The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-07 00:00:00

Peseatore

Pipo
Capucine c01t....

Four ran.
WORCESTERSHIRE STAKES.

Ascot
Misty Morn

Paul

Fourteen ran

3IARYLEBONE ELECTIOY.—(This Day.)

OFFICIAL DECARATION.

Fermoy ..
Lyon ..

. 4,219
.. 2,318

Dickson ..

.. 1,083

THE STEL 110 PASS.

As a telegraphic despatch announces that the
Austrians have occupied the Stelvio Pass in force,
the following details concerning it may prove in-
teresting :—The Stelvio Pass is in the mountains
which rejoin the Rhetian Alps to the mass of the
Ortler, and confine the upper part of the Valteline.
It is the highest point in Europe over which man
has carried a road ; but, notwithstanding that par-
ticularity, it is but little known, being out of the
line ordinarily taken by tourists. It is 8,850 feet
high—that is, 1,1t13 feet higher than .the Mount
St. Bernard, over which no vehicle can pass, and
nearly 1,000 feet above the region of perpetual
snow. When the treaties of Vienna placed Lom-
bardy and Venetia under the domination of Aus-
tria that Powcr. became desirous to open direct
communication between Vienna and Milan ;
and as the road by Istria and Carinthia, in the
south, and that by Salzburg, Innspruck, and
the Brenner, to the north, were very long ai
diffrcult, while the road by the Valley of the Inn''
the Col of la Maloia, and the Lake of Como passed
partly over Swiss territory, the Austrian Govern-
ment resolved to construct a road over the Col of
Stelvio. The road begins to ascend near the little
town of Glurns. It then enters a narrow valley
which is traversed by the torrent of the glaciers of
the Ortler, and ascends slightly for about two
leagues. Then the zigzags commence, and they
lead to a spot from which are seen the glaciers of
the Cristallo in front, and to the left the Ortler-
Spito, a cone covered with frozen snow, 12,058 feet
high, and the culminating point of all the Tyrol.
To the right is the Col of Stelvio, with the inter-
minable zigzags which lead to its summit. In the
course of these windings are seven long galleries
or tunnels, solidly built, the object of which
is to protect the most exposed parts a the road
against avalanches and falls of stones. These gal-
leries hive saved the lives of many travellers. At
the spot where they begin all vegetation has ceased ;
there is nothing but rock and snow; evenithe roar-
ing of torrents is not heard ; and the death-like
like silence which prevails is only occasionally in-.
terrupted by the cry of the eagle, the fall of
avalanches, or the raging of storms. .At the top of
the Col there is no hospital, as at St. Bernard ; no
shelter of any kind—nothing but a stone, bearing
an inscription that the Col is the boundary of three
different countries—the Tyrol, Italy, and Switzer-
land; and that it is 2,550 ft. higher than the Cols of
the Simplon, St. Gothrrd, Mount Cenis, &c. In
descending on the side of the Valteline, after a
while some large buildings are found, which
serve as hotels, police-offices, and barracks for
soldiers. Tney are situated in the upper part of
the valley of Beaulie, in which the various tor-
rents unite to form the Adda. From the Col to
this station the road . descends in zigzags between
high banks of stone. Further on it enters a fright-
ful defile called the " Horrors of Bormio," being an
immense rent in the mountain, full of precipices,
and at the bottom the Adda rolling along. In this

defile the road is carried over precipices by means
of bridges, through masses of rock by means of
tunnels, and in some cases it passes beneath cas-
cades. At last it reaches Bormio, and there the
passage of the Col ends. The contrast between .the
beauty of the country beyond Bormio and the
horrible defile is most striking. On the map,
Glurns and Bormio seem near together, but the
winding road which unites them is 15 leagues long,
and is everywhere so steep that only pedestrians,
horses, or light mail carts can pass over it. The
expense of making the road must have been enor-
mous, and the engineering difficulties immense.