St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-10-03

pie, Cne caplIal OF C16 canton of the
Grisons, and in the heart almost of the
eastern Swiss Alps. Along the river so
far, we are surprised at the fertility of
the soil and the variety of it's produc-
tions. Here the wheat has been cut,
the barley and oats are ripening, large
fields of Indian corn show promise of a
good crop, and pears, plums, and ap-
pies are as abundant as we have seen
them in any part of Europe. This Girl
son Canton, by the way, is in several
respects one of the wonders of the
world, being remarkable for its scenery,
climate, productions, and language.
There are within it $50 narrow valleys,
a network of encircling mountains, and
many snow clad peaks. 1t extends from
near the entrance to the Alps on the
north to within few miles OF the Lakes
of Northern Italy. In the north, Ger
man is spoken, in the southern valleys,
Italian; in the Eugadine and neighbor-
hood on the east Ladin, the nearest
living tongue to the old Latin or Uni
brian and in the west the Romance,
the offspring of the more classical Latin,
probably as generally spoken in Italy
in the tenth to twelfth centuries. This
is the RhaetiG of the Romans, and here
are found descendants of that people
who are coeval with the Iberians of
Spain, the purest Celts of Ireland, or
the Cymrics of Wales.
From COire we can pursue several
routes eastward, to the Eugadine and
the Austrian Tyrol, westward up the
VOrder Rhine to Andermatt on the St.
Gotthard route, or up the Hinter, OF
main Rhine to Splugen, and thence by
either the Splugen proper, or the Bern
hardino routes into Italy. For several
reasons, not needful to mention-one of
which, however, is that it enables us to
see the most of this GrisOn people that
by any one route we can-we chose the
last.
Our first stage by diligence 1--WE were
fortunate in securing the banquette, the
best seats for views,) is to Splugen near
the summit of the range we cross.
Every step is interesting, every turn
brings us to a new height, or precipice,
or plunging torrent, or leaping cascade.
But the grandeur of this drive culmi-
mates, perhaps, in the Via Mala, or Bad
Way, gorge of four or five miles long,
where the rocks rise on either side per-
pendicularly 1900 feet above the road,
and the Rhine tumbles tumultuously
from 200 to 500 feet below. We then
emerge into an open valley, pass small
villages, ruined castles, and see pastures
green to the mountain top and dotted
with chalets,-mountain huts where the
herdsmen shelter the COWS and make
butter and cheese. There are in sum-
mer ,000,00O cows, many sheep and
some goats on the high Alpine pastures.
There are required three men for the
care of each herd of about forty cows.
In this month of August they are in the
highest pastures, from 5000 to 1000 feet
above the sea, but soon will descend
gradually as they went up. While the
men are thus busy on the mountains,
the women do no inconsiderable part of
the work in the fields at home. We
often saw them driving a single OK or
COW team on the road, or on their knees
digging potatoes, or carrying huge bun
dies of hay or grain, and in several in
stances they were moving.
A little farther on we come to an
other wild gorge two and a-half miles
long, then through higher and mar
rover valley to Splugen, near the head
of the pass of the same name. Thence
we follow the Rhine upwards six miles,
as far towards its source as any carriage
road is made, then turn almost abruptly
to the left, and by series of twenty
five zigzag terraees-nineteen of which
are one above another on the same side
of the mountain so that with the Rhine
always beneath us it seems at the top
as if one might leap by single bound
to the stream below gain the summit
of the pass 6768 feet above the sea.
While on this ascent a heavy thunder
shower came on us, and, though for an
hour or two it obscured the view, vet
on the whole the effect was more grand
and enjoyable than the mere mountain
scenery alone. For, as the rain ceased,
the clouds parted, and gave us sight of
the snowy peaks on the right and left,
and, as we descended on the southern
side, the sky which all the morning had
been bright, became again quite clear.
The first open valley on this side is
where st. Bernard of Siena preached.
From him the pass is named. From
here we follow the general course of the
river Mossa which flows into the Ticino
just above Bellinzona. Sometimes we
are high up on the mountain, sometimes
zigzaging downwards, or driving on a
level. But, instead of mere pastures
and chalets, we soon come to orchards,
chestnut trees, vineyards and villages.
Everything on this southern slope is
Enthusiastically Italian, and the numerous
way-side shrines to the Virgin, on which
are generally Madonna pictures, pro-
claim that the Protestant religion is not
dominant. ta. r...
The next day we rest at Bellinzona,