The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-11-03
ALPINE GLACIERS.

H'N "~"utoV mlts iutO Tue sea, w nen L /
was at the Rhone Glacier twenty years
ago, we could reach il only on foot or on |
mules, and the bridIe-path brought US to
the bottom Of the glacier, where we stood
and looked up and away to the towers
heights, where its turrets and distant
glistened in the sun, reminding me Of the
lines;
"The City Of my God L see
Above the armament aiaF;
It's every dome a MONDAY sun,
And every pinnacle a star"
But now, by the new road the most
formidable piece Of engineering III the
country, we come in carriage tothe same
level with these icy palaces, aud look into
their portals, aud go round about their
bulwarks, and survey without danger or
fatigue this marvellous spectacle. With
the sun blazing upon it, and on the un-
counted peaks Of mountains rising around
it, the sight easily surpasses in beauty and
sublimity any other scene in Switzerland.
We left Lucerne at s A. NJ, on one Of
the lake steamers. The Rigi was without
a cap, and Pilatus had on caps enough for
both. 1t was long supposed that poor
Pontius Plate came to a sad end on this
mountain, and that his troubled spirit still
haunts it with tempest and lightnings.
The story is not now SO generally believed,
but the storms and vapors continue just the
same. And the Lake Of the -Four Cantons
is as lovely and grand and classical as it
ever was, despite those mousing critics
who would prove that William Tell is a
myth. The mountains about this lake
rise so suddenly from its waters, the pas
sage from one bay to another are so forti-
fed by nature, that every mile Of the lake
is intensely interesting It's very easy TO
believe that the three Swiss patriots met,
in the dead of night, on that sloping ledge
to concert measures for the delverance Of
their country. And their full length por-
traits on the wharf at Brunnen show what
sort of heroes they were. Tells chapel
tells where he leaped from the boat and
escaped from his tyrant Gessler, and forty
natives went ashore as we touched, to
make pilgrimage to the shrine.
When we reached Fluellen, we took a
carriage for three days journey, and at
IL o'clock we're on our way to the hill
country. Altorf was reached in few
minutes, where William Tell shot the ap-
pie on his boys head. That there may
be no doubt about it, he stands in rude
monument, with cross-bow in his hand,
and a frightful picture presents the tragic
scene. The same story is traditional in
other countries, and ii is much better to
believe in two or even three Tells thaa in
mono at all.
At Amstey, ten miles farther up, We
endured miserable dinner; we were pro.
missed chicken, but it was more like a
crow that had died Of famine. Now we
began in earnest the ascent of the St.
Gothard pass that leads over the Alps into
Italy. 1t is splendid road; by the river
Reuse, that comes roaring and tumbling
from the mysterious heights and depths Of
these glaciers and fields Of perpetual snow
As We ascend, We find the beginnings Of
the railroad that is to scale these formida.
bic walls, pierce tho heart Of rock, and
como out on the italian side. A whole
| village has suddenly sprung up Of Italian
laborers and their families, at work in the
tunnel Not bit like the Swiss were
these black-eyed, viyaciOus, rollicking son,
Ofthesunny side of the Alps. They car
work but two on three hours at time il
the tunnel, so foul is the air in spite o.
the pumps; then fresh relays Of men take
their places; and 50 the w,tk goes on, /,
be completed in three wears, nine mile,
through, The eutcrprise and boldpsss !,
such an undertaking bns no parallel Il an,
railroad ventures in thc coun,rv fror
which we have come.
AS We came to The narrow .orse vb;,,
il known os tha p,;es.,s TN e.om q,
fable that ! nr;oas onoa ls.nad s ',, .oro.. !,
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