotted hours with as small a trial to their patience as possible. The patients, a motley company, of all ages, both sexes, and various ranks, delicate young ladies, burly friars, invalid officers, and ancient dames, are ranged around the sides on benches, below the water, all clad in long woollen mantles, with a tippet over their shoulders. It is not a little amusing to a bystander to see people sipping their breakfasts, or reading the newspapers, up to their chins in water-in one corner a party at chess, in another an apparently interesting tête-à-tête, is going on; while a solitary sitter may be seen reviving in the hot water a nosegay of withered flowers. The temperature of the bath is preserved by a supply of fresh water constantly flowing into it, from which the patients drink at times. Against the walls are hung a set of regulations and sumptuary laws for the preservation of order and decorum in the baths, signed by the burgomaster, who enforces his authority by the threat of a fine of 20 fr. for the highest offence against his code. "Ar. 7. Personne ne peut entrer dans ces bains sans être revetue d'une chemise longue, et ample, d'une étoffe "grossière, sous peine de 2fr. d'amende. "Ar. 9. La même peine sera encouru par ceux qui n'en entreraient pas, ou n'en sortiraient pas d'une manière décente." Route 38. The Gemmi Leuk. Four hours of subaqueous penance are, by the doctor's decree, succeeded by one hour in bed; and many a fair nymph in extreme négligé, with stockingless feet, and uncoifed hair, may be encountered crossing the open space between the bath and the hotels. From their condition, one might suppose they had been driven out of doors by an alarm of fire, or some such threatening calamity. The principal curiosity of the neighbourhood is the Ladders (Leitern). A rough path through the woods, on the 1. or E. side of the Dala, about 1 mile long, leads to the foot of the precipice, which, as before observed, hems in the valley of Leuk on all sides, as with a colossal wall. Upon the summit of this precipice, however, stands a village, called Albinen; and the only mode by which its inhabitants can communicate directly with the baths, is by a series of 8 or 10 ladders placed perpendicularly against the face of the cliff. It can hardly be called difficult to climb to the top, but it would not do for any of weak nerves, and a dizzy head, as many rounds of the ladder are loose, others broken; and the ladders themselves, which are pinned to the crevices of the rock by hooked sticks, are often awry, and very unsteady: yet they are traversed at all seasons, day and night, by the inhabitants of the village above-by children, as well as men and women, often with heavy burdens. The use of the ladders, which the nature of the sides of the valley render indispensable, has given rise to a singular modification of the dress of the female peasants, which here includes those nether habiliments confined in other parts of the world to men and shrews. Nor are they ashamed of this portion of their attire, as, in climbing the mountains, the petticoat is tucked up, and the wearers do not differ in appearance from boys. The rocky pass, called Felsen Gal 115 lerie, on the opposite side of the Dala, on the way to Siders, near Inden, is a very striking scene. Mules are kept at the baths, under the direction of a commissaire, to transport travellers: the prices are fixed by a printed tariff. (§ 10.) There are two ways, practicable only on horseback or foot, from the baths to the valley of the Rhone, and the road of the Simplon. a. The one follows the course of the Dala torrent through the centre of the valley, and conducts, in about 9 miles, to the village of Leuk. A carriage road was about to be commenced in 1841 from the Simplon road to the bath. 23 Leuk (Inns: Kreutz; Stern), a village of 620 inhabitants, on the rt. bank of the Rhone, near its junction with the Dala. A covered bridge over the Rhone connects it with the Simplon road (Route 59.). Above it are ruins of two castles, destroyed by the Vallaisans in 1414. b. The other way, a mule-path carried along the W. side of the valley of the Dala,; but high above that river, conducts at once to the town of Sierre (Siders), 12 miles distant, and is a short cut for those who wish to descend the valley of the Rhone towards Martigny and Geneva. It traverses the high pasturages, and beyond them, a forest of larch; and passes, first, the village of Imden, near which a most extensive view is gained over the valley of the Rhone, its towns, villages, farms, and old castles. The unsightly debris brought down by the furious torrents issuing from the opposite valley, and the wide expanse of bare gravel overflowed by the Rhone in spring, and converted into a river-channel - but in summer left bare and arid — give a desolate character to the scene. Between Imden and another village, called Varen, the road makes an abrupt turn, and the traveller finds himself beneath the shadow of a most tremendous and overhanging |