Routes 27, 23.-Falls of the Giesbach-Pass of the Grimsel. 83 There is a very rough road along the N. shore of the lake; the guides with the horses may be sent round by it, and desired to meet the travellers close to the bridge at Interlachen. It takes 25 minutes to row from Brienz to the landing-place close to the outlet of the Giesbach, where travellers begin to ascend the steep height leading to the Falls. They are a succession of cascades, leaping step by step from the top of the mountain; and, though inferior in height to the Reichenbach, surpass it in beauty, and in the adjuncts of a rich forest of fir, through the midst of which they break their way. The Giesbach is one of the prettiest of waterfalls; there is nothing wild about it, and the immediate contact of green turfy knolls and dark woods, has the effect of a park scene. It is possible to pass behind the middle fall by means of a gallery constructed beneath the shelving rock, from which it casts itself down; and the effect of the landscape seen athwart this curtain of water is singular. The cottage opposite the Falls is inhabited by the schoolmaster of Brienz, whose family and himself are celebrated as the best choristers of native airs in Switzerland. He is now a patriarch of 64, and most of his children are married; but he is training his grand-children to the same profession of songsters. The concert, accompanied by the Alpine horn, with which travellers are saluted on their departure, is very sweet. Good specimens of the Swiss manufacture of carved wood may be purchased at the Giesbach. There is a path from the Giesbach to the top of the Faulhorn, a walk of nearly 5 hours. The lake of Brienz is about 8 miles long, near the mouth of the Giesbach, 500 feet deep; but in the deepest part 2100 feet. Its surface is 10, or according to some statements, 30 feet higher than the lake of Thun. ROUTE 28. PASS OF THE GRIMSEL, MEYRINGEN To the Hospice 6 stunden = 20 English miles. = Thence to Ober-Gestelen 94 stunden 30 English miles. Ober-Gestelen to Brieg 10 stun35 English miles. den A much frequented, but rather difficult, bridle-path. It is a good day's journey of 8 hours to reach the Hospice from Meyringen, though a stout pedestrian might push on in one day either to Ober-Gestelen, or across the Furca to Hospital. It is one of the grandest and most interesting passes across the Alps. Above Meyringen (p. 81) the vale of Hasli contracts, and in about 2 miles is crossed by a mound or hill of considerable height, called the Kirchet, which appears at one time to have dammed up the waters of the Aar. At present they force their way through a singularly narrow rent, which cleaves the eminence from top to bottom. The path, quitting for a short time the side of the river, mounts this steep in zigzags, and then descends through a forest, into the retired green valley of Upper Hasli, which is in the form of a basin, surrounded by hills, and was once probably a lake. Two valleys open out into it; on the W. that of Urbach, on the E. that of Gadmen, up which runs the path leading by the pass of the Susten (Route 32) to Wasen. On the rt. lies the village Im-Grund, and, crossing the Aar, another village, called Im-Hof, situated between it and the Gadmen river, is passed. Another ravine is succeeded by a second enlargement of the valley called ImBoden. Higher up is "the small and lonely village" of 3 Guttanen, where there is an inn; but the best place for a mid-day halt to rest the mules is the chalet of 84 Route 28.-Falls of the Aar-Hospice of the Grimsel. 1 The Handek, about 1 hour's walk beyond Guttanen. It can furnish a bed upon an emergency, and refreshments only of a very humble kind-such as milk, cheese, kirschwasser, and spirit of gentian. It stands at the distance of a few yards from the Falls of the Aar, perhaps the finest cataract in Switzerland, from its height (more than 100 feet), the quantity and rush of water, the gloom of the gorge into which it precipitates itself, and the wild character of the rocky solitude around it. It is also remarkably easy of access, so that the traveller may form a full estimate of its grandeur; surveying it, first, from below, through the vista of black rocks into which it plunges, and afterwards from above, stretching his neck over the brow of the precipice from which the river takes its leap, and watching it (if his nerves be steady) till it is lost in the spray of the dark abyss below. The view from this point, not more than 5 or 6 feet above the fall, which few will hesitate to call the best, is exceedingly impressive and stimulating. So plentiful is the rush of water that it reaches more than half way down in one unbroken glassy sheet before it is tossed into white foam; and, what adds to its beauty, is, that another stream (the Erlenbach), pouring in from the right at this very spot, takes precisely the same leap, mingling its tributary waters midway with the more powerful column of the Aar... The dark forest of fir through which the route has wound for a considerable distance, now dwindles away into a few dwarf bushes, and disappears entirely a little above Handek. To them succeed the scanty vegetation of rank grass, rhododendron, and lichen; and even this partial covering disappears prematurely, in some places being abraided and peeled off by the avalanches. There is a spot about 2 miles above Handek, where they descend in winter, directly across the path, and in their course over the sloping and convex mass of granite, have ground smooth, and polished its surface for a space of nearly a quarter of a mile. It is prudent to dismount here, and cross this bad bit of road (Böseplatte) on foot, since the path runs by the edge of the precipice, and the surface of the rock, though chiselled into grooves, to secure a footing for the horses, is very slippery. A single false step might be fatal to man and beast, precipitating both into the gulph below: the slight wooden rail, which is swept away almost every winter, would afford but little protection. The valley of the Aar, up which the narrow path is carried, looks stern and forbidding from its sterility, and the threatening cliffs of granite which overhang it. The Aarbiis crossed several times by dizzy bridges of a single arch, formed of granite slabs, without a parapet. There is but one human habitation between Handek and the Hospice, the miserable chalet of the Raterisboden, or Roderichsboden, where the ravine expands once more into a basin shaped hollow, probably once a lakebed, with a marshy bottom, affording scanty herbage for a few goats. A little above this the path quits the Aar, which rises in the Aar-glacier, about a mile higher up on the rt, and ascending a glen, strewed with shat tered rocks, reaches 2 The Hospice of the Grimsel, an inn of the rudest kind, originally designed to shelter travellers from necessity, and afford a gratuitous aid to the poor; but now daily occupied during the summer months by travellers for pleasure, sometimes to the number of 40 or 50 at once, who pay for their accommodation, as in any other inn, and sit down at a table d'hôte usually about 7 o'clock in the evening: the fare is plain, not delicate, but the charges are not high. It is a massy building of rough masonry, designed to resist a weight of snow, and with few windows to admit the cold. It contains Route 28.-Hospice of the Grimsel—Aar Glacier. about 20 beds, and affords such homely fare as may reasonably be expected in a spot 6000 feet above the sea, and removed by many miles from any other human dwelling. It is occupied by the innkeeper, who rents it from March to November. One servant passes the winter in the house, with a provision of cheese, to last out the whole time, sufficient to support himself and any chance wanderer who might accidentally pass that way. Its situation is as dreary as can be conceived. It lies in a rocky hollow, about 1000 feet below the summit of the pass, surrounded by soaring peaks and steep precipices. The rocks around are bare and broken, scarcely varied by patches of snow, which never melt, even in summer, and by strips of grass and green moss, which shoot up between the crevices, and are eagerly browsed by a flock of goats. A considerable supply of peat is dug from a bog within a few yards of the door. In the bottom of this naked basin, close to the house, is a black tarn, or lake, in which no fish-live. Beyond it lies a small pasturage, capable of supporting, for a month or two, the cows belonging to the hospice, and the servants cross the lake twice a-day, in a boat, to milk them. It is a landscape worthy of Spitzbergen or Nuova Zembla. This wilderness is the haunt of the marmot, whose shrill whistle frequently breaks the solitude; and the chamois, become rare of late, still frequents the neighbouring glaciers ; both animals contribute at times to replenish the larder of the Hospice. -On the 22nd March, 1838, the Hospice was overwhelmed and crushed by an avalanche, which broke through the roof and floor, and filled all the rooms but that occupied by the servant, who succeeded with difficulty in working his way out through the snow, along with his dog, and reached Meyringen in safety. The evening before, the man had heard a mysterious sound, known to the peasants of the Alps, and believed by them to be the warn 85 ing of some disaster: it appeared so like a human voice that the man supposed it might be some one in distress, and went out with his dog to search, but was stopped by the snow. The next morning the sound was again heard, and then came the crash of the falling avalanche. The Hospice will probably be repaired in the course of the summer (1838), but the traveller should ascertain beforehand in what state it is. During the campaign of 1799 the Austrians actually encamped for some time upon the top of the Grimsel, and during their stay gutted the Hospice, using every morsel of woodwork for fuel. Every attempt of the French General Lecourbe to dislodge them had failed, when a peasant of Guttanen, named Nägeli, offered to conduct a detachment by a circuitous path, known only to himself, to the rear of the Austrian position, on condition that the mountain he was about to cross should be given to him as his reward. This being agreed to, a party, commanded by General Gudin, led by Nägeli over the Doltihorn and the glaciers of Ghelman, fell upon the Austrians unawares, from a point above that which they occupied. They were seized with a panic and fled at once; many in the direction of the glacier of Aar, where escape was hopeless, and those who were not shot by the French, perished in the rents and chasms, where human bones, rusty arms, and tattered clothes are even now met with, and attest their miserable fate. The guide of the French did not profit by his barren mountain, remaining as poor as before he became possessed of it, but it has since been called after him, Nägeli's Grätli. The source of the Aar lies in two enormous glaciers, the Ober and Unter-Aar-Gletscher, to the W. of the Hospice. The Unter-Aar glacier is the best worth visiting, and may be reached in 2 hours. It is remarkable for the evenness of the surface of ice and the rareness of cavi 86 Route 28.-The Grimsel-Aar Glacier. ties on its surface. In places it is covered with accumulated rubbish which has fallen from the granite rocks around. It is about 18 miles long, and from 2 to 4 broad. Out of the midst of it rises the Finster-Aarhorn; the Schreckhorn is also conspicuous. There is no danger and little difficulty in exploring it for 2 or 3 hours, accompanied by a guide; and a path has recently been made by which it is accessible even on horseback. Hugi traversed the whole glacier in this manner on a horse hired from the Hospice. The best panorama of the Grimsel and the neighbouring peaks and glaciers may be seen from the top of the Seidelhorn, a mountain on the rt. of the path leading to Brieg and the Furca; its summit may be reached in 3 hours from the Hospice: it is 8634 feet above the sea-level. The summit of the pass of the Grimsel (7016 feet above the sea) is 2 miles from the Hospice-a steep path, marked only by tall poles stuck into the rock to guide the wayfarer, leads up to it. On the crest lies another small lake, called Todten See, or Lake of the Dead, because the bodies of those who perished on the pass were thrown into it by way of burial. Along the crest of the mountain runs the boundary-line between Berne and the Vallais, and here the path divides-that on the 1. side of the lake leads by the Meyenwand to the glacier of the Rhone (distant about 5 miles), and to the pass of the Furca (Route 30); that on the rt. of it goes to Ober-Gestelen, but it would be worth the while of the traveller bound thither to make a detour of about 6 miles to visit the glacier and source of the Rhone. By the direct road it is a walk of 6 miles from the summit to 3 Ober-Gestelen (Fr., Haut Chatillon). The inn, kept by Bertha, used to be a decent house. This is the highest village but one (Oberwald being the highest) in the Upper Vallais, and is 4360 feet above the sea-level. It is situated on the rt. bank of the Rhone, about 8 miles below its source in the glacier. It is the depôt for the cheese transported out of Canton Berne into Italy, and is a place of some traffic, as it lies at the junction of the three bridle-roads over the Grimsel, the Furca, and the Gries (Route 29). In 1720, 84 men were killed here by an avalanche. The descent of the Upper Vallais to Brieg, a distance of 35 miles, is very uninteresting. The road runs along the rt. bank of the Rhone. For a part of the way it is practicable for chars, and will be finished, it is said, all the way, in two or three years. (?) Opposite the village of Ulrichen, the valley of Eginen opens out-up it runs the path leading over the Gries and the Nufanen (Route 35). The Upper Vallais (Ober-Wallis) is very populous, and numerous unimportant villages are passed in rapid succession. One of the largest is Münster, containing about 400 inhabitants. The natives of the Upper Vallais are a distinct and apparently superior race to those of the Lower. The language is German. The Romans never penetrated into the higher part of the Rhone valley. er. 4 Viesch lies at the entrance of a side-valley, blocked up at its upper extremity by a glacier, above which rise the peaks called Viescher-HörnThere exists a tradition, that a path once led up this valley to Grin delwald: it is now entirely stopped by the glacier, and this circumstance is supposed to prove a great increase of the mass of ice. From Lax to Brieg the char-road is completed. The stream of the Massa, desceuding from the W., is supplied by the great glacier of Aletsch, a branch of that vast expanse of ice which extends to Grindelwald in Canton Berne (§ 17). 3 Naters, a village of 600 inhabitants, lies in a milder climate, where the chestnut begins to flourish. Above it rises the ruined castle of Fluh, or Saxa (Supersax), Route 29.-The Gries-Falls of the Tosa. A wooden bridge leads across the Rhone to Brieg, at the foot of the Simplon (Route 59). ROUTE 29. PASS OF THE GRIES. OBER-GESTELEN TO DOMO D'OSSOLA, BY THE VAL FORMAZZA (POMMAT), AND THE FALLS OF THE TOSA. About 14 stunden 46 Eng. miles. A mule - path, not dangerous, though it crosses a glacier, but difficult and very fatiguing. A guide should be taken over the Col. The inns on the Italian side of the pass are wretched, but the traveller will be rewarded by its scenes of wildness and grandeur, which, according to Brockedon, are nowhere exceeded among the Alps." 46 Below Ober-Gestelen (page 86) a bridge leads across the Rhone, and the path follows the 1. bank as far as the village Im Loch, where it turns to the 1., and begins to ascend the Eginenthal, crossing the stream of the Eginen above a pretty cascade 80 feet high, which it forms. A hard climb of about 2 hours, first through larchwood, then across a steril, stony tract, and finally over a little plain of green meadow, dotted with the chalets of Egina, brings the traveller to the foot of the final and most difficult ascent. Near this point a path, striking off on the 1., leads over the pass of the Nufanen (Route 35) to Airolo. Here vegetation ceases, snow appears first in patches, and at last the glacier blocks up the termination of the valley. It takes about 20 minutes to cross it. The direction of the path over the ice is marked by poles stuck upright in the ice. Along the crest of the mountain runs the frontier-line separating Switzerland from Sardinia. The summit of the pass is 7900 feet above the sea. "Bare and scathed rocks rose on either side in terrible grandeur out of the glaciers to an immense height. 87 The silence of the place added greatly to its sublimity; and I saw, in this most appropriate spot, one of the large eagles of the Alps, the Lämmergeyer, which was whirling its flight round a mountain-peak, and increased the deep emotion excited by the solitude of the scene.”— Brockedon. In clear weather a magnificent view presents itself from this point of the chain of Bernese Alps. The descent on the Sardinian side of the pass (as usual among the Alps) is steeper than that on the N.; it is also more difficult. The upper part of the Piedmontese valley of Formazza, or Frutval, presents four distinct stages or platforms, separated by steep steps or dips from each other. The first is called Bettelmatt; the second, Morast (morass), on which the miserable group of chalets, called Kehrbächi (the highest winter habitations), are situated; the third, is Auf der Frutt, with another hamlet of chalets, and a small chapel. Before reaching it, the traveller falls in with the river Toccia, or Tosa, which rises in the upper extremity of the valley, and terminates in the Lago Maggiore. Beyond the hamlet the path crosses to the 1. bank of the stream, and, descending the fourth steep declivity, arrives at the Falls of the Tosa, the approach to which has for some time previously been proclaimed by the increasing roar of the water. It is one of the most remarkable cataracts among the Alps, less on account of its form than for its vast volume of water, in which it is surpassed only by that of the Schaffhausen. It does not descend in one leap, but in a succession of steps, forming an uninterrupted mass of white foam for a length of perhaps 1000 feet, while the entire perpendicular descent is not much less than 500. Seen from below, it has a triangular appearance; above, not more than 80 feet wide, and expanding gradually towards the bottom. 2 miles below the Falls is the vil |