New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-01-21

far, at least, as W ESse XII vrere nrcttv veil
taEgaeai; t gss NY Al eye wiuked during the discus
s i 49, dunoIl finally broke up with deci-
SION 10 iuF sue wirl me the direct onward course.
Il aheh' long breath of satisfaction was drawn by
s'e younger piembors of She audience, and 1t was
decided thar we should take The steamboat that
ran down Ene lake to Ffueen, in the morning,
We rose at daybresS, and ut O'Clock were off,
the raak of Mount Plate looming clear Of clouds,
AID, by that strange contradiction of appearances,
promising storm, Sure enough, few minutes
after our departure, rain began to fall; the sur
face of the lake was spoiled, and we saw all the
grand scenery of the borders through din and
misty veil 0n-our way, we noticed several market
boats, pulling stout!y for the town, some of them
heavily laden with produce, and some Of the deep
est laden Fawed by women. On our way down,
we passed William Tells chapel; on the northern
shore, saw the celebrated Mount Rhigi, and review
ed every variety OF scenery, from the savage to
the soft, on either side. Fortunately, the storm
was net attended with any violence, as is often tue
case on this lake, and We landed in safety at the
small town of Fiuellen at its lower extremity, at
halfpast 7 O'Clock, or, as Louis Cisi would have
said, after passage OF ten quarters of hour.
After pretty good soaking in our debarkaton,
| We took coaches TO Altorf, and there engaged the
diligence for our passage of the Alps, by the
famous pass Of Mount ST Gothard. Altorf il stu
nted at the northern end of that pass, and is other
wise celebrated as the scene Of William Tells APP
peal to the Swiss, against the oppression OF the
tyraut Gesler. As we rode through the town.
there was pointed out to US tower, covered with
paintings in honor of William Tell which is said to
mark the identical spot whence he shot the apple
off his sons head.
From Altorf the road began to ascend and after
a while we worked our way above the region of
rain, and found ourselves in more tolerable at
mosphere, though still wet and cold. We fortified
| ourselves against this, however, aud against the
effect of the previous soaking we had endured by
few miscellaneous of spirits, and then wrapped our
selves up and recned in our places with tolerable
! comfort. As we wound up higher, the sun came
out brightly and genially, and notwithstanding we
were fast approaching the region of perpetual
| snow, we were enabled to throw of cloaks,
| and now and then jump ont and scramble across
rocky shortcuts, for exercise while the diligence
was numbering around some tortuous circuit of the
| mountain side.
| At the start of our ride, we passed through
groves of lofty chestnut trees the finest had ever
| seen; as we assembled, we left them behind, and
! found in their places, hemloclls, oak, beech and
elm; and higher still, met the pine, the fir and
larch, These grow in gorges, swing in chasms,
stand on subsidiary peaks. or array themselves on
lodges like watchmen, guarding the savage soil
tude through which we pierced. By.and-by, they
gave out altogether, and the chilled and peevish
earth threw out only sparse covering of dryish
looking grass, that seemed aparody on vegetation,
| and appeared almost as destitute of nourshment
as the snow which laid above it, and trickled its
contributions to the cataracts that fell every
side. Some of the detiles into which we were
plunged were most terrible in their appearance,
the black and riven walls rising hundreds of feet
above u.s. and the spiteful river, whose descent we
climbed, raging at us over its broken bed as if a
thousand demons were squabbliDg at the bottom,
or warning from any invasion of their purgatory
The most awful OF these g0rges, and where the
Reuss ran widest, was a pass called the DEVILS
Bridge. 1t was SO steep that the male passengers
preferred to relieve the diligence, and make the
pass foot Formerly, it was considered very
dangerous. but now new bridge securely spans
the cataract and yea cross without any apprehen-
sion. AS you look down, however, at the remains
of the old bridge, and view its mean proportions
you can scarcely restrain shudder at the idea of
the perils vehicle must have undergone, which
Yentured on its narrow thread.
Having passed the bridge, the elderly gentleman
whose family were in the coach, turned with me
to view the scene behind. We paused moment
electrified with the awful grandeur of the picture.
In the next it conquered u.s. and, Naturalization,
and without power Of restraint, We both threw our
arms in the air, and shouted, or rather screamed
with all our might and main. Our pent-up feelings
found as much relief by that escape as If we had
cured different emotion by flood of tears. The
strain which had been upon imaGinati0ns had
made us grave anxious, reserved, and almost sad
but now we relaxed into ease again, and developed
our sensations in food of conversation Our
shout had attracted the attention of the ladies' in
the coach, and they peeped from the windows and
joined in our salute by clapping their hands, while
the other mail passengers, taking the cue, ap-
plauded in like manner the maEnifcence of the
scene. 1t was strange sight. There we we're
motley company-composed of French, English
German and American, differing in temperament
and habit, varying in religious creeds but all
to the power and grandeur OF the Almighty, as
exhibited in his works.
The snow, which till now had been above us,
began TO appear beside the road, and and then
we would pass deposit in a hollow many feet in
depth-too deep to be conquered by the feeble
summer sun, until returning winter reinforce its
mass at noon we reached little plain, which,
THOUGH quite blank Of cultivation, seemed like
paradise after the rude country of precipices and
defles through which we had toiIed and little
beyond this we came to the 90 HOspice )" where the
charitable monks have lodged themselves, to give
succor to the beWidered traveller among the
SHOWS. Near the Hospice we found a very com
Portable inn, where we changed horses and had
dinner, and where, also, had the qualification to
get mountain front, which had been caught hard
by in basin of the Reuss. As a mementO of the
place, bought, before starting, a collection Of
Alpine flowers, which are gathered here and pre-
served neatly in book for the benefit of travellers
From the Hospice we pushed on with our fresh
team, now and then meeting enormous draws, with
teams of five ana six gigantic horses, conveying
merchandise from Italy, by this route for the con-
sumption or manufactures Of Switzerland Our
road now became more steep and zg-zag than be-
fore, and so abrupt at times that it resembIed
perpendicular winding stairs, or rope cooled to
and fro, as to win inclination that might be
conquered, out of the otherwise inaccessible steep
We are now in the region of perpetual snow,
and, as the slow progress of the diligence per-
mitted it, the whole party turned ont and had
snow-balling match in commemoraton of pas
sage of the Alps on the 18th of July. At2 O'Clock
OF tlereaDOuLs, we reached the Apex OF the pass
the snow walling either side, and half
frozen lake reservoir meeting US at the top, as
the source, or one Of the sources of the river
Ticino, which was to conduct us downward into
Italy. There were two houses on this height, both
rudely built of stone, and occupied by those who
have charge of the ascending and descending
teams. AT one Of them our horses were changed,
aud while this was going on | entered the other
and made prize of chubby infant which sat alone
in the middle Of the floor, and brought it forth for
the examination of our crowd. A mother soon
turned up for the child. however, and when I rem
dered it back she passed it to the hands of all the
passengers, who each in turn covered its fresh and
frosty cheeks with kisses, and filled its little fists
with crowns. The mother all the while looked as
smiling and contented as if she were a native of
Paradise, instead of being nlabitant of the in
hospitable and cheerless apex of the Alps.
We had made the ascent with five horses, hut,
now that we were going downward, we took but
three, and truth to say, We found those three too
many. The road was sleeper, if anything, than
we had found it on the ascending side and we were
obliged to run through the short coils of a winding
stairs hundreds of feet above the level of the val
ley, with no fence to bind us in. Nevertheless,
though the bare sight of this, even by man on foot
was enough to cause shudder, the reckless driver
as if merely to show his daring, drove down at
headlong speed, and as we whistled round the
turns (Which we made at every hundred yards or
SOY we could feel the coach raise upon its side
wheels, and threaten to spin over the abyss. There
was not person in the diligence who did not feel
alarm at these fearful turnings but our ignorance
conded in the drivers skill and prevented us from
wished we had, for; as we were rafting down
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