The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1862-11-05
CROSSING THE ALPS.

cavalry, artillery and all the munitions OF
war, across the Alps. He wished to de-
scend suddenly, as from the clouds, upon
the immense force of Austrians gathered
| in Italy for the invasion of France. Two
skillful engineers were first sent to ex-
plore the pass of the great St. Bernard.
They returned with an appalling account
of the difficulties to be surmounted. "Is
it possible" inquired Napoleon, 'to cross
the pass" "Perhaps was the hesitating
reply, sit may be within the limits of
possibility" FORWARD then," was the
energetic response.
On the eastern frontiers of France there
surges up the majestic range of the Alps,
piercing the clouds to the regions of per-
petual ice and snow. Gloomy gorges and
frightful dedles, through which noun
tain torrents rush, are walled in by cliffs
which even the chamois cannot climb
The principal pass was that of the Great
ST. Bernard. 1t was narrow mule path,
as steep as it was possible for an animal
to ascend. The traveller, led by guide,
painfully and perilously ascended the
steep, now crossing roaring torrent, and
now threading narrow shelf, on the face
of the rock, with fathomless abyss upon
the one side, where eagles scared over
the fir tops beneath his feet, and where a
perpendicular wall rose to a giddy height
in the clouds over his head.
A false step would precipitate him a
thousand feet into the gulf beneath
| Avalanches OF lock, ice and snow, from
the inaccessible heights ever swept the
path. At Gods voice they fell, and from
their rush no precautions could save the
traveller. Terrific storms swept those al
titudes, binding and smothering all who
were caught in their fury. 1t required
two days of almost inexprcssible toll for
the traveller to reach the summit of the
pass, eight thousand feet above the level
of the sea.
Here there was a small plain, chcerless
beyond description, the abode of almost
eternal Winter were scarcely shrub ap-
pears. and which is surrounded by noun
tains of snow Of still niger elevation. In
this Valley Of Desoiation, as 1t is appro-
priateIy called, the Convent of St Bernard
stands. 1t is the highest inhabited spot
in Europe, and has been tenantud for
more than a thousand years, by selt-de-
nving monks, who accepta5ly, doubtless,
worship their Maker by furnishing hos
pitality to the travellers passing through
these drearv regions. The descent to the
sunny fields of Italy is even more precip-
itous and difficult than the ascent from
the plains of France. The whole extent
of what was called the pass, threading
torturous ratines and climbing cliffs, was
about twenty miles.
Such was the barrier which Napoleon
intended to surmount, that he might fall
Unexpectedly upon the rear of the Aus
trians, who were bonn harding Genoa, and
laundering at the gates of Nice. Civ
ing Moreau all the disciplined troops Of
France, 10000 in number, to repel the
advance of the Austrians upon the Rhine,
Napoleon collected, with amazing celebrity,
10000 raw recruits for this most ardu-
Gus of enterprises. To deceive his foes
he announced openly, that he Intended
to send an army across the Great St.
Bernard England aud Austria laughed
the Idea to scorn. 1t was deemed lm-
possible that an army with ponderous ar
tillery, tons of cannon balls, and all the
bulky munitions of war could be trans
ported where a wheel had never rolled,
and where a mule could with difficulty
tread, and where two mules could hardly
pass abreast.
The troops were secretly collected in
the vicinity Of Dion, but so dispersed as
not to attract special attention, and yet In
such manner that they could easily be
assembled at the entrance of the pass
Immense stores of provisions were noise
Icssly accumulated. Large sums of spe
Gle were forwarded to hire the services of
the mountaineers. Able mechanics were
employed to take apart the baggage wag-
ons and gun carriages, so that they might
be transported IN fragments, on the backs
of mules across the mountains, and be-
speedily put together on the other SIDE
II ospitals were provided with every COM
fort for the sick and the wounded. EV-
cry man carried, besides his gun and am-
munition, several days rations. The
sinuous path was so narrow that much
of the way it could only be trodden single
file.
About the middle of May, 1900, the
whole army was put in motion. To trans,
port the heavy cannon, plue logs were
split in the center, the parts followed out
and the guns sunk into the grooves. A
long string of mules, in single file, dragg-
ed these ponderous engines up the steep
activities Often hundred men were
harnassed to gun. The peasants took