Morning journal and courier., 1892-12-29


once occupied by the Em
press Josephine; the chateau Voltaire and
he chateau Coppet, where Necker. the
amcus minister of Louis XVI, and
lis celebrated daughter, Madame de
stael, lived. Their tomb is in the park
As we pass Nyon we see an ancient castle
With towers of the tenth century with
walls ten feet in thickness and the chateau
PrariginE, the Swiss home of Jerome
Napoleon; at Lausanne, an old Roman
own, we see an old cathedral of the
twelfth century consecrated by Pope Greg
Dry x, a massive Gothic edifce $50 feet |
terrace approached by 100 steps from the /
market place. From the terrace q fine |
view of the lake and Savoy Alps is OBJ |
tanned. The slopes around Lausanne are |
lined with vineyards on terraces, other |
fruits being attached to the terrace walls. |
We would say that all the towns at the |
base of the Alps, both in Switzerland and
Italy are similarly studded with vines and |
trees, the grounds being highly |
cultivated. There being no fences the
plots of ground owned by each person are
divided by blue gum trees, with grape vines
festooned to the trees, the trees being
trimmed at the same time as the vines,
the vine and tree prunings being tied in
At Vevey we came to the old church of
ST. Martin, erected ia 1893, on hill
covered with lime and chestnut trees, cele
bratsd IS the burial place of the remains
of the regicides Ludlow and Broughton,
the latter Of whom read the sentence of
death to King Charles the First, of Eng
land. Clavens, which we next visit, Is
beautiful village, seat of the fine ohateau
des Cretes, favorite resort of the French
statesman Gambetta. At the suburb au
Basset is the region sheltered from the
cold north wind that persons with weak
and delicate lungs are accustomed to 60
for cure. There are twenty two splen-
did villas erected by Dubochet of Paris
here that are let furnished to invslids. A
short distance from here cable trsmway
ascends the hillside 1880 feet in seven
minutes to the terrace and gardens of the
hotel Righi-Vaudois and Villa Nestle,
where is u ane view of the upper end of lake
and mountains surrounding, with the
snow clad Mont du Middi in the center of
the view. At Clavens and Montreux Ia the
place where the grape cure for invalids
begins the latter part of September, last
ing about one MONTH
At the upper end or head of Lake Lsman
stands the old and celebrated castle of
Chillon, built on rock in the seventh
century. It Is celebrated as the prison Of
the Abbot Convey in $50 and as the prison
of Francis Downward, son of Lord of Lune,
who was confined in its dungeons for six
years, 1906, by the duke of Savoy, who
owned and occupied the castle. The only
timber and wood that I saw in the con-
struction of the buildings was in this old
castle, the beams being immense. Eugene
Sue, George Sand, Victor Hugo and Lord
ByIon's names are inscribed on the pillars
Byron composed these beautiful lines upon
the Imprisonment of Bonivard at the castle
by the duke:
Chillon! thy prison is a holy place,
And thy sad floor an alt.r-for twas trod,
Until his very steps have left a trace,
Worn, as if the cold pavement were SOD,
| By Bonivard may none those marks efface,
/ For they appeal from tyranny to God.
The castle is now used as an arsenal and
prison, it's dungeons being dark and
gloomy. 1t is surrounded by moat now
dry and bridge.
Leaving the lske We now enter the Rhone
valley. passing through gorge the slopes
clothed with grape-vines to the town of
Aigle, with fine large chateau and q Ro-
man tower called the Plantour, sixty feet
high, with fine view and fine grounds.
St. Maurice, the next town we stop at, il
an old town named after the commander
of the Thebian Lsgion. The fine old alb
| hey was founded by st. Theodore in the
Augustinian monks. The abbey has many
| fine works of art, paintings and relics.
| After passing through Varvazay, the next
station, we come to the Gorge du TRENT,
| the rocks of the gorge being 400 feet high,
| which may be assembled by a wooden gal
| lery ene-half mile long, attached to the
rocks above. The rocks resemble vaulted
cavern somewhat. At the end of the gal
ery is waterfall thirty feet high. The
gorge is seven miles long. We next
| stopped at Martigny-Ville, the old Roman
| town of Octadurus, with ruins of Roman
| occupation, where We stopped until next
morning: 1t ia the market place for the
surrounding towns. The market place,
Place de la Palud, is planted with trees
and adorned with a fine bronze statue of
liberty. The district is celebrated for its
fine wines.
1t was here that we took the route to 60
over the St. Bernard pass in a private car
rage to Navarro, passing through St.
Pierre. The town has fine old church of
the eleventh century, and very fine botan-
ical gardens; celebrated as the place for
which Napoleon with 80, 600 men STATED to
cross the Alps for Italy, May, 1900, build
ing and grading the road as he went along.
The road is hewn in the rock and traverses
the forests of St. Pierre. There is very
hne mountain scenery along the route,
passing several stone chatlets, chapels and
shrines with Madonna and cruciix for
prayers, and large Alpine dali lies. The
nospice Of St. Bernard is situated on the
Grand Combe, or rock on top of the
mountain, on the pass and consists of two
large buildings. One of these is the
church and dwelling Of the monks and the
better class of travellers; the other, lodg-
tngs for the poor wayfarers. Strangers
are cordially welcomed by one of the
brethren, and if meals are wished they are
furnished gratis.
The diligence, which crosses the route
regularly, and all carriages stop at the
hospice for travellers to get meals, if
wished, and to inspect the monastery and
zee the big dogs. We stopped at the hos
pice and partook of refreshments. While
[ was in the dining room the father called
the Oldest of the dogs up to me, saying that
ae was eighteen years old. patted him,
ne being a large, fine fellow, noted for hav-
ing saved large number of lives. He was
great deal larger than tho big dog owned
py one of the fathers of the Sacred Heart
church, New Haven, tRev. Father McKeon,
his dog weighing 40 pounds.
The monastery was founded in 962 by
o6IuhIo uo m0ubAOus 400 pI0acub
church dates from 1880 and contains fine
altar The walls of the dining room are
hung with pictures, and the library on the
upper floor contains Q collection of ancient
coins and tablets found In the envirous;
also statuettes, etc, and . natural history
collection. In chapel to the left Of the
entrance to the church there is monu-
msnt erected to the memory of General
De-aix, q fsvorite general Of Napoleon,
who was killed ct the battle Of Narengo in
1900.
The inmates. of the hospice consist of
fifteen Augustinisn monks and seven at
tendants, whose office is to furnish lodg-
ings to strangers and assistance to travel
ers gratituously, aided by the famous st.
Bernard dogs, whose keen sense Of smell
enables them to track and discover travel
err buried In the snow, which here lasts
about nine months of the year. The
brotherhood consists Of ferty members,