Part 8 (1/2)

Note (F.) page 237, line 8.

_Mont St. Bernard._

Before Bonaparte formed his magnificent pa.s.sage across the Simplon, one of the princ.i.p.al roads from Switzerland into Italy lay over this grand mountain. Our line of road did not permit us to visit it, which we much regretted. It was always highly interesting, from the histories, both ancient and modern, which belong to it. By this route it is supposed that Hannibal led his army over the Alps; not by softening the rocks with vinegar, but by refres.h.i.+ng his fatigued troops by a mixture of it with water. He is said also to have founded here a splendid temple, dedicated to Jupiter. It is certain that several remains of antiquity, medals, inscriptions, sacrificial instruments, &c. have been found here, and are preserved in the museum at Turin. That the modern Hannibal, with or without vinegar, led his army over the St. Bernard, we too well know.

Of the baths of Loesche, in the Upper Valais, we also heard much; but of these, as well as the Grand St. Bernard, I can only speak from the description of others. Notwithstanding the difficult roads which lead to the baths, they are much frequented, and are, we were told, justly celebrated for their salutary effects. It must be truly curious to see water too hot to bear the hand in, of the temperature of 43 degrees of Reaumur (boiling water being 80), springing from the earth in the midst of this icy country; a phenomenon, however, with which those travellers who have frequented still colder parts of the world are perfectly well acquainted. This water has the peculiar quality of restoring faded flowers to life and freshness, and of preserving them so for some time, when one would rather imagine that it would boil them. I do not here mean to offer a poetical allusion to female beauty, but merely to relate a literal fact. The mode of bathing is too singular not to mention, although I cannot say much of its delicacy. There are four square open divisions, in which twenty or thirty persons of both s.e.xes (attired, as properly as may be, in flannel dresses) bathe all together. They sit very comfortably for half an hour, with a small desk before each, upon which they have their books, and little planks are seen floating on the water, full of holes, in which fragrant flowers and branches of verdure are inserted.

Note (G.) page 238, line 12.

_A celebrated waterfall--Cascade of the p.i.s.se Vache._

There are several of the same name in Switzerland; but this, I believe, is reckoned the most remarkable. In the neighbourhood of these mountains, one sees with pleasure the industry of man repaid by considerable fertility. The cottages are comfortable, and surrounded with orchards of various fruit-trees. The natural and ungrafted cherry, called _merise_, is much cultivated in these parts. It is from this fruit that the famed _kirschenwa.s.ser_, or cherry-water, is made, and which is not only an agreeable cordial, but a valuable medicine among the peasantry, subsisting, as they do, so much upon a crude and milky diet, not easy of digestion. It was offered to Mr. B. during his illness, by a rustic host, with strong commendations.

Note (H.) page 268, line 17.

_Glaciers._

The height of these glaciers, at their utmost point, is 9268 feet above the level of the sea. Voltaire might well say,

”Ces monts sourcilleux, Qui pressent les enfers, et qui fendent les cieux.”

But there is another point of view in which the natural philosopher will contemplate these stupendous mountains with admiration and grat.i.tude: I mean as being the immense and inexhaustible reservoirs of those springs and rivers which make so essential a part in the beautiful and beneficial economy of nature. In these particular regions will be found the sources of the Rhone, the Rhine, and the Tessin, with a mult.i.tude of other rivers; and some idea of the enormous quant.i.ty of water that they produce may be formed from the known fact, that the magnificent lake of Geneva (measuring above twenty-six square leagues) is raised ten feet and a half, by the mere melting of the snows during the summer.

Strawberries of the finest flavour may be gathered almost at the very edge of the ice, and the adjoining woods are full of wild flowers.

Note (I.) page 271, line 14.

_Mines of gold, silver, and lead._

It has been thought by some, that it is not so much from the poverty of the state as from a moral policy that the exploration of these dangerous productions has been purposely discouraged. This is the n.o.bler reason of the two. Haller (the favourite poet of the Swiss) in his poem on the Alps, exclaims, ”The shepherd of the Alps sees these treasures flow beneath his feet--what an example to mankind! he lets them flow on.” And he feels a security in the rude simplicity of his country, that holds out nothing to tempt the invasion of avarice or ambition--

”Tout son front herisse, n'offre aux desirs de l'homme Rien qui puisse tenter l'avarice de Rome.”

_Crebillon, dans Rhadamiste._

Note (J.) page 273, line 11.

_For which this place is celebrated._

Among other interesting objects to be seen here are the cabinets of natural history of Monsieur de Saussure, so well known for his scientific and enterprising researches, and of Monsieur de Luc.

Petrifactions of the _oursis_, or sea hedgehog, and of the _corni d'ammon_, are preserved in this collection, which were found in the Alps of Savoy, 7844 feet above the level of the sea.

Note (K.) page 275, line 12.

_Powerless and inadequate._