Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-08-18
A LETTER FROM SWITZERLAND.
The Fourteen Hours Stage jour
ney Via the Simpl0n Pass.
-SwiSS Mountain Scenes.
View OF Mont Blanc. -Tete Noir. the
Brevent and the Montanvert.
The Magnificent Iungfrau.
Lake leman.Etc.
ALL DESCRIBED BY AN APPRECIATINE
TOURIST FOR THE INFORMATION
OF OUR READERS.

ALL DESCRIBED BY AN APPRECIATISE
TOURIST FOR THE INFORMATION
OF OUR READERS.
1NTERLAKEN, Switzerland, July
31st, 1SS2.-Since last writing you
we have left Italy, the land of blue
skies and warm weather. and have
come to the land OF grand noun
tain scenery and changeable wealth
CT. 1t is not quite two weeks since
at six o'clock in the morning we
left Stresa en- route for Brieg via the
Simplon Pass over the Alps. Hot
and close hardly express the state
of the weather which we experienced
for the first six hours. In the coupe
of the diligence it was sitting, and
on the banquette on top it was even
worse. We We're between the
mountains which lowered above US,
and there seemed no chance for a
breath of cooler air. We jingled on,
however, changing horses and driv-
ers every few hours, the country
gradually changing its Italian APP
pearance and becoming more rugged
and mountainous. Past Domo
dOssola, an Italian mountain town,
where we got our midday meal, the
changes became more frequent, and
soon we were winding up narr ow
valley, a torrent of water rushing
down hundreds Of feet below us and
the precipitous mountain sides al
most overhanging the road. Daz-
zling now-covered mountain peaks
were in sight, and we had soon en-
tered the magnificent Ravine of
Condo. Higher and higher the
diligence crept, the sensations we
experienced as the horses strayed
nearer and nearer the edge OF the
road becoming more profound.
Shout as loud as we could, we could
not keep the driver awake. The
extreme heat and the copious liba-
tons of sour wine proving too much
for him, until the roar and the spray
of the Alpjenbach brought him to
his senses. The water came tumb-
ling down from dizzy height, a
cloud of spray. \ slender bridge
crossed it in front and on each side
the rocks lowered to the height of
two thousand feet. The tunnel ut
the end of the bridge bears all III
scription to Napoleon |, was barri-
caded by the Swiss in 1880.
We began to realize that we were
crossing the Alps as we passed refuge
after refuge and wound in and out,
seeming never to get any nearer the
snowy peaks shining now in front
and now at every side of Us. The air
grew cooler and was even cold as we
passed some rushing icy torrent.
The vegetation changed entirely, and
at length we found that we had left
even the pine trees behind, but still
retained Il bewildering variety OF
Alpine flowers.
At the village of Simplon, at the
base of the Fletchhorn, over two
miles high, we dined most sumptu-
ously considering the surroundings.
| think we had six courses, each
served in good style and all for the
modest sum of four francs. At six
in the evening we reached the Sim
plon Pass and the Hospice. We
had thought that we should be in
the eternal SHOWS but every hillock
was rosy with the Alpine roses, a
species of rhododendron, and the
field in front of the Hospice was gay
with wild flowers. We there had
our introduction to the st. Bernard
dogs From the summit of the
the pass to Brieg the descent was
made at great speed. With one
man to work the brake and another
to drive, we spun around corners.
through galleries under Alpine tor
rents, on the verge of giddy
precipices, until what with gasping
for breath and trying to keep our
hair from turning grey, we were al
most exhausted before we reached
the shining lights of Brigne, and
were jingling our sinking frames
over its stony streets fourteen hours
after our morning start.
How delicious the Swiss rolls and
and honey seemed, and how deli
cious the Swiss beds words cannot
express. But we were up betimes
in the morning and at seven o'clock
had taken the train for Martigny, a
three hours ride through the valley
of the Rhone. Swiss railway car
riages resemble those in the United
States, one enters the end, instead of
the side. At Martigny we engaged
a little mountain carriage to carry
us and our luggage to Chamonny,
over the Tete Noir Pass. We made
party of five with the driver and
jingled merrily out of AIartigny at
eleven O'Clock in the morning. We
began to ascend almost Immediately
but had a very different road from
the magnificent one over the Sim
plon. In places it seemed hardly
large enough to pass, and when by
chance we met another vehicle COM
ing from an opposite direction, the
planning to get by the other and the
execution were worthy of Napo-
leon. We"passed numerour Amer
leans, French, Englishmen and wo-
men, some driving, some walking
and many riding mules. The views
of the Rhone valley as we drew near
the Col de Ia Forclaz were superb
and the cool breezes were most re-
freshing. From there the road in
creased in badness, if | may so eX-
press myself, being as rough, unpro-
tected and dangerous as one could
imagine. The scenery, however,
was magnificent, the Glacier de
TRENT seeming a veritable sea of ice.
At the Tete Noir Hotel, perched on
the side ofthe mountain we changed
horses, carriage and driver, and as
soon as possible were banging along
at frightful rate, twisting around
corners where the road was cut
out of the side of the mountain,
and tiny villages seemed like collec-
tions Of doll houses in the valley
below. We could not escape, how
ever. the rain which had so long
been threatening. At the first few
drops we stopped and made our