Daily Kennebec journal., 1880-03-30
NO. IT.
My Trip to Europe.


what We saw:
In natures pristine majesty outsprcad.
Winds neither road nor path fer foot TO trcad,
FIR oer the water, hung with groves Of beech;
Aerial pines from loftier sleeps ascend.
Nor stop but where crca,ion seems TO end.
81 here and there, II mid the savage sceue
Appears scanty spot of smiling green,
Iptrom the lake afissag path viii creep
To ss%. Sss s ON The
HE fasc OF travellers passing to and no."
THr Dsvus BsipeE.
Some ten miles south Of Altorf we crossed
the Devils Bridge. I, spans the rushing tor
rent of a mountain stream with a prccipitous
cliff ON one hand and near by trees and shrubs
in scattered groups. II is wild and roman
tic spot. The bridge is substantial one, and
well rallied, and crosses at a safe elevation,
an old, disabled structure being seen below.
What the adversary had TO do with the bridge
was an unsolved mystery. We saw nothing
diabolical about il except the name. In one
respect we may speak well Of tit carried
us safely over, whereas bridges Of Satans
contrivance are apt to prove dangerous to
those who try them.
Snow BALLS IN JuLY.
One of our party made a short excursion
from the carriage, and brought back a veri-
table snow ball, of which all in the carriage
were ready to taste, and found it not ur-
grateful to the palate under the scorching
beams of the midday sun. II reminded
some of us of old-time school days in wintsr
but was a novel experience in summer.
CORRECTION.
I ind hat 4 th>, INN trvN
last week. that we pursued the st. Gothard
road until we reached the height Of land.
This was not so. The st. Gothard road and
pass would have led us into Italy. We fol.
lowed ii until after we passed Andcrniatt, and
diverged into the Furka pass, and Il was by
that that we reached the summit at 5000 feet
above the sea level. At this point VIC stopped
to lunch, and to refresh our horses, after
which we commenced the descent on the 9th
er side of the pass.
Az ACCIDENT.
In all our travels thus far. we had met with
no adverse occurrence to mar the pleasure
of the journey. But soon after We com.
mcnced descending from the hostclry where
we rested, VIC came upon a carriage which
had just been overturned and broken at one
of the angles Of the road, by the driver at
tempting too sharp turn. The inmates Of
or seven ladies and gentlemen from Brook.
lyn, n. Y. Fortunately no one was hurt, al
though one of the ladies fell with her head
out of the carriage window, and very near the
bank wall on the upper side of the path. We
made room for them the best way We could
in our carriages, and gladly bore with some
Inconvenience to aid them in reaching the
next hotel, which was a mile or two farther
along. Possibly the driver had "tarried too
long at the wine.'
The RHoNE GLACIER.
About mile from the summit Of the
Fnrka pass. we approached the celebrated
Rhonc glacier, on the right hand, at no
very great distance, and in full view. We
were descending by the same kind Of
zgzag course by which we ascendcd on
the other side Of the height Of land. We
made long stretches before we turned cor
ner, and our descent was necessarily very
slow and gradual. For at least half an hour
we were in sight of the glacier, and obtained
views of il in every direction, ~ our carriages
turned first this way and then the other. And
thus we could form some idea of what gla-
cier is. This was an immense mass OF ice
on the slope of q mountain. or rather between
two mountains, with its base, perhaps mile
wide, resting in the bottom Of the valley. II
fills the whole chasm between the two heights
and is said to be about 500 feet deep In the
centre, and extends many miles back. The
surface is broken, scanned and irregular, with
deep chasms. and huge projecting blocks OF
ice. II resembles somewhat the surface Of
"a river, which has broken up in mid-wintcr,
and then frozen again with large cakes Of
ice in every position. The freezing and
thawing has been going on for ages. Out Of IN
arch underneath the centre of the base. d0ws
the little stream, which pursuing its course
through Switzerland and France, and receiv-
ing numerous tributaries becomes the mighty
river Rhonc, or 700 miles long, passes Ge-
neva and Lyons, and empties into the Medit-
erranean sea near Marscilles. We crossed
this diminutive river twice within view uf
the glacier where it originates, and our road
| followed the course of its rushing, hurrying
torrent for many miles.
SWISS VILLAGES.
Our whole journey for the afternoon was a
gradual descent. The valley through which
We were travelling was more fertile and better
cultivated than those we passed through on
the two preceding days. The fields were
broader, and the surrounding heights Of less
altitude, and frequently covered with forest
trees. Our road led US through several small
villages.
! These villages are not to be taken ~ spec
linens Of those in other sections Of Switzer-
land. Here the villages are exceedingly un-
attractive. The streets are very marrow; the
| dwellings are crowded together; and MhiIst
some of them have separate barns, others
have stables in the basement story Of the
house. The houses and many Of the barns
are built Of square timbers, locked together
at the corners, the timber ends projecting
each way in unequal leDgths. The roofs are
covered with tfiicknesses Of shingles clunnsi-
l I.- md sSn1ew H.