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

and through, over, or by them, wind
ing along the edges Of fearful preci-
pieces, penetrating spurs of the living
granite, crossing noisy torrents and
burrowing through dripping grottoes,
the great road itself, like an interim
nable serpent, is seen coiled around
the mountains in huge folds. The
portion of the road between the fifth
refuge and the summit is the most
dangerous of all at the season when
ayalanches fall and toUmcntes arise.
1owmeHies consist of furious and
tempestuous winds, somewhat like a
whirlwind, which occur on exposed
promontories, summit ridges and ele-
waited gorges of the Alps, either ac-
companied by snow or filling the air
with that already fallen, while the
flakes are still dry, tossing them about
like dust In an instant the atmos-
phere is filed with snow; earth, sky,
mountain, abyss, and every landmark
are obiterated from view All traces
Of paths or footsteps of preceding trav-
elers are at once eifaccd, and the poles
planted to mark the road are frequent
ly overturned or covered up. In some
places the gusts sweep the rocks bare
of snow, heaping it up on others, per
haps across the road, to q height of
twenty feet or more, barring all pas
sage and driving the wayfarer to de-
spair. Large parties of men and an
imals have been overwhelmed by these
snow wreaths which have been known
to pile up the snow to height of fifty
feet These tempests are accompa-
MED almost every year with loss Of
life.
This fifth refuge is provided with
three galleries two refugees and a hos
pice, all within distance of about a
mile and a half
The gorge of Schalbert, a wild recess
in the TANKS of the Mont Leone, is
nearly filed with glaciers, beneath
which, along the edge of yawning
abyss, the road is conducted. These
everlasting seas or fields of ice, form
ing the Kaltwasser glacier, during the
summer supply five or six furious
streams, the sources Of the Saline,
and in winter discharge frequent
ayalanches below. TO protect this
portion of the road the galleries,
called g'acier galierjes partly built OF
masonry, strongly arched, have been
constructed. The ingenious engineer
makes them serve as bridges and aque-
ducts at the same time, the torrents
being conducted over and beneath
them
A simple cross Of wood marks the
summit or eliminating point of the
road, few steps from the sixth refuge
which is $3.50 feet above the level Of
the sea- Half mile beyond is the
Nc,r Hospice founded by Napoleon
for the reception of travellers. 1t is a
plain, solid building containing sew
eral comfortable bedrooms, draw
ing-room provided with piano, a re-
fectory, a chapel and about thirty beds
for travellers of the common sort 1t
is occupied by several brothers of the
Augustine order, members of the same
community as those on the Great St
Bernard. Several of the celebrated
dogs of ST Bernard are kept there, bu
they are rarely employed of late years
Although have reached the sum
nit Of the road" do not imagine that it
is the top of the mountain range, for
above me rose bare peaks thousands
| of feet, and all around was dreary,
desolate waste of rock and snow and
ice, with here and there a thin cover
ing of sickly-green sedge grass.
/ was greatly disappointed in the
view towards Italy. The descent for
long distance is gradual and affords
no special point of attraction until the
Gallery d Algaby is reached. the first
excavation on the Italian side, emerg-
ing from which the road by more
gradual slope enters the famous Gorge
of the Condo, the grandest, widest,
and most fearful looking of all had
seen, and said to be, of all the Alps.
The road for a mile or two is almost
entirely cut out Of or through solid
rock; the gorge narrows and deepens
at every step until there is barely
room for the road mid the raging,
seemingly maddened torrent to
squeeze through. Black, vertical
precipicos rise on either side thou
sands of feet with scarcely vestige of
vegetation until the eye reaches the
top, which is fringed by trees and
shrubbery, almost shutting out the
lipbt of day. The roar of the water