New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-07-16

81 snow at intervals await the feryid suns OF mid
summer. The savage sternBess and desoiataon OF
the higher Alps are here unknown, though some OF
the glens through which we wound our way TO the
suIrmit disp.ay a romantic wildness and beauty:
Tbese mountains. ike the Alps, are mainly OF
limestove; the sal is naturally good; the people
though Dot absolutely free from beggsry, seem 70
be in better circumstances than those ofthe graln
growing and wine-makng districts; the hlgn hills,
clothed WITH verdure to their SUBMITS and dotted
with thrifty herds, wear cheerful aspect ana on
the whole / have traversed no other region OF
France which impressed me so agreeaDly as ola
that Of the Jura As the completion OF the rail-
road row in progress iron Lyons 10 Geneva viii
close up this route, at least 80 TAR as foreigners
are concerned, cannot refrain from testiylng tha'
the fatigue Of ride over the Jura By diligence 10
not without compensation. understand that tne
summit Of this pass lie about 1900 feet above the
sca-leyel.
Two miles beyond the French frontier village
we came 10 the Swiss, where our passports were
again overbauled, but very ceurteously and We
were asked whether we had any merchandise sub
ect TO duty, but no search was made OF our bag
gage either here or at Geneva. few steps be-
yond the Swiss border brought US in sight OF Lake
LemaD, lying in deep valley before US and
stretching beyond our range Of vision on either
hand The next moment we were descending
rapidly BY zig.zsgs the steep, wOod-cOvered noun
tafr-side and another hour brought us 10 the large
village Of NyOn on the shore Of the lake. Thence
our course was down the north shore, through a
succession of rich fields, vineyards, &c TO Geneva,
busy and thriving city Of over 10000 inhabi-
tsnts situated on both sides of the RhOne where
tissues. shallow and rapid from Lake Leman, with
the outposts Of the Alps close to it on one side aud
the still snowy peaks Of the Jura but few miles
distant on the other. Hardly mile below the
town, the clear and arrOwy RhOne" is swelled By
the still more impetuous but turbid Arve bringing
the tribute Of Mont Blancs nnumerable glaciers
the white peak of the " monarch of mountains" 10
itsef visible in clear day, though forty miles dis
tsnt from Geneyas pleasant balconies. was not
surprised to find quite a number of wealthy
Americans comfortably settled here for i'll were
condemned TO live in any place | ever saw where
my mother tongue is not commonly spoken,
should not hesitate to choose Geneva. For here
are combined the blessings of republican freedom
and the pure giving breath of the mountains;
here the fgtree well the vine bears it's fruit
in the open air, side by side with the apple and
nearly every fruit Of the temperate zone; here
Nature is prolific, enfranchised Man Industrious,
and squalid Poverty hardly known and | know
no other city Of equal importance which rivals this
at once in grandeur of scenery and IN abundance
and variety Of resources for comfortable living.
passed through Switzerland four years ago without
visiting this part Of it, but could not fully appre-
ciate the wisdom of the philosophers and sages
who have here sought and found a retreat from
the wasting cares and an1ieties OF life, until L
stood upon the shores Of Lake Leman.
The route from Geneva to Chamounx and the base
of Mont Blanc winds up the narrow valley of the
Arve, enclosed by steep mountains almost from
the outset but the road is very good and the hills
BY no means difficult for the first twothlrds OF the
way We pass the Sandman frontier and enter
Savoy when but three or four miles on the way,
and the nine francs paid for the Sandman rise
Oh two passports has probably sharpened my re-
greet that peryerse politics and the interests OF des-
pots and dynastes have so confused the bounda-
ries of nations. Mont Blanc ought to be in
Switzerland, where most people suppose it actu-
ally is Savoy on the one hand and the Tyrol on
the other are essentially Swiss, and ought to be
politically blended with the Alpine Republic. Sa-
yOy is in no sense Italian; its streams swell the
foods Of the RbOne; even its language is French;
while the rich valley of the Pc should be under
government, not plundered, as it now is, by three
or four different masters. These matters will be
better adjusted by-and-by.
Savoy is prominently a land of beggars-far
more so than ireland, or even Italy Every third
person you meet traverse this country where you
will, holds out open hand, cringes disgustingly
and whines out supphcation for aims. Hire
man to drive you at his own price, which is not
likely to be small one, and at the Journeys end
be begs hard for something more The horse-leech's
daughters we're probably educated, if not born here
IoathsOme Migrants, hideous hays ragged children
run 10 every carriage Snd run after 1t beseechng
charity. never saw beggars 30 determined not to
take No for an answer They lie in wait at the
bottom of each long HILL thrust dirty paw into
your face YOU arrive and hold it there, nearly
as may be- till your horses trot away from them at
the top. You know better than to give anything TO
ninety nine in every hundred of them, but their in
cessant annoyance is serious drawback on the
enjoyment of the magnificent scenery which these
yagabonds disgrace.
Savoy need not be poor country. Its valleys,
though narrow, are fertile its streams supply
cheap aud superabundant power; its mountains,
though steep and generally sterile, furnish ample
timber and fuel and its population is not redun-
dant. Ii needs but Manufactures and an enlighten-
ed system of Agriculture to double the rewards of
its labor and raise Its people from hopeless indi
gence and squalor to independence and thrift. But
its water-power runs 10 waste il has no manuac-
lures its soil is laboriously but miserably cult
yated-Dever drained nor SUBSIDIZED and the rarest
opportunities for cheap irrigation utterly thrown
away. Steep side-hills are titled from year to year,
so that all their fertility ia washed away to increase
the turbines ofthe streams the barn. yards appear
10 be generally arranged and managed so as to sub
serve the same end In short, if any of our old
foges want TO see their prejudices against /" book
farming" consistently respected and followed out
TO their legitimate results, beg them to come to
Savoy.
Sallenche, 80 miles from Geneva, ia perhaps the
least wretched Of the twelve or fifteen petty vii
lagos on the way to this point and here the dill
gence (Which advise every one to take instead of
paying forty-six francs as fo0lshly did for car
rsge TO saenche) stops and is replaced by
"char-a-banc, or stout, small, low-wheeled noun
tain vehicle. Here tarred over night, and as the
rain poured steadily most Of the time till afternoon
yesterday / did not start for this place TIL
last Tho charoa for q from Ssl