New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-08-08

nv the perpetual mss or rams 'han " INC coiA'
sour earn which clung 70 the les PERCEPTIONS
rocss.-remalned 70 keep ~ company Sooh
the sno. began 70 appear Beside -, a. Afs, 'i-l-
div or the north SIDE Of cliffs, and n dee?
chas,a,. whe!o Il was doubtless c..lied 70 lie
depth Of thirty ieet dunnr the Winter. ana mas
been gradually ,hawInc oat since May a
length II stood forth unabashed on each side oil
our road often q solid mass SIX or seven 'ee'
thick. on either SIDE Of the narrow pass "Aioh
had been cui and wOru through J, Tor anc % '"e
travellers Meantime. the drizzlng fam, which
mad commenced soon after We s'ar'ec' hfo
changed 70 splitting. watery slee;, and a. -ength
70 snow a little before We reached the summit
Of the pass. where we found Young Nova Lcm-
bla An extensive cloud-manufactory was N
fuu bias, a. around Us. shutting on; from view
even the nearest cliffs. while the snow and wind
! beng on the outside and somewhat wei a.
ready-inade our short halt there anything out
comfortable The ground was covered with
snow 70 an average depth Of TWO or three iee''
the brooks ran over beds OF ice and under large
heaps Of drited and frozen snow, and all was
sullen and cheerless Here were the sources
I'm part) Of the Pc and OF the Rhine, BIZ; ! vas
rather In haste TO Dld the former goodbye.
We reduced our three-horse establishment; to
TWO. and began TO descend the Rhineward zig
Gags at a rafting pace, the drivers (and al the
drivers hurrylng all the wa. We reached the
first village, twhere there was considerable
Grass again. and some Hemlock but scarcely
any attempts n cultlvation.) IN fifty minutes,
and | think the distance was fully five miles.
Jehu the son OF NimshI could not have done
the distance IN five minutes less.
We changed horses and drivers at tins VII
lape. but proceeded at a similar pace. down
through The most hideous chasm for the next
two or three miles that | ever saw. | DOUBT
whether night mare ever beat II. The descent
OF the stream must have been fully l,JO0 ieet
to the mile for 4 good part OF this distance.
while the mountains rose naked and almost
perpendicuar on each side from rs very bed TO
nights of one to two thousand feet, without
shrub, and hardly restlng-place even for snow.
Down this chasm our road wound, first on one
side OF the rlvulet, then on the other, crossing
by narrow stone bridges, often at the sharpest
angle with the road, making zlg-zags wherever
space could be found or made for them, now pass
ing through tunnel cut through the solid rock.
and then under long archway built over TO pro
lect II from avaanches at the crossing OF ravlng
cataract down the mountain side. And still the
stavmg pace at which we started was kept up
by those on the lead. and initiated by the boy
driving our carriage, which was hmdmcst OF all
was ust thinking that, though every one should
know his own business best, yet If / were to
drive down Steopmountaln IN that way should
expect to break my neck, and suspect deserved
1t, when, as we turned sharp lgzag on steep
grade at stiff trot our carriage tilted, and over
she went, IN twlnkllng.
Our horses behaved admirably, hich m an
upset is ALWAYS half the battle Had they start
ed, the Diligence managers could only have rem
dered Flemish account of that load. As II was,
they stopped, and the driver, barely scratched,
had them in hand IN minute.
was on the box seat with him, and fell under
him, catching bad spran of the left wis, on
which came down which dsables that hand
for few days-nothng broken and no great
harm done-only few liberal rents and triimg
bruises But should Judge that our heads lay
about three feet from the side of the road. which
was a precIpce of not more than twenty feet,
but the rocks below looked particularly Jagged
and uninvltmg.
Our four inside passengers had been good
deal mixed mp, IN the conclusion, but soon began
to emerge s,r,at,m from the side door which IN
the fall came uppemost--only one of them much
hurt. and he by brul>e OF cash on the head no.
wise dangerous. Each, as ms OF her head pro-
tuded through the aperture, began to let III at
the driver. whose real fault was that OF following
bad examples was little MED at first myself
but the second and last lady who came out pu,
me IN excellent humor She was not hurt, but
had her new silk umbrella broken square IN two,
and She flashed the pieces before the delnquent'>
eyes and reecd of High Dutch 10 HIM with We
hement volubilty wished | could have un-
derstood her more precisely Though not more
than eighteen, she developed a tongue that would
have done credit to forty.
The drivers ahead stopped and came back
helped night the stage, and each took shy at
the mlucky chanoteer, though IN fact they were
as much IN fault as he only more fortunate.
suspected before that this trotting down zig-zags
was no, the thing and now | know 1t, and shall
remember II. at least for one week. And have
given this tedious detail to urge and embolden
others to demonstrate against II. The vice l.
universal-at least Il was Just as bad at Mount
Gems as here, and here were four carriages all
going q, the same reckless pace. The truth Is
II is not safe to trot down such mountains and
hardly to ride down them al all We passed
scores Of places where any such unavoidable &C
cldcnt as the breaking et reach or hold-back
must have sent the whole concern down procl-
pee where all that would reach the bottom
would handy be worth picking up. Who has
right to risk has life IN this fool-hardy manner
The next time cross the Alps. viii take my