The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1853-05-10


and everything is in notion; the chime Of the
bells intermineled with the Rah@ acs laches,
the believing Of the bulls, the sound Of the
cowhorn eniven the quiet village, til at last
ithe signal is given, and the herds start to their
respective pastures. The dairyman takes
leave of the young and old for the coming sea-
son, as he seldom returns to the valley again
:! before winter. A few weeks on the mountains
restores the winter starved cattle, and in pro-
portion as the snow reccdes from the higher
/! parts of the mountain, the cattle gradually
make their way upward to the rick, aromatic
| pastures, where they remain until bleak winds
aud snow forces them to return to the lower
| pastures, toa warmer temperature, and to
more abundant vegetation; and there they con
tinue till winter sets in and compes them to
take shelter in the stables.
The Alps are the delight of the Swiss; ne
feels there far more happy and free than in the
valley. He enjoys there the rich milk, cream.
cheese and butter ofhis cattle, and he is full of
| hopes that the surplus ofhis dairy products will
be sufficient to procure all the necessaries OF
life for the coming winter. Who ought not to
feel happy among those towering peaks, mac
cessible to the busile and vice of civilization
below? Who ought not to feel inspired with
love of nature, surrounded as he is with its
most gigantic, unaltered specimcn-in an at
mosphere so pure and elastic, performed with
the scent and the ambrosal odor of the noun
tain flora, which embellishes those luxuriant
pastures, spreading over every spot where the
~ III, ri nli t.l.o f,,pfinfr
In those elevated regions reigns that heavenly
quiet, which is only now and then interrupted
by the hum of an insect, by the cry of a soar
ing eagle, the bells OF the herds, or by thuh
dering noise caused by stone rolling from its
former place OF rest into the abyss, filling the
| air with long and repeated echoes.
The visitor from the plains witnesses there
sometimes that great and curious spectacle of
a thunder storm below, and the bright sunshine
and pure sky above him; black clouds roll then
in heavy, frightful masses along the valleys
lightning crosses the moving vapor, and thunder
peals with awful sounds among the rugged,
rocky mountain sides There is another aud
stillmore sublime spectacle in that lofty region
"a sunset-when he sinks gradually behind
those eternal snow and ice fields, sky and noun
taiiis seem to melt into masses Of gold and pur-
pie, ever changing in intensity and beauty; and
when the golden rays strike the mtrodden
fields Office at a more acute angle, the valley
begins to be gradually wrapped in night, and
darkness rises in the same proportion towards
the sun. dressed mountantops rs he approaches
the ORION. At that moment the all absorbed
spectator of this grand and sublime scene, is
reused from his coutemi. i.ations by singular
strain of notes it is Tie RAM des Naches, with
which the industrious daryman calls his cattle
to the hut; and scarcely have the first notes of
this call re echoed from the many walls ofrock,
than the mountain sides beg1. to be alive with
cattle returning home, to yield the gathered
treasure of their master.
When the sun has fairly set, and night begins
to, spread its sable wings over the world, the
dairy ian steps under the door Of his humble
dwelling, and sings through a wooden funnel q
choral melody, simple as his instrument, yet a
prayer to his Maker. These melancholy sounds
serve also rs guide to the belated herdsman,
hunter, or traveller, as an invitation 10 the poor
but hospitable hut of the mountaimeer; and at
that signal every one in hearing bendhis knees,
like the inhabitants of the villages below at the
sound of the chapel bell saying their evening
prayer
The daryman has finished his days work
made the cheese from the evening milk, and
cleaned the vessels of the dairy--and retires
to the hayleft, wraps himself in his blanket,
and snores in harmony with the pigs, which
take shelter near the hut on the outside.
! Scarcely have the first rays of the sun again
illuminated the highest points of the earth's
rugged crust, the mountain Lark sings its morn
ing hymn, and the dairyman leaves his nest
swarming with fleas, attends to his cows, makes
cheese from the morning milk, sends the cattle
to the pasture, brings the cheese made the day
before to the cheese loft, cleans his dairy fix
: lures, and after a frugal breakfast, he looks
about what he can do to keep his pastures clean
and safe, removes stones, distributes the dung,
and builds walls or fences near precpices TO
protect the cattle from danger. Such is the
occupation of the dairyman Of the Alps, which
goes on regularly every day, never interrupted
by any cares whatever. except by sickness OF
some of his assistants or his cattle, Or from the
loss of COW by falling over the sides of a
dangerous spot. He remains stranger, to the
doings and undoings of the masses below, and
| truly he may thank his Creator that civilization
never will reach so high up, as to leave Il place
| where, man cannot be free and live retired from
the misery Of the onward progress of time.