about 18 miles. The buttresses of the mountains are covered with trees, differing in species according to height; the first zone deciduous, the next composed of pines, then larches; forest above forest, waving their tufty and dark shades, accessible as far as 3,000 or 4,000 feet above Chamouni. The interval of each of these verdant buttresses is filled by a glacier. There are six or seven glaciers in and around the vale, two of the most celebrated are those of De Boisson and De Bois. On whatever side the traveller approaches the valley, the view of it, when seen for the first time from some of the heights, over which the road passes, throws him into a kind of astonishment that cannot be expressed. He seems introduced into a new world. The majestic summits of the pointed rocks, covered with ice and everlasting snow; the mountains which appear to support the sky, and whose height alarms the senses, and can with difficulty be grasped by the imagination; the striking contrast of the red colour of the primitive rocks with the dazzling whiteness of the snow which covers them; the glaciers which descend from their lofty summits to the very edge of the valley; the beautiful variety of colours exhibited by the towers, pyramids, and obelisks, which rise from the surface of the glaciers, when illuminated by the sun; the dark colour of the forests of fir; the pure verdure of the pastures and meadows; the cottages, churches, and hamlets, scattered through the valley; the women and children occupied in country labour, in their gardens or before their houses, with their eye upon the flocks feeding around them; the whole forms a picture, the beauty and grandeur of which it is easier to feel than to describe. Above me are the Alps, " The palaces of nature, whose vast walls Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps, And throned Eternity in icy halls Of cold sublimity, where forms and falls How earth may pierce to heaven, yet leave vain man below.” BYRON. THE GLACIERS. The Glaciers are vast accumulations of ice and snow, which occupy the elevated hollows or valleys, situated between the peaks of the highest mountains. The formation of them takes place near the line of perpetual congelation; although the valleys in which they are accumulated are much lower; and they sometimes extend to the borders of cultivated grounds. They are commonly encircled with lofty mountains; they generally stretch from north to south; but few from east to west. In the long Alpine range from Mont Blanc to the borders of Tyrol, there are no less than 400 glaciers, a great part of which are from 15 to 20 miles in length, from 1 to 2 in breadth, and from 100 to 600 feet thick. The total extent of their surface has been calculated at 1,000 square miles. The general character of a glacier depends upon the nature and state of the valley in which it lies. When the sides of the valley are smooth, and its inclination small, there is little variety in the appearance of the glacier. It presents a tolérably smooth surface, and is intersected with few rents or ravines. When the sides of the valley are rough and unequal, and its general inclination considerable, the surface is divided into deep chasms, and covered with numerous elevations, sometimes upwards of 100 feet in height; the pinnacles of ice rising in fantastic forms, presenting to the eye the appearance of crystal, with glittering spires, domes, and turrets. Mr. Raffles, in describing the glacier of De Boisson, says: "It looked to me as if an enormous multitude of icy pyramids had rushed from the summits of the neighbouring mountains, till, meeting in this ravine, they became crowded together, when, suddenly arrested in their progress by the valley, they pressed closely on each other, till some fell,-many were ready to fall, some were squeezed by the pressure into prisms,-some lost their delicate peaks, and the whole became wild and irregular in its appearance as you frequently see a mass of quartz crystals irregularly formed and disposed upon a bed of limestone." AVALANCHES. The avalanches are immense masses of snow and ice, which occasionally detach themselves from the glaciers, and are precipitated down the Alps with a frightful noise. They are propelled down the sides of mountains, as sheets of snow slide down the roof of a house, uprooting trees, levelling whole forests, and sometimes overwhelming villages, in their destructive course. When the snow begins to melt by the heat of summer, the water which is produced runs below, and destroys the adhesion between the snow and earth, and a new snow sometimes falling upon the older mass occasions its falls. These masses are often detached by the impulse of the wind, and they sometimes occasion dreadful hurricanes. The best preservative against their destructive effects being the forests, with which the Alps abound, there is scarcely a village, if situated at the foot of a mountain, that is not sheltered by trees; which the inhabitants preserve with uncommon care, as their common protectors. Thus what constitutes one of the principal beauties of the country, affords also a security to the people. ST. GOTHARD-PASSAGE OF UNERLOCH. St. Gothard is an elevated tract between the Swiss cantons of Uri and Tessin. It consists, properly, of a circular plain, surrounded on all sides by lofty Alpine summits, which are known by distinct names, and the height of which varies from 8,000 to upwards of 10,000 feet. Their tops are covered with perpetual snow, and some of them with glaciers. No less than 30 lakes are situated in this lofty range, and here are the sources of the Rhine, Rhone, Tessin, and Reuss. Of these the the Reuss most attracts the attention of travellers, as it runs parallel with the road a great part of the way, and over it the celebrated arch, called the Devil's Bridge, is erected. This extraordinary bridge consists of a single arch of 80 feet span, at the place where the river has a fall of 100 feet. The abutments rest on each side on peaks of rock, at so great an elevation above the torrent as to appear a work almost superhuman. The passage across these mountains into Italy has open ed a new channel for active industry. The road is not so steep and difficult as might be expected. It is from 10 to 15 feet broad, and well paved with granite, but the passage is frequently rendered difficult in winter by masses of snow. It is not impracticable for carriages, but they have not been used. The most striking part of this singular route is the subterranean passage, cut through a mass of rock, between two lofty ridges, and called the gallery of Unerloch, or Rochepercee. The opening is 12 feet high, 12 wide, and 200 long; it is almost dark; the light being admitted only at the ends, and at a small crevice in the rock. Nothing can exceed the contrast exhibited to the traveller, coming from the north, who, after seeing nature in her most frightful form, and passing this dreary cavern, opens all at once on the vale of Urseren, a vale so fresh and beautiful as to appear almost an illusion of the fancy. CATARACT OF THE RHINE. The cataract of the Rhine, about a league below the town of Schaffhausen, is the most celebrated in Europe. The river dashes headlong from the height of about 50 feet, with rapids above and below the fall. There are other cataracts in Europe of much greater height, yet on account of the smaller mass of water, or being situated more out of the range of observation, they have less excited the attention of travellers. "About three miles below Schaffhausen," says Mr. Simond, 66 we saw, at a distance, the rapids of the Rhine above its fall; and leaving our vehicle we proceeded on foot to the spot, where from a height we discovered at once the foaming breakers above, the abyss below, the cataract between, pouring through five distinct passages, separated by four insulated rocks, standing like inverted cones, with huge black heads overhanging their narrow bases, undermined by the ceaseless fury of the waters, to which every part of their surface has been successively exposed; first the top only, when the cataract fell from that height, then gradually lower down. "The velocity and the bustle, the deafening roar of the waters, surpass, perhaps, Niagara itself, but there is here less grandeur and majesty. The mass of water of the American cataract is probably ten times greater, its breadth six times as great, and height three times; yet it bends over, and descends unbroken, in its native emerald green, a vertical lake, as it were, instead of a horizontal one. The Rhine, on the contrary, is here all froth and fury, from top to bottom; it might be compared to a cataract of snow, but does not make a worse picture on that account; and the height and length are besides in juster proportions. "The day was drawing to a close, and it became necessary, before dark, to think of our night quarters, three miles off through a country partly overflowed by the Rhine. Yet we lingered to contemplate the cataract illuminated by the last rays of the sun; the dashes of emerald green at the top seemed now more bright than ever, the foam of a more dazzling whiteness, and a double rainbow tinged the spray, while evening shades already spread their vague terrors over the abyss below; in short, nature was making a last effort to touch our obdurate hearts, and force us to admire this, one of her finest works-nor was the effort made in vain." LAKE OF GENEVA. The Switzerland is more celebrated than any other country in Europe for its romantic lakes, some of the most remarkable of which are the lakes of Neufchatel, Thun, Lucerne, Zurich, Wallenstadt, the lake of Constance on the borders of Germany, and above all, the lake of Geneva. This famous lake is situated between Switzerland and Savoy, in a valley which separates the Alps from Mount Jura. Its form resembles that of a half moon. length along the coast of Switzerland is 50 miles, and on the side of Savoy 42; its greatest breadth is 10 miles; its greatest depth about 1,000 feet; and its elevation above the level of the sea 1,154 feet. The water is clear, except where discoloured by the muddy stream of the Rhone, and it is never frozen, excepting a few paces from its margin. The water has a beautiful blue colour; and such is the purity of the atmosphere, that a town upon its banks, illuminated by the sun, may be easily seen at the distance of about 40 miles. The lake of Geneva is very celebrated for its romantic |