The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-11-28

Two or thIee uuuei siouhu Iooms
must be passed through before reaching
the main dungeon. In one Of these is a
blackened beam on which prisoners
were sometimes executed another has
narrow. obscure stairway which COM
municates with the council chamber
above, aud in third is a huge fat rock
on which the condemned We're said to
pass their last night. Going through a
low double doorway, with the remnant
Of a great iron door yet hanging by its
rusty hinges, we come into large, dim
ly-lighted dungeon where,
''There are seven pillars Of gothic IS a."
"And in each pillar there is a ring,
Aud in each ring there is a chain"
The column to which Bonivard is said
to have been chained yet has massive,
rusted, iron ring fastened to it. The
deep, circular paths, worn in the rocks
around each of these pillars, tell Of the
years Of anguish which have rolled
over the unhappy prisoners who have
been here confined. The surroundings
are literally as Byron gives them, and
we can almost see the wild-eyed pris-
oner tugging to break his chain that he
may reach the body of his dying brother.
Among the hundreds Of names in
scri0ed on the pillars, we find Byron,
Sue, George Sand and Victor Hugo.
With an involuntary shudder we leave
the dungeons which are so suggestive Of
suiferings and death, and go through the
apartments above. In the center Of one
is a great wooden pillar to which the
victims were fastened and tortured, and
marks Of the fire are in it yet. Not far
from here is a deep, dark well or pit
opening into the waters ofthe lake, down
which the executed were thrown, and
where the condemned were frequently
cast alive. The whole place seemed
reeking with murder, and we were glad
70 get out Of it where we could look over
the battlements into the deep water
beneath.
Looking out over the lake, we see the
little island with the three trees which
Byron mentioned.
"And then there was a little isle,
Which in my very face did smile,
The only one in view"
The castle Of Chillon in itself con-
sidered is worthy but little attention,
and were it not that it has been immor-
talized by the genius of Byron, il would
be comparatively unknown to English
speaking people. 1t is a mistake 10
think that Byron's "Prisoner" is the
Bonivard who was 50 long imprisoned
here by the Duke Of Savoy, and yet we
can but say;
"Chnlon thy prison is holy place,
And thy sad floor an aliar-for twas ;rod
Until his very steps had len trace
Worn, as II thy cold pavement were a sod.
By Bonivord May none those marks enace ?
For they appeal from tyranny 10 God"
II in this connection the reader will
turn to the third canto of "Chiide Har-
olFs Pilgrimage" he will find abundant
description Of all this Lake Geneva re-
gion.
/ Going by train up the Rhoue Valley,
we soon came to the Gorge Of the Trient,
where this stream cuts through the base
t Of a mountain range and makes its way
into the Rhone. In some places the
chasm is more than four hundred feet
high, and the perpendicular sides almost
meet at the top. A broad footpath has
been made up it, which, suspended from
the rock, crosses from side to side,
giving many fine views. Europe has
but one finer gorge. Martigny, at the
angle OF the Rhone. is the intersection
of three great mountain passes, the
Simplon to Lago Maggiore in Italy, the
Great st. Bernard to Turin, and the
Tete-Noire to the valley Of Chamouny
at the very foot Of Mt. Blanc.
Leaving Martigny by carriage early
in the morning, we zigzag up the side
Of the mountain for two or three hours
until the valley of the Rhone for ions
distance lies below us, and what seemed
mountains TO us when we started, be
came little hills far below us. Much o
the way the road is along the side Of th'
mountain, swept by avalanches in early
spring, but these are very rare In sum
mer, although at long intervals a trav
eler loses his life by one. We go ul
and up until the summit, six thousan'
six hundred feet above the sea level, J.
reached. From this point the deseen
into the valley on the opposite side
very steep and sudden. Then ride o
three or four hours down the winding
dashing stream, at the foot Of gram
snow-capped mountains, and nearly al
the time in sight of glaciers, brings u
/ to the beautiful green valley Of Cham
ouny, right at the base of Mt. Blanc
: amid the grandest scenery which th
, Alps and all Europe can furnish.
After a good nights rest we are u
early and ready for the ascent Of th
, Nontauvert, a spur from which ther
, is a fine view Of the Mer de Glace an
, the glaciers from it. We climb siowl
up by a winding path cut in the side
= the mountain, and after hard walk q
e two hours are at the little restaurant
= the summit, six thousand three hundre
2 feet above the level of the sea. IN
3 ascent Of this mountain is made solel
{ for the fine view it affords Of the IN
{ mense sea Of ice which fills all the bigi
s er gorges Of the Alps, and particular
!. the Mt. Blanc range. If the reader ca
!, imagine a section Of a vast river froi