Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-11-28
EUROPEAN LETTER.
Mt. BLANC
F,om our own Correspondent.

MT. BLANC
F,om our own Correspondent.
Lake Lanan woos me with its crystal face'
sang Byron, in the wanderings of
Childe Harold and it has charmed
and fascinated every ole who has
seen it from great Caesar to the trav-
eler of the present time. Any one
who has gone by rail from Frieburg
can never forget the first sight OF
Lake GENEVA, as coming through a
tunnel the train turns suddenly to the
right and the whole magnificent pan
Drama ofthe broad expanse of water
with its surrounding mountains bursts
suddenlyand unexpectedly upon him.
Taking the morning boat from Lau-
sane up The lake in an hour we are
landed al station, mile from the
castle q Chillon, whose white walls,
rising apparently from the very water,
had beer IN sight for some time. A
pleasant walk along we'll made car
riage way at the foot of the vine clad
hills bings US to the bridge which
crossed the moat. Over the entrance
TO the castle we see engraved in Ger
man, the strange motto for prison,
"May God bless all who come in and
go out" AS soon as we are within
the walls we seek the dungeons which
have been clothed with such melan
choly Interest by Byron's poem, aThe
Prisoner OF Chillon.n
Two or three underground rooms
must be passed through before reach
ing The main dungeon. In one of
these Is blackened beam on which
| prisoners were sometimes executed (;
another has narrow, obscure stair
way which communicates with the
council chamber above, and in third
is huge fiat rock on which the con
demned were said to pass their last
night. Going through low double
doorway, with the remnant of great
iron door yet hanging by its rusty
hinges, we come into large, dimly
lighted dungeon where,
There are seven pillars OF Gothic mold"
And in each pillar there is ring.
And in each ring there is chann
The column to which Bonivard is said
to have been chained yet has a mas
sive, rusted, iron ring fastened to it..
The deep circular paths worn in the
rocks around each of these pillars
tells of the years of anguish which
have rolled over the unhappy prison
ers who have been here confined. The
surroundings are literally as Byron
gives them, and we can almost see
the wild-eyed prisoner tugglng to
break his chain that he may reach
the body ofhis dead brother. Among
the hundreds of names inscribed on
the pillars we find Byron, Sue, Geo.
Sand and Victor Hugo. With an in.
voluntary shudder we leave the dun
geons which are SO suggestive of suf.
fering and death and go through the
apartments above. In the center of
one is a great wooden pillar to which
| .la--- siSsisSEa ssse~o eaetonad- and tor.
tured, and marks of the fire are in il
yet. Not far from here is a deep
dark well or pit opening into the wa
tiers of the lake down which the exc
cuted were thrown, and where the
condemned were frequently cast alive
The whole place seemed reeking with
murder and we were glad to get out
of it where we could look over the
battlements into the deep water be.
meath. Looking out upon the lake we
see the little island with the three
trees which Byron mentioned.
"And then there was little isle,
Which in my very face did smile,
The only one in view
| The castle of Chiffon in itself con,
sidered is worthy but little attention
and We're it not that it has been i'm
mortalized by the genius OF Byron, il
would be comparatively unknown te
English speaking people. II is a mis-
take to think that Byron's ''Prisoner'
| is the Bonivard who was so long i'm
| prisoned here by the Duke Of Savoy
and yet we can but say:
"Chilon thy prison is holy place,
And thy sad floor an altar-for twas trod
Uutil his very steps have left trace
Worn, as if thy cold pavement were sod
BY Bonivardl May none those marks efface
For they appeal from tyranny to God
| II in this connection the reade
will turn to the third canto of "Child
| Harolds Pilgrimage" he will fine
abundant description of all this LAX
Geneva region.
Going by train up the Rhone Val
ley we soon come to the George o
the TRENT, where this stream cut
through the base of mountain rang
and makes its way into the Rbone.-
In some places the chasm is NOR
than 400 feet high and the perpendic
ular sides almost meet at the top. I
board footpath has been made up
which, suspended from the rock
crosses from side to side, givin.
many fine views. Europe has but on
finer gorge. Martigny, at the angle 0
the Rhone, is the intersection of thre
great mountain passes, the Simplon f
Lago .Maggiore in Italy, the Great ST
Bernard to Turin, and the Tete- Noir
, to the valley of Chamouny at the yer,
foot OF Mt. Blanc.
Leaving Martigny by carriage earl
in the morning we zig gag up the sid
of the mountain for two or tire
, hours, until the valley of the Rhon
, for long distance lies below US, an
: what seemed mountains to us whe
we started, became little hills far be
low US. Much of the way the road j
.. along the side Of the mountain swep
by avalanches in early spring, bu
, these are very rare in summer, a
}, though at long intervals travele
loses his life by one. We go up an
8 up until the summit, 6,600 feet abov
sea level, is reached. From this poir
, the descent into the valley on the OF
|. posite side is very steep and sudder
!. Then a ride of three or four hour
!. down winding, dashing stream, 6
the foot of grand snow capped mour
/ tains, and nearly all the time in sigt
!. of glaciers, brings Us to the beautif'
green valley OF Chsnouny right {