The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1865-09-15

D.. I'"h oDNtiuA tAii'o3 lo''oHAiiS I'LL -
masses of the mountain limoston,
which, falling, broke through the gla.
cier, carrying down great bodies OF
ice and debris Of moraines; this thC
J rain melted and mixed into q thick
mud that swept down like a lava cur
rent cutting a passage for Itself
through the thick forest, swapping the
stoutost trees like pipe stems 1t GOV
cred the high road for length Of sew
cral hundred yards, overwhelming
fields, orchards and houses, but forth
nately the current moved in the val
ley SO slowly, that no lives were lost.
dare say the owners of real estate in
that current line had good grounds
for selling out mud cheap From
the tower-top | had good view Of
the everlasting hill, from the summit
Of which the village Of Martigny, Sc
cured the day before, but half an hour
though it proved to be three hours
distant, and as l was so long in get
ting into AIartigny 1 VIII endeavor to
get out Of it quickly
Charles, the courier, whom we en-
gagged in Geneva to accompany us
through and over the Alps, into Italy
and back into Switzerland, concluded,
half an hour before we loft Martgny,
that he could not please us. His YER
nacular was German, but his transla-
tions were not sufficiently german to
suit as After little cross cxamina-
ton We decided that his Italian was
worse than his English His igno~
rance Of so frequontcd a route as that
we had inst gone over, caused us to
miss several fine waterfalls and choice
bits of scenery which can be enjoyed,
at a loss of an hour or so to the trip,
by turning ont of the mails road occa-
sioually Couiers. generally are yot-
ed nuisances by travellers Honest
ones have been heard o. non ~ ones
momned over Daily, for fortnight
aid we rejoice tllat Charles had been
restored to the bosom Of his family.
I had to regret that ] could not take
time to make an excursion from Mar
tignv to the summit of the highest
peak in the range near by, the Pierre
Vols 5000 feet Above the level
Of the sen, as the view from the top is
declared to be one Of the finest in the
Alps From Nartigny to Sion is %
miles, which we went over 10y rail in
one hour There we had to remain
~ hours for The diligence on travel in
private conveyance We opened me-
gotiations with whiskerod.
heavy framed italian Veuuliuo-w who
seemed very anxious to convey our
party over the Simplou 10 Lake Mag
giorc. We saw bis establishment.
heard his offer Of POO francs for the
lob. declined IL and returned TO the
!. hotel where. half am hour after he
eouqht us and stated that he Ind re-
ceivcd a dispatch from Italy ordering
a carriage 10 90 there ana take par
{ tv over the Pals. and consequently
he would take MS for 100 francs. His
over ANXIETY TO secure rs tLe low
nrice-below the dilieence rates-that
he named the fact that we should
have 10 travel tbrouob very darl, lone.
u nloces enond one whole nioht IN
he corr;ooe and finally his 5r-bj9.
) dino looks induced rs 10 decline the
otherwise temntino offer No had
pot 90 vat Travelled bv dligonco and
r.ere rather desirons Of bavinc an ox.
nor;nnce in one Of those formidable
, LOOKING noisy vet rather attractive
annearino vehicles. and SO We booked
ourselves for tbe next start 1l3C
/ p NJ The diligences are owned and
,,o,oood Inv covorpment and thev ore