First Impressions on a Tour upon the Continent Part 8

Note (F.) page 237, line 8.

_Mont St. Bernard._

Before Bonaparte formed his magnificent pa.s.sage across the Simplon, one of the princ.i.p.al roads from Switzerland into Italy lay over this grand mountain. Our line of road did not permit us to visit it, which we much regretted. It was always highly interesting, from the histories, both ancient and modern, which belong to it. By this route it is supposed that Hannibal led his army over the Alps; not by softening the rocks with vinegar, but by refres.h.i.+ng his fatigued troops by a mixture of it with water. He is said also to have founded here a splendid temple, dedicated to Jupiter. It is certain that several remains of antiquity, medals, inscriptions, sacrificial instruments, &c. have been found here, and are preserved in the museum at Turin. That the modern Hannibal, with or without vinegar, led his army over the St. Bernard, we too well know.

Of the baths of Loesche, in the Upper Valais, we also heard much; but of these, as well as the Grand St. Bernard, I can only speak from the description of others. Notwithstanding the difficult roads which lead to the baths, they are much frequented, and are, we were told, justly celebrated for their salutary effects. It must be truly curious to see water too hot to bear the hand in, of the temperature of 43 degrees of Reaumur (boiling water being 80), springing from the earth in the midst of this icy country; a phenomenon, however, with which those travellers who have frequented still colder parts of the world are perfectly well acquainted. This water has the peculiar quality of restoring faded flowers to life and freshness, and of preserving them so for some time, when one would rather imagine that it would boil them. I do not here mean to offer a poetical allusion to female beauty, but merely to relate a literal fact. The mode of bathing is too singular not to mention, although I cannot say much of its delicacy. There are four square open divisions, in which twenty or thirty persons of both s.e.xes (attired, as properly as may be, in flannel dresses) bathe all together. They sit very comfortably for half an hour, with a small desk before each, upon which they have their books, and little planks are seen floating on the water, full of holes, in which fragrant flowers and branches of verdure are inserted.

Note (G.) page 238, line 12.

_A celebrated waterfall--Cascade of the p.i.s.se Vache._

There are several of the same name in Switzerland; but this, I believe, is reckoned the most remarkable. In the neighbourhood of these mountains, one sees with pleasure the industry of man repaid by considerable fertility. The cottages are comfortable, and surrounded with orchards of various fruit-trees. The natural and ungrafted cherry, called _merise_, is much cultivated in these parts. It is from this fruit that the famed _kirschenwa.s.ser_, or cherry-water, is made, and which is not only an agreeable cordial, but a valuable medicine among the peasantry, subsisting, as they do, so much upon a crude and milky diet, not easy of digestion. It was offered to Mr. B. during his illness, by a rustic host, with strong commendations.

Note (H.) page 268, line 17.

_Glaciers._

The height of these glaciers, at their utmost point, is 9268 feet above the level of the sea. Voltaire might well say,

"Ces monts sourcilleux, Qui pressent les enfers, et qui fendent les cieux."

But there is another point of view in which the natural philosopher will contemplate these stupendous mountains with admiration and grat.i.tude: I mean as being the immense and inexhaustible reservoirs of those springs and rivers which make so essential a part in the beautiful and beneficial economy of nature. In these particular regions will be found the sources of the Rhone, the Rhine, and the Tessin, with a mult.i.tude of other rivers; and some idea of the enormous quant.i.ty of water that they produce may be formed from the known fact, that the magnificent lake of Geneva (measuring above twenty-six square leagues) is raised ten feet and a half, by the mere melting of the snows during the summer.

Strawberries of the finest flavour may be gathered almost at the very edge of the ice, and the adjoining woods are full of wild flowers.

Note (I.) page 271, line 14.

_Mines of gold, silver, and lead._

It has been thought by some, that it is not so much from the poverty of the state as from a moral policy that the exploration of these dangerous productions has been purposely discouraged. This is the n.o.bler reason of the two. Haller (the favourite poet of the Swiss) in his poem on the Alps, exclaims, "The shepherd of the Alps sees these treasures flow beneath his feet--what an example to mankind! he lets them flow on." And he feels a security in the rude simplicity of his country, that holds out nothing to tempt the invasion of avarice or ambition--

"Tout son front herisse, n'offre aux desirs de l'homme Rien qui puisse tenter l'avarice de Rome."

_Crebillon, dans Rhadamiste._

Note (J.) page 273, line 11.

_For which this place is celebrated._

Among other interesting objects to be seen here are the cabinets of natural history of Monsieur de Saussure, so well known for his scientific and enterprising researches, and of Monsieur de Luc.

Petrifactions of the _oursis_, or sea hedgehog, and of the _corni d'ammon_, are preserved in this collection, which were found in the Alps of Savoy, 7844 feet above the level of the sea.

Note (K.) page 275, line 12.

_Powerless and inadequate._

It will not, I am sure, be unacceptable to the reader if I here transcribe part of the beautiful description to which I have alluded.

Speaking (in Letter 23) of the exhilarating but soothing effect of the mountain air, he says--"Il semble qu'en s'elevant au-desss du sejour des hommes, on y laisse tous les sentimens bas et terrestres; et qu'a mesure qu'on approche des regions etherees, l'ame contracte quelque chose de leur inalterable purete: on y est grave sans melancholie, paisible sans indolence, content d'etre et de penser. Les plaisirs y sont moins ardens, les pa.s.sions plus moderees. Tous les desirs trop vifs, s'emoussent; ils perdent cette point aigue qui les rendent douloureux; il ne laissent au fond du coeur qu'une emotion legere et douce, et c'est ainsi qu'un heureux climat, fait servir a la felicite de l'homme, les pa.s.sions qui font ailleurs son tourment." Without being so unfortunate as to possess Rousseau's irritable temper and fiery pa.s.sions, any person of sensibility must be forcibly struck by the truth of these remarks, in pa.s.sing through the same scenes.

Note (L.) page 291, line 21.

_Lake of Morat._

This lake in severe winters freezes sufficiently to bear the heaviest loads. There is a popular and vulgar idea in the country, that whoever falls into this lake can no more be recovered; but another quality attached to it (of rather superior probability) is, that its fish are of so excellent a nature, as to sell, in time of Lent, at two _creutzers_ a pound dearer than those of any other. One cannot see without surprise, and even a degree of indignant concern, that the ancient chapel, containing the bones of the Bourguignons, slain by the Swiss (then the allies of Louis XI.) in 1476, should be no longer in existence. These remains of mortality were, when we beheld them, thrown upon the ground, totally unsheltered from the air, in a most careless and irreverent manner. Formerly (I have heard) the inhabitants of Morat used to celebrate the anniversary of this national triumph with feast and song.

Voltaire, in his "Melange de Poesies," alludes to this triumph of liberty in some truly elevated lines.

Note (M.) page 293, line 2.

_Tan-coloured wood._

This is the cleft fir of which the cottages here are constructed. They have galleries running round the outsides, protected by the projecting roofs. Sometimes thatch is used; but in the more mountainous parts of the country they are tiled (if I may be allowed the expression) with pieces of slit wood, which are kept firm by the weight of large stones lying upon them: the whole having a most picturesque appearance. The wide projection of these roofs not only secures their galleries from the snows, but affords convenient shelter for their fire-wood and various other articles. A granary is sometimes built over the dwelling-rooms at the top of these houses, which is rendered attainable by means of a sort of bridge (moveable, I rather think), upon which we ourselves witnessed the singular spectacle of a cart and horses conveying a load of grain to this exalted store-chamber. These wooden fabrics, although one would not suppose so, are warmer than those of brick or stone; but then, in case of fire, its ravage is dreadful, from the quant.i.ty of turpentine contained in the fir planks.

Note (N.) page 295, line 24.

_The Alps._

The Alps of Switzerland are certainly the highest points of Europe. But however elevated these mountains may be, and removed as they now are, a hundred leagues from the sea, there can be no doubt of their having once been covered by its waters. This is clearly demonstrated by the fossile maritime remains which are found in some of their highest parts, as well as by those of sh.e.l.ls, fishes, and animals, now only existing in other quarters of the globe. What astonis.h.i.+ng changes the surface of our earth has undergone in periods anterior to the Mosaic history, may be contemplated from the circ.u.mstance of the petrified trunk of the palm-tree, and the bones of elephants, being found in Siberia.

Note (O.) page 308, line 1.

_William Tell._

Although the limited time for our tour did not permit us to visit either the Lac de Thoun, or the village of Kussnacht, both of them consecrated in the eyes of the Swiss, by the chapels built there in memory of Guillaume Tell, travellers must not leave Switzerland without some mention of this renowned patriot. It was at the latter place that the tyrant Ghessler fell by his hand. There is (we were told) a tolerably painted representation of the occurrence on the walls of the chapel, and under it the following inscription in German verse, the French translation of which is this:

"Ici a ete tue par Tell, l'orgueilleux Ghessler. Ici est le berceau de la n.o.ble liberte des Suisses, 1307. Combien durera t'elle? Encore long tems, pourvu que nous ressemblions a nos ancetres."

Note (P.) page 215, line 13.

_The rhododendron._

This is the _rhododendron ferrugineum_, which is not much cultivated in our gardens.

Note (Q.) page 216, line 18.

_Over the doors._

What a stupendous conception must the reader form to himself of this range of mountains, when I tell him, that the ascent and descent make together forty-two miles.

Note (R.) page 312, line 25.