The Alpenstock; or sketches of Swiss Scenery and Manners, 1825-1826

Front matter

THE ALPENSTOCK L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, WESTON GREEN THAMES DITTON. THE ALPENSTOCK; OR, SKETCHES OF SWISS SCE.NERY AND MANNERS, M DCCCXXV . — M PCCC XXVI. BY CHARLES JOSEPH LATROBE. Tlie Engravings printed by C. Wliittingham, Tooks Court, Clianc.ry Lane. PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE AND SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY' AND SONS, FLEET STREET, LONDON. MDCCCXXIX.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. In making choice of a title for the following pages, the writer has fixed upon one which would seem to entail upon him the necessity of a brief apology and an explanation. As apology all that can be said amounts to this : that no other was at hand equally expressive (when understood) of the circumstances under which the majority of the sketches contained in this volume were committed to paper : and as explanation, it may be at once stated, that the Alpenstock is the name of the long iron-spiked pole, in common use on the Alps, in the hands of the chamois-hunter, the crystalhunter, and the pedestrian traveller ; and therefore not an unfitting symbol of the pursuits of one of the latter class. j&ubjrct.. of tf)t Tssifputtig. DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY S. WILLIAMS. THE CHAMOIS-HUNTER AND TRAVELLER.— Outline of the Jungfrau and Eigers, from the superior parts ofthe Wrengern-alp.

Chapter I

Above me are the Alps The palaces of nature, whose vast walls Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalp. And throned eternity in icy halls Of cold sublimity, where forms and falls The avalanche — the thunderbolt of snow I All that expands the spirit, yet appals, Gather around these summits, as to show How earth may pierce to heaven, yet leave vain man below. The sunset of a bright autumnal day, towards the end of October 1824, found me for the first time standing upon the shore of the Lake of Neuchatel, at the point where its waters are deepened by the construction of a promenade, stretching to the N. E. of the town of that name. The preceding days, distinguished by equally season able, but very rough weather, I had been toiling through the recesses of those deep and secluded defiles in the Jura, which intersecting its chain from Basle to Bienne, form to the N. E. the valley of the Birse, and to the S. W. 1!

NEUCHATEL. that of the Suze, two mountain-streams of considerable volume and impetuosity. I cannot say that either my person or my accoutrements had suffered materially from the storms, which, driving over the mountains, had showered the stained foliage of the forest thickly upon my path ; or that the season was so far advanced, that travelling was no longer likely to yield its due measure of enjoyment. Yet, on entering this little town, which I had for some time back glanced at upon my map, as a temporary home, I felt every disposition to lay aside my staff and to have done with roaming for the present. Accordingly, having entered into a contract, which left me undisputed master of an apartment about fourteen feet square, I took formal possession by depositing the sturdy companion of my summer rambles in a corner, and strolled into the public walk.

The sun was just sinking towards the western horizon, throwing his beams horizontally over the whole length of the wide sheet of water, whose short interrupted waves rebounded from the masonry of the terrace, and from the Cret, a small rocky knoll at its termination. Beyond the latter the eye followed the continuation of the shore to the N. E. end of the lake. Behind, rose the long, steep, and forested ridge of the Jura ; the white-walled farm-houses on the heights, glistening against the blue sky. Across the lake, the horizon was formed of one unbroken and widely extended chain of mountains; from the Alps of Savoy on the south, to the rocky summits in the vicinity of the lake of the Four Cantons, far to the eastward : ridge above ridge, peak above peak ; their NEUCHATEL. 3 snows glowing with the red hue of an autumnal sun, which every moment rendered more intense and more beautiful.

I cannot express in words the feelings of wonder and awe with which I gazed for that first time upon this magnificent scene ; the sense of exultation, with which my eye measured the successive heights as they rose from the steep shores of the lake, till surmounted by the towering glaciers of the central chain ; or the involun tary impulse to adore and glorify the Creator of heaven and earth, which rose in my breast, in the presence of these stupendous and magnificent monuments of his power. During the winter months which followed, before I had ceased to feel myself a stranger in a foreign land, the contemplation of this scene was as daily bread to me ; and, to the delight and admiration with which I never ceased to gaze upon it, fresh interest was added, in proportion as my knowledge of its details increased.

When I entered this retired corner of Switzerland, as above mentioned, it was under the influence of peculiar feelings. A year, distinguished among the few and comparatively even ones, of which my life had hitherto been composed, by a number of severe trials, was coming to a close ; trials, which are not the less painful to the individual, from the knowledge that all are more or less liable to experience them. However, from the heavy thoughts which these had left behind them, my attention and feelings were imperceptibly diverted by the scenes amidst which I was placed, the quiet of my little cham ber, my books, and the kind and winning attentions of the few who knew of my existence at that time among them. B NEUCHATEL. 4 Under the influence of these, the short days of winter passed away : time wore on, — and before the first days of March following, the earth and air began to show signs of the approach of spring.

The snow evidently diminished upon the southern declivities of the Jura, and the little river Seyon brought down a greater volume of water into the town. The diminutive white blossoms of the Draba verna unfolded themselves upon the warm ledges of the Cret ; and though vegetation cannot be said to have generally commenced, there was a rustling among the dead leaves in the forest, and the dry grass of the hill-side, which betokened its speedy approach. Till towards the middle of this month, however, the season was not without its usual drawbacks. The Bize, a strong and keen N. E. wind, very prevalent in Switzer land in the interval between the winter solstice and venial equinox, often blew for several successive days with great violence, dashing the waves of our blue lake high over the piers and embankments, and by its intensity checking the genial influence of a clear and powerful sun.

Though no more snow fell at the foot of the Jura, the cars descending the mountains at sun-rise on market days, not unfrequently entered the town with a thick coating of snow piled over their load of wood. This uncertain state of things was, however, of no long continuance. But I had no occasion to look abroad for signs and symptoms that winter was passing, and a more delightful season stealing over the landscape. My habits, during the preceding winter months, had been regular and retired ; I had risen early, had my stated hours for this or NEUCHATEL. 5 that study ; had sat long and patiently at my desk ; — and confined my rambles to the immediate vicinity, and had almost forgotten that I had had, in former years, often reason to bewail a naturally restless mind and body. But about this time much of my soberness began to evaporate silently out of my system.

My chair began to feel harder and less comfortable than it had done before ; and, for my life, I could neither sit as long, nor as immovably upon it as I had done. I continued to find Schiller's Thirty years' War vastly entertaining ; but for all that, I could not bend my neck over it for as long a time together. When the hour came which I had regularly set apart for the purpose of reading aloud, as I perambulated my chamber from angle to angle, I found I could seldom turn upon my heel, at the corner next the windows on a fine sunny day, without feeling my eyes sliding edgeways from the page, leaving my tongue in the middle of a sentence. Many a sly glance did I throw into the corner where my trusty staff had been consigned to ignoble repose for so many months. In short, I began grievously to suspect that I was much the same individual as here tofore ; and that the temptation held out to me by the continual sight of the distant Alps and their glaciers, would probably, under the insinuating influence of longer days and brighter suns, prove seriously detrimental to my sober and sedentary employments.

However, I must be allowed to say a good word for myself, by stating, that in spite of much temptation from within and without, I struggled hard, and with partial success against these symptoms, before I fairly NEUCHATEL. 6 gave in. It was the middle of April before I relaxed aught material of my discipline, and the middle of June before I fairly assumed the staff and wallet. During this period, distinguished by eight weeks of the most uninterrupted spring weather, I had every opportunity of becoming well-acquainted with the country in the vicinity of my winter's residence. The neighbouring mountains, with the broken country at their feet ; the spacious and fertile Val de Ruz ; the stupendous defile of the Reuse leading to the Val de Travers and Franche Compte ; the shores of the three adjacent lakes, were all within the compass of an afternoon's or evening's ramble, and of moderate exertion. •But more of these at a future page.

After being engaged for some days in making the necessary arrangements, I quitted a neighbourhood to which I had become much and deservedly attached : being inclined in my future wanderings, to try how far the information I had brought together, relative to the Alpine districts of Switzerland, could bear me out in my project of penetrating into their recesses, independent of the ordinary assistance and society of guides ; a race of men with which I had no desire to come into contact, if I could by any means avoid it. I knew , from experience, that my back was, thanks to God, strong enough to bear my own burden ; my health sufficiently robust to support ordinary fatigue ; and my spirits sufficiently unbroken and flexible, to keep me up, where the body unaided might be inclined to sink from extraordinary exertion or difficulty.

Though neither misanthropic nor of a particularly gloomy turn, I had no objection to solitude ; and NEUCHATEL. 7 trusted to find in the scenes around me, and in my own thoughts and resources, sufficient amusement to prevent my suffering from ennui. If it were not, in the present age, set down to a man's discredit, to acknowledge that he was not rich enough to squander, I might perhaps add this reason also, why I did not feel at liberty to indulge in luxuries which I could possibly do without : but as the minds of men happen to be so constructed at present, I will even keep my own counsel, and set out as Milor Anglais, or what you please. The sketches of the pen from nature may, and do often, resemble the hasty sketches of the pencil. Though roughly drawn, and destitute of the careful touch and keeping which characterize a work perfected at leisure in the cabinet, they often bear, with all their rudeness of outline and roughness of colouring, a truth and a vigour which no copy can imitate, and which any subsequent retouch would be more likely to destroy than to heighten.

If this is admitted, it will be perceived, why, in many of the following pages, the loose and irregular style of a journal, written while the impression of the objects and events attempted to be described was yet fresh on the imagination, is retained, in preference to any remodelled edition of it. June 22. — With this day my summer's peregrinations properly commenced, as the preceding evening I had only rounded the low and swampy shores of the lake of Neuchatel, from Montmirail to Cudrefin, and from thence struck across the hills to Avenche. AVENCHE. 8 A bright unclouded morning sun is never unwelcome to the traveller, and by such I was glad to be awakened. Avenche, or Wifisburg, the ancient Aventicum, is situated on a rising ground, at the edge of the morasses which extend to the S.W. of the lake of Morat.

The country at the back reminds me forcibly of many parts of England. Gentle hills, covered with wood ; meadows and cornfields, separated by hedgerows filled with trees, whose full round masses of foliage appeared to great advantage, after being so long accustomed to the poorly clothed stems on the declivities of the Jura ; pleasant gardens ; the absence of the stiff and unpicturesque vineyard ; cattle straying in the pastures ; were features of the landscape, which chiefly prompted the comparison. The present town occupies the site of what was once the castle, the outer walls and moatings of which still remain : thus the great and splendid city, formerly the capital of Roman Helvetia, with exception of a few massy fragments of the exterior walls, seen here and there in the plain below, an old tower, probably the N. E. gateway, and a solitary column, has now shrunk into the inclosure formerly its citadel.

But few anti quities, chiefly inscriptions and cornices, are now to be seen. I was shown a mosaic pavement, evidently that of a bath, in very tolerable preservation, at some distance from the gate of the town. Another, still finer, was discovered some time ago in a stable, but commanded no respect, as the cattle were suffered to tread it to pieces. The above mentioned column is to me the most interesting relic. It seems to have been originally in the angle of a building. It is clustered with smaller pillars, and seems to have been furnished on one side AVENCHE. 9 with small abutments for arches. On the summit two storks had built their nest, and both young and old seemed occupied with some substantial meal as I stood beneath it. The remains of the walls are daily decreasing, from the rapacity of builders, who unceremoniously take away all the materials they can possibly make use of.

Grass and fruit-trees fill the amphitheatre. Who can visit the remains of this fallen city, and not cast his thoughts back to the far times of Julius Alpinus, and feel his heart throb over the remembrance of the tomb and record of the heart-broken Julia ! This was my second visit at Avenche. It was after a night of considerable adventure amongst the rude hamlets and bewildering swamps of this corner of the cantons of Freyberg and Berne, that the sun-rise of a fresh April morning found me before its gate for the first time. It was not without emotion that I called up the recollection of the historical picture of the city as it existed in the olden time ; now clothed in that indescribable mantle in which the tale of the glory and prosperity which has utterly faded from the face of the earth, with the lapse of centuries, is enveloped.

Then the sight of its remains so lonely and so grey ; the luxuriance of the green sod, from which its leafless and dead walls reared themselves ; the sweet breath of the spring which made my very existence feel a blessing ; all conspired to yield me some hours of en joyment, such as has seldom been my lot, since the freshness and truth of my boyish feelings have passed. After spending some hours in strolling about the town and its more immediate neighbourhood, I continued MORAT 10 my route to Berne, by way of Morat. A short time before you enter the gates of the latter town, the road passes over the field of battle, signalized by the victory of the ancient Swiss over Charles the Bold and his Burgundians, June 22, 1476. The long struggle of the confederated cantons with the surrounding nations, for the preservation of their independence, during the 14th and 15th centuries, will hardly find its parallel in history, whether we consider the sternly noble and unambitious feeling which brought them into the field, or the hardy devotion and bravery with which they, a handful of rudely appointed mountaineers, repeatedly withstood and repulsed armies, composed ofthe bravest, proudest, and most accomplished chivalry in Europe.

From the battles of Morgarten and Laupen, to those of Grandson and Morat, one war-cry alone seems to have thrilled through the bosom of the sturdy and simple inhabitants of these mountains : and well they obeyed the summons to die for the liberties of their country, till gold and ease wrought their usual evil work on the public and private character of the people. Then ambition, and its attendant train of vices soon uprooted that, pristine virtue which had made their forefathers renowned ; and the very field of victory, on which I now stood, tended greatly in its consequences to hasten this declension. The victory of Grandson, gained over the same prince, in the March preceding, had deluged the simple houses of the Swiss burgers with gold, silver, and every article of luxury ; for Charles had marched to his overthrow upon that spot with all the pomp of a MORAT. 11 victorious monarch entering his capital, and had fled with the loss of all, even his own ducal ring.

At Morat, an overthrow, more signal, if possible, left the victors in possesssion of the remnant of those spoils which he and his nobles had amassed in an hitherto successful and victorious career : and the period of comparative tranquillity, which the Swiss cantons imme diately after enjoyed, gave but too much time and opportunity for the nurture of the passions, to which the acquisition of so much wealth and luxury unavoidably gave rise. The famous ossuaire or bone-house no longer exists. After remaining untouched for a period of upwards of 300 years, it was destroyed by the French army under the revolutionary generals, on their entry into Switzerland in the year 1797. Its former site is marked by a plain unadorned obelisk. From this point I made a digression to an eminence above the village of Miinchwyler, to visit the great lime tree, traditionally reported to be the very tree under which the Swiss generals held their council of war on the evening preceding the battle.

Whether true or false, a survey of the immense trunk and towering branches is quite sufficient to add to the credulity of the credulous, if not to stagger the incredulity of the unbeliever. I never saw a tree of that species which could at all be compared to this, either for size, luxuriant growth, or the beautiful disposition of its large masses of foliage. It would appear to be still in its prime. Miinchwyler once possessed a convent, and may still boast a venerable church. The lake of Morat which it overlooks, was the scene MORAT 12 of a very singular phenomenon, during the earlier months of this year, 1825. I remember the report reaching Neuchatel — through the medium of the market people passing from one lake to the other, (some time during the winter) that the waters of the lake of Morat had suddenly become the colour of blood, though I could meet with no one whose testimony was sufficiently clear and unequivocal to establish the fact.

This, joined to my not having the leisure then to come and see for myself, caused the matter to slip my memory entirely, till I found myself in the neighbourhood. Here the circumstance was fully confirmed to me in a manner not to be questioned ; and having since met with a paper, written by Mons. de Candolle of Geneva, on the subject, shall take what is there stated as my best guide in mentioning the facts as they occurred. It appears that this singular phenomenon began to excite the attention of the inhabitants of Morat as early as November last year, and that it continued more or less observable during the whole of the winter. Mr. Trechsel, a gentleman resident at Morat, to whom M. de Candolle applied, on hearing the report, for infor mation and specimens of the colouring matter, stated — That during the early hours of the day no extraordinary appearance was observable in the lake ; but that a little later, long parallel lines of reddish matter were seen to extend along the surface of the water, at some short dis tance from the banks.

This being blown by the wind towards the more sheltered parts of the shore, collected itself about the reeds and rushes, covering the surface of the lake with a light foam ; forming, as it were, dis- MORAT. 13 ferent strata of various colours, from greenish black, grey, yellow, and brown, to the most delicious red. He adds, that this matter exhaled a pestiferous odour during the day, but disappeared at the approach of night. It was further observed, that during tempestuous weather it vanished altogether. Many small fishes were seen to become intoxicated while swimming amongst it, and after a few convulsive leaps, to lie motionless on the surface. The naturalists o'f Geneva decided, from the specimens sent, that it was an animal substance, which, if not the oscillatoria subfusca, was nearly allied to it.

Soon after the beginning of May it disappeared entirely. It is not known that this phenomenon has appeared be fore on the lake of Morat within the memory of man. Tradition states the same to have happened the year preceding the great battle. From the Lime tree I struck across the country, and did not join the main road till Campenach. At Gum menen I crossed the Saanen, here flowing in a deep dell, with steep sandy acclivities on both sides. The stone of all this country, from the limestone of the Jura to the breccia at the foot of the Alps, is a soft sandstone, called molasse, varying in colour from a dull red, to greenish grey, and disposed in horizontal strata with layers of gravel between. From the height above Capellan there is a fine view of the long range of the Jura, rising from the shore of the lakes at its foot, like a vast rampart of precipitous heights.

The regular line preserved by the different ridges composing its chain, when viewed from a distance, is very singular. No trace can then be discovered ofthe profound defiles by which they are intersected. BERNE 14 My road led me forward through a fine broken tract of country, sprinkled with villages and country seats, till I entered the avenues of lime trees which announced my approach to the town of Berne, whose arcades, fountains, minster, bears, and environs, afforded me much amusement for the following days. The situation of Berne is sufficiently picturesque and remarkable to attract notice, even were the views from its ramparts and environs less beautiful than they are uni versally acknowledged to be. It is built upon an elevated peninsula, round which the waters of the river Aar sweep alternately East and West, in a deep and varied channel.

A favourite promenade of the citizens, called L'Enge", situated a quarter of an hour's walk from the North West barrier, has always appeared to me pre-eminent among the numerous exquisite points of view in this neighbourhood. The town, with its several gateways, steeples, and the tower of the minster rising above the crowded roofing of the houses, here appears in the middle ground ; separated from the point on w hich you stand, by the deep wooded dell of the Aar. Upon the brink of this, the outermost houses are crowded in the oddly fashioned manner usual in old fortified towns, where each seems to depend upon its neighbour for sup port, and form a long irregular line, descending gradually towards the lower and further extremity of the peninsula, where the bridge is situated. Beyond appears the varied and broken country towards Belp, and the lake of Thun ; and over this the finest portion of the Berne Alps rear their sparkling masses to the clouds.

The view from the area before the minster is too universally known to need any description in this place. THUN 15 During my stay I was the honoured guest of a family of kind and hospitable friends, whose country house was situated on the brow of the hill commanding the town. In the occurrence of these days I find nothing of a nature sufficiently novel to merit insertion here. That which I have the tact to perceive to be very commonplace, I should hardly be acting wisely to trouble the reader with, however amusing I may find the recollection of it to be to myself. June 25th. — I rose between three and four o'clock, A. m. and set out on the high road to Thun. As I ad vanced, the sun rose upon the landscape ; and by the time I reached the village of Muri, at the distance of a league from Berne, the summits of the Alps before me were all glowing in his clear and unobstructed light.

I need not spread out my page by describing this line of road, which though very picturesque, was produc tive of no adventure. I entered Thun, after a little more than three hours march, with a crowd of peasants bringing their various commodities to the Saturday's market. While sitting in the elevated church-yard, which commands one of the finest coups d'oeil in Switzerland, I observed a bridal party entering the church, and followed in the rear to see how the ceremony was conducted. The officiating clergyman afforded me an opportunity of observing the clerical costume of the country. This consists of a black serge gown fitting close to the shoulders and body, but falling from the small of the back in long full plaits, loose hanging sleeves and cuffs, and a thick white ruff round the neck.

A black brimless hat is carried in the hand. THUN The couple first sat apart, on different sides of the church, and the minister had just begun to read the prayers or rather the exhortation, when an unexpected interruption was experienced, by the sudden apparition of a poor idiot, who it appears had been employed to toll the bell on the happy occasion ; and who now came scrambling out of the roof, by the assistance of a creaking ladder, finishing his descent by a thundering leap or tumble on the gallery boards. This seemed to be considered as an indecorous intrusion. The Herr Pfarrer stopped short, and the bride elect, who by the by was neither young nor handsome, stared round with an expression of some impatience ; while the clerk by whose side I had posted myself, held up his fist in a menacing posture, and uttered a loud Whist !

The poor fellow, who seemed to have no idea of the mischief he had done, now remained mute and motionless ; the clergyman continued the service, the happy couple once more cast their eyes upon the ground, and, after a few short prayers, were made man and wife, by simply joining their hands. My plan was now to turn my steps towards the Stockhorn chain to the westward, and to visit the Simmenthal which lies behind it, before entering upon the examination of the higher and more central portions of district termed the Oberland. Accordingly, after spending some hours in the heat of the day at Thun, I turned to the south-west towards the range of precipitous mountains named after the singularly-shaped rock which rises about the centre of the chain. While walking along the high road leading from Thun to the vallies of the Kander and Simmen, I THE GUNZENEN. 17 occupied myself with narrowly examining the face of the precipices, to the bases of which I was gradually approaching, to discover, if possible, some ravine which might enable me to cross the mountains, instead of keeping the regular route to Wimmis and the entrance of the valley beyond.

But seeing no possibility of ascending the range from this side, I walked soberly forward till I came to the vicinity of the village of Reutigen. There the feasibility of my first idea again struck me, from the appearance of the mountain side above that village, though I had now passed very considerably to the southward of the Stockhorn itself. I left the road accordingly ; and, after steering through the pastures and the irregular village, to the foot of the mountain, began my climb over several miles of very steep pasture land, upon the slippery verdure of which I had no little difficulty to keep my footing. Here I made my first experience of the various and important uses of the Alpenstock, the long iron-shod pole, for which I had exchanged my ordinary lowland companion at the town of Thun, and which subsequently stood me in stead in many a hazardous slide and leap.

After an hour and a half's toil, I approached the summit of the Giinzenen, the last of the Stockhorn range next the Niesen, and separated from it by the entrance into the Simmenthal. Here I found a small chalet with a good Swiss matron in the doorway, milking her goats. From her I learned that I was four leagues from the summit of the Stockhorn, and was consequently deterred from attempting to reach it. The approach of a stormy night and the utter hopelessness of a clear c THE GUNZE^EN 18 view of the Glaciers, even if I did reach it, served to reconcile me to a change of plan. I therefore determined, after five minutes' rest and a basin of milk, to think no more about it, but to find my way over the opposite side of the mountain into the valley of the Simmen. Some general directions I got at the chalet ; but whether they were not particular enough, or whether I mistook them, I cannot determine.