The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-06-03
From the National Miscellany.
An Avalanche on the Great St. Rernar,

SOU si'aoows on the lake. The blue waters
the tiny sail boats, and the vine-clad hills
that had caused such languid dreams of han.
plncss, all lost their power, and every dav
grew less inviting; and I, the idle tourist
cast about for a change. The .Jura d;m,,
extending in the west, suggested visit to
Lyons: the crested summit of Mont Blanc
with It's eternal calotte of dazzling snow over.
looking myriad ofpcaks, prompted return
20 me vaic Of Chamouni: the lake quietly
rolled towards ChIlon and its storied Castle
and curious inclination pointed to the con
vent of st. Bernard and its holy inmates. or
the rugged mountain pass between Savoy anf
Piedmont. turned over the matter in M,
mind at twilight, leaning over the naranct Of
the Font RouS'cau. and determined on nj
crlmagc to The llo>picc of the Great St. Ber
nartI
he next afternoon | was at Martirnv. .,
f"'ie, and prepared TO pass ;hc NIGHT at IN,
most romantic n5|,rgc | could select in N,
town-it group Of crazy, tun,blc-down tenc
mcnts and bastard rhnlct can bc Tins co'Icc
lively termed. \ hearty supper of brown
bread and wild honey over, walk ed toward,
the bureau of the guides. with view of So.
lectln@ the most active. stalwart fellow could
set my eyes upon. no matter how fresh hi,
mules or wcl-to-Io his cLar . L.p,c. But III
my calculations were speedily set aside bv
meeting an American fricnd-a hardy. al
vcnturouS gentleman from the West. who had
been partial to prairic> and buffalo in his ear
lv dav>-whO suggested tha: we Shoul1 fax,
chn' Il taHr as far as the mule road cytenI
cd up the pass. and then push onwar, unaia
cd TO the convent. I must confess that mi.
Arrangement did not immediately strike m,
tavorablv.a it was early in the month of June
and the peasants had told me that the ras
was still covered with snow. and that the ;r.
on the mountains was vet loose and trcachcr
ou>. | rccountcd these objections TO m,
TREND bu' he was too bold traveller to ncr,
NIT the gossip oi Ii" valley to interfere will
his notions of adventure He protested tha,
there was no danger: that the 'pcrilS of III,
pass were only an idle name that i, wa.
most nnromantic TO have clumsy. incxoral',
guide with his eternal }1'o,> ',okIny after oao
and then producing pocket map. with N,
route trchlv expressed like mere thread h.
succeeded in tightening my objections. until
| at length Welded
"Arc vou fond of adventure :" he asked
"Ycs."
SAID this consclcntiouSlv al,houch an I'M
known track in an unknown country, with
drcarv prospects Of snow and dcSola.ion a.
tlgue and i'tc:Hroni. are extremely apt to m.
to rest 4 love Of adventure. no matter how
powerful it manifc>:> itself. Besides p;crro
DevouSSand. min" host of the rustic o,,1,rg,
had startled mo at Suppcr bv relating chan
ter OF recent calamitcs on the St Hr~r,r,,
pass. one Of which remember Stronc, io.cr-
ested m"-thc fate of vounr Russian nol,,.-
man. while cro>>inr from Milan with \ s;nnl.
guide
1t seems that after passing the Mont Mor.
they struck the tootrath and were progressing
on the margin of an ahyS> of fearful, depth
The Russian wore about his neck cold min
'aturc, suspended on blue ribbon. which
from accident or design hung over his fur
coat and toy some means caught in his baton
while passing collection of dIris. washed
over the path hy a mountain torrent. The
ribbon snapped aSundcr. and the miniature
fell. With a sudden shrek and tbc cx.~oss-
ION, "Alon Dieu'." he attempted to recover it.
but IN the act lost his foot hold. and was pre-
cipItatcd hcalong over the c!,s~m. atbous,nd
feet IN depth. The mniature-tiat of a a.
dv, ana most probably his hctrothcd. rcrl,ap>
his wltc-waS recovered. and carried bv tbo
guide to Martlgny and delivered to the Syd-
ne, by whom it was forwarded to Paris. .whcrc
some connexions Of the unfortunate ocntlc-
man resided
y disaster of this melancholy character wa.
10y no means calculated to URGE a n;lcr;m,r
unattended, but my persuasive cont;,rr talk cd
me out Of my objections, and insinuated tba,
DevonSsand, my entertaining Bonitacc, wa,
Al
the father Of half dozen STRIPPING guides
ana therefore had an object in painting the
pass in >ombrc colorS. with the commerd,lJo
view TO business. There was locic in this
Atcr stroll about the suburbs of Nart;c
ny, where we found not snclc object 70
gaze at-wlth the exception of an old tower
on crac that overlooked the ,,oVo;< which
an American obscrvcd-so Albert Smith s,vs
looked like an ''insolvcnt lighthouses" and
calling III at one Of the cabinets to cxam;re
the pictorial raper-knives and chamo;s cary.
ed IN mountain ccdar-we sought our respec-
1--WE inns, to dream over the next dav's iour-
ncv.
was up the next morning before the sun
had climbed over the distant peaks, and pack
cd my knap>ack, ordered an extra flask Of
h"Sch"o$Ser, bought new baton and break
tasted before the chau b,,c arrived Twas
IN excellent spirits. and the sun looked so
or'Hht and cheerful when its beam. illum;n.
a'e' the splrc of the village cathedral. that |
anticipated merry days tramp. According
10 previous calculations, we were to arrive at
the cOnrnnf at oiarL4 o,.lAl =: Al