The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-09-13
For The Democratic Adroeatc.
A Trip from Munich to the Tyroiese
Mountains, Austria.
SylrELD, TYRol., August oh, 1871

Thursday half past 0, A. NJ. until now, j have
been footing it at pretty lively rate, and am
now breathing Tyrolese mountain air. at
height of Z, 1923 feet above the sea level The
first day walk brought me to Walchen See,
lake completely shut in by mountains that
tower to immense heights on every side--not
wood-coyered mountains only, like the Blue
Ridge, but high above these, rocky giants
whose sides are Of bare, almost perpendicular,
rock, in the clefts of which occasional masses
of snow still laugh at the August sun. The
view on this deep green lake, with its tremen-
dous background, is glorious, and it changes
with every hour of the day | saw it first at
sunset, when the water and the lower hills
were in deep solemn shade, and above them
the highlands were aglow with the warm light
of the setting sun. II happened to be the
time Of the full moon, A few hours later the
waters were sparkling like silver in their
frame of dusky pine woods, and the pale jag.
ged peaks rose up like ghosts into the cloud.
less moon-lit sky But the deep unbroken
quiet of the scene at this time, and the sense
of solitude with which il impresses one, is al
most overpowering. Walchen See is in pac-
es at least $50 feet deep. II was stocked with
fish by the Abbotts of neighboring monas-
teries about the time the first Spaniards came
to America. ate some of the descendants
Of those ancient fish besides, took three
most delightful battles in its clear bottomess
water, Another interesting fact about Wal.
chen See is that ON the day and hour ut which
Lisbon, in Portugal, was destroyed by nm
earthquake, about three centuries ago, the
waters of this lake arose with fury, as if they
wanted to break from the Imprisonment of
the eternal walls around them, and destroyed
everything on their surface. So say docu-
ments in the Old Monasteries
was tired after my days march, but
could not sleep, 80 | rose at a quarter past
two in the morning, to see an Alpine sun
rise. Right up from the shores of this lake
there rises a mountain, one of the peaks of
which suns itself at height of 5,40S Partisan
feet. This is a fine spot to see the sun rise
from, besides it is easy Of access, for some
Duke has made road to the top of it, lit is
called Herzogstdnd," Ducal Stand, after
him. and built little pavilion on the highest
summit. At quarter Of o, A. NJ, | started
on my lonely night excursion, with the pros
pect Of twO-and.a-half hours steady climb
before me. II was u little "uncannyn | can
tell you-that way through the dark silent
pine woods-fOr the moon was sinking fast
and its rays scarcely penetrated the thicket.
Up, up, | went, with scarcely pause-it is
astonishing how much one can do in this
bracing mountain air. Occasionally | heard
far above me, party of three who had started
half an hour before me, (by a judicious "cut-
of" at n big zg-zag got ahead of them with
out knowing it, and still as looked upward
those terrible cliffs doomed up, high high,
above me still, in the now brightning sky, APP
parently unapproachable, but ] climbed like
a mountaineer, and just US ] approached the
summit, all at once the snow on the "Zug.
Spitz'' began to glow, peak after peak seem.
ed to take fire, and ! saw the sun rise from
"Herzogstand." found some hunters and
one Swiss there before me and it was
good somebody was there, for should have
shouted with ecstacy.
As to that scene, the view from this eleva-
ted point, of course can give you no idea of
it, so won't try. | will simply say, on one
side was the great Bavarian elevated tableau,
with its lakes, rivers and cities, spread like a
map before us, Munich, Augsburg, and even
Ulm, with innumerable villages are in sight
on the other side is one maze, a wilderness of
Alps, one range above another, and few of
the mightcst covered with everlasting snow
toppingthe all. We spread our maps in the
lee of the Pavilion, you can imagine there was
cold wind blowing, and began to identify
the numerous points of interest that were in
sight. In the light of the setting sun these
mountains become wonderfully beautiful.
| saw the great ''Zug Spitz' the other even
ing from near Mittenwald, and | could not
take my eyes from it until the last ray of the
sun had left it. 1t was fairly aglow, and look.
semi.transparent, like n red hot piece ofmetal
Of course you have heard Of Mittenwald
II is there that so many iiddles, guitars, and
zithers are made, over one hundred families
are kept employed in their manufacture; one
can see violins in all stages of growth, by
passing along the street and casting an occa.
sional look into the funny, vaulted rooms of
the quaint houses, these are real mountain
houses, their far-projecting roofs loaded down
with beams and stones; and their walls, out
side, covered with paintings, all from Bible
history. Almost perpendicular, right above
the roofs Of Mittenwald, rises the bare, rocky
face Of the "Karwendel'' to the hight Of /
] don't known how many thousand feet.
| august f2fh.--I am writing now, deep in
the heart of Tyrol, almost at the head of the
famous '0etz Thai, with glaciers high above
me on either side and others ahead of me.
Just imagine, on the 10th Of August awoke
and found the hills around me covered with
fresh fallen snow So suddenly had the tenn.
perature fallen from 23o of Reaumeur. And
oh the glorious scenery that my eyes have
been filled with for the past few days. came
into the valley of the lnn few miles west of
| Innsbruck and had my first view of the splen-
| did ObeI'inRsthdt from mountain that over.
looks it almost from Innsbruck to Inst
mustn't waste paper trying TO describe the
| sight, or my enthusiasm. Yesterday walk
ed almost the entire length of the Oetz Thai,
and anything wilder or grander than the see
merry Of this valley, cannot imagine. Avid
mountain torrent tears its way through bed
filled with boulders; it is almost continuous
fall and the roaring of the water is incessant
and tremendous. In some places the stream
seems to have torn side of mountain away,
sometimes the road overhsngs the stream and
frequently a cliff almost vertical, rises thous
ands of feet above ones head, so that a passer
by instinctiyely hurries on to be out of reach OF
the rocks above, that seem as if they must
thunder down upon one. All along the road.
side, at fearfully short intervals are little me-
mentoes like tombstones, with inscriptions,
telling of some ones sudden and terrible death
at that spot, and with rude paintings, illustra
ting the sad occurrence; sometimes noun
taineer was struck by falling rock, or by a
tree, or by lightning, or carried away by the
torrent, but most frequently the little tablets
tell of the unfortunate's death by falling over
u precipice, or being overwhelmed by an nv.
alanche, generally doggerel rhyme isadded,
much in the style of the little poetic gems in
the ''death column" Of the Baltimore Sun
sometimes they are worse, very frequently
they make an irreverent person like myself
laugh, when for instance, the inscription tells
one that ''the respectable peasant, so and so,
while looking for calves at this place, found
his death, etc. the inscription always ends
with good advice to the passers by, and a
prayer, an Our Father and an Ave Maria for
the soul OF the departed one, And the paint.
ings themselves are so queer, all equally bad,
and looking as il all done by the same hand.
The doomed man, represented at the fatal
moment, always has black cross on his
head, and an Angel ut his side to take his soul
in charge. Then there are numberless little
shrines and chapels by the roadside, some
with lamps burning in them at night, and al.
ways painted with the brightest colors and in
the worst imaginable taste.
These Tyrolese are strong and handsome,
and of bold spirit, judging from their acqui-
line strongly unmarked noses and black eyes
no wonder that they are religious and even
superstitious, for here, surrounded by so much
grandeur, and always in the presence Of, aud
subject to, the most tremendous phenomena
and powers ofnaturc, man comes to realize
what a mere atom he is, and learns to trust in
something higher than his own wisdom and