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had left Geneva a Catholic state, and dependent on the Duke of Savoy; he found her free, and a republic, publicly professing the reformed faith.

The castle is now converted into a magazine for military stores. A curious old chapel serves as a powdermagazine, and is not shown. Strangers are readily conducted over other parts of it, and (independent of the associations connected with the building) may find something to interest them in its "potence et cachots." The former is a beam, black with age, extended across one of the vaults, to which the condemned were formerly hung. The cachot is an oubliette, whose only entrance was by a trapdoor in the floor above. The dungeon of Bonnivard is airy and spacious, consisting of two aisles, almost like a church; its floor and one side are formed by the living rock, and it is lighted by a solitary window. Byron inscribed his name on one of the pillars, but it is far more lastingly associated with the spot.

"Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls;
A thousand feet in depth below
Its massy waters meet and flow;
Thus much the fathom-line was sent
From Chillon's snow-white battlement (??),
Which round about the wave enthrals:
A double dungeon-wall and wave
Have made and like a living grave.
Below the surface of the lake
The dark vault lies wherein we lay,
We heard it ripple night and day.
In Chillon's dungeons deep and old
There are seven columns massy and
Dim with a dull, imprison'd ray,
A sunbeam which hath lost its way,
And through the crevice and the cleft
Of the thick wall is fallen and left,
Creeping o'er the floor so damp,
Like a marsh's meteor lamp."

grey,

Byron has exaggerated the depth of the lake, which near the castle does not exceed 280 ft. "It is by this castle that Rousseau has fixed the catastrophe of his Héloïse, in the rescue of one of her children by Julie from the water; the shock of which, and the illness produced by the immersion, is the cause of her death."

Villeneuve-(Inns: Croix Blanche; Lion d'Or, both indifferent)-is a small and ancient walled town of 1480 inhabitants (Pennilucus of the Romans), situated at the E. extremity of the lake, where the road quits its borders to enter the valley of the. Rhone. A diligence awaits the arrival of the steamers to convey passengers on to Bex, where there are good sleeping-quarters.

About a mile from Villeneuve lies a small island, the only one in the lake: it is thus mentioned by Byrou in the Prisoner of Chillon:"And then there was a little isle, Which in my very face did smile,

The only one in view;

A small green isle, it seem'd no more,
Scarce broader than my dungeon-floor,
But in it there were three tall trees,
And o'er it blew the mountain-breeze,
And by it there were waters flowing,
And on it there were young flowers growing,
Of gentle breath and hue."

The commencement of the valley. of the Rhone is dreary and uninteresting. The low ground is a flat alluvial deposit, formed by mud, brought down by the river, and still remaining in the state of a barren and unwholesome morass. The encroachments of the land upon the lake even within the period of historical record have been very great. Port Vallais, Portus Vallesiæ of the Romans, in their time stood on the margin of the lake, but is now more than a mile and a half inland; the intervening tract has been gained since. The Rhone itself creeps slowly along, impeded by its windings, and as it were burdened with mud, very unlike the torrent of azure and crystal which bursts out of the lake at Geneva. Upon this plain, at the mouth of the valley of the Rhone, Divico, the first Helvetian chief mentioned in history, defeated, B.C. 107 (the 646th year of Rome), the Roman forces under Lucius Cassius, slaying their general and compelling his army to pass under the yoke.

The top of the mountain above Yvorne was thrown, down by an

2 L'Aigle (Inn: La Croix Blanche)-a village of 1650 inhabitants (Aquileia). Black marble is quarried near this.

1. Bex-(Inns: L'Union, good. It comprises a boarding-house and an establishment of baths, supplied from a sulphureous spring rising in the vicinity, which causes Bex to be resorted to as a watering-place in summer. Guides, horses, and chars-àbanc for excursions among the mountains may be hired here.-L'Ours.)

Salt has

Bex, a village of 3000 inhabitants, situated on the high road to the Simplon, is chiefly remarkable for its Salt-Mines and Salt-Works. been obtained from brine-springs here since the middle of the 16th century. For a long time they belonged to a merchant family of Augsburg named Zobel, but they are now property of the government of the canton. Down to 1823 the brine-springs alone furnished the salt,and they were gradually failing, when M. Charpentier suggested the plan of driving shafts and galleries into the mountain in search of rock-salt. The result was the discovery of a large and rich vein of the mineral, which has been traced for a distance of 4000 fr. and for a height of 600 ft., varying in thickness from 2 ft. to 50 ft.; and the annual produce of salt is now augmented to 20,000 or 30,000 quintals. Strangers visiting Bex commonly pay a visit to the mines, which are situated about 2 miles off, in the valley of La Gryonne. A steep road, but practicable for chars-à-banc, leads through most beautiful scenery to the entrance of the mines. The salt is obtained either from the brinesprings, six or seven of which, of various degrees of strength, burst forth in different parts of the interior of the mountain, or from the rocksalt, which, after being extracted by the help of gunpowder, is broken into pieces, thrown into large reservoirs, called dessaloirs, cut in the anhydrite

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rock (sulphate of lime without water) in the interior of the mountain, and there dissolved in water. Each reser voir is usually filled with water 3 times. The 2 first solutions (lessivages) furnish a liquor with 25 or 26 per cent. of salt; the 3rd is much weaker, having only 5 or 6 per cent. The brine, either from the sources or from these reservoirs, containing above 20 per cent. of salt, is conveyed in pipes. made of fir-wood at once to the boiling-house (maison de cuite); that which is less strong must be subjected to the process of graduation in the long buildings or sheds, open at the sides, which are passed at Bexvieux and Devins, between Bex and the mines. These evaporating-houses, or maisons de graduation, are filled up to the roof with stacks of fagots of thorn-wood, over which the salt water, after being raised to the roof by pumps, is allowed to trickle drop by drop. The separation of the water. in passing through colanders, and its exposure to the atmosphere as it falls, produce rapid and considerable evaporation of the watery particles, while the gypsum dissolved in it adheres, in passing, to the twigs, and crystalizes around them. The water is thus made to ascend and descend several times; it becomes stronger each time, and at length is brought to the condition of saturated brine, fit for boiling in the salt-pans. It will easily be perceived how much fuel is thus spared by not subjecting the weak solution to the fire at first.

This short explanation may enable the visitor to understand the process pursued in the mines. The principal mines are those called Du Fondement and Du Bouillet; the latter contains a gallery driven horizontally into the bowels of the mountain for a distance of 6636 ft., 7 ft. high and 5 ft. wide. At 400 ft. from its entrance is the round reservoir, 80 ft. in diameter and 10 ft. deep, excavated in the rock, without any support to its roof. In it the weak water is collected, which requires to undergo the pro

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cess of graduation. A little farther on is another irregular reservoir, 7933 ft. in extent, supported by pillars, and destined to hold the stronger brine fit for the salt-pans without undergoing any intermediate process.

Many beautiful minerals are obtained from the salt-mires of Bexsuch as very clear crystals of selenite, muriacite, anhydrite, &c.

There is a short but difficult path (Route 58) from Bex to Sion by the Bergfall of Les Diablerets. A guide would be required for this journey.

A little way above Bex a curious discovery was made, a few years ago, of a warm sulphureous spring in the very bed of the Rhone. It has been enclosed, and employed in supplying medicinal baths, the healing properties of which are attributed to the quantity of azote gas contained in the water.

"

Journeying upward by the Rhone,

That there came down a torrent from the
Alps,

I enter'd where a key unlocks a kingdom:
The mountains closing, and the road, the
river

Filling the narrow space."-Rogers.

Such is the scene presented to the traveller at the Bridge of St. Maurice, which spans the rapid river with one bold arch, 70 ft. wide, leaning for support (appuyé) on the rt. side upon the Dent de Morcles and on the 1. upon the Dent de Midi, whose bases are pushed so far forward as barely to leave room for the river.

The bridge, erroneously attributed to the Romans, is not older than the 15th century, but may possibly rest on Roman foundations. It unites the canton Vaud with the canton Vallais; and a gate at one end, now removed, formerly served to close the passage up and down: a circumstance alluded to in the lines of Rogers. A small fort was erected by the Swiss in 1832, above the road, to defend the pass. Here our route is joined by the road from Geneva along the S. shore of the lake, through St. Gingough. (Route 57.)

No one can cross the bridge of St. Maurice without being struck with the change in the condition of the inhabitants of the two cantons. The neatness and industry of the Vaudois are exchanged within the space of a few hundred yards for filth and beggary, equally apparent in the persons and habitations of the Vallaisans. Their physical condition is lamentable; no part of Switzerland is afflicted to a greater extent with the maladies of goître and cretinism (§ 19), and the victims of them shock the traveller's sight at every step.

Immediately beyond the bridge, squeezed in between the mountain and the 1. bank of the Rhone, stands

St. Maurice-(Inn: L'Union, tolerably good)-a town of 1050 inhabitants, occupying the site of the Roman Agaunum. It owes its present name to the tradition that the Theban Legion, under the command of St. Maurice, suffered martyrdom here by order of Maximian, A.D. 302, because they refused to abjure Christianity.

The Abbey, founded in honour of St. Maurice by Sigismond King of Burgundy, contains in its Treasury a museum of ancient art. Here are preserved a vase of Saracenic workmanship, presented by Charlemagne; a crozier of gold, in the shape of a spire, the niches of it filled with figures an inch high, most elaborately worked; a chalice of agate, presented by Charlemagne; another, given by Bertha Queen of Burgundy, and several besides, of a very early date.

"The Church was much damaged by fire in the 17th century, but the tower is unaltered, and several Ro man inscriptions are built into its walls."-P.

On quitting the town we perceive on the right, upon a projecting platform of rock considerably above the road, the Hermitage of Nôtre Dame des Sex. Lower down on the road is the chapel of Veriolez, raised on the precise spot of the Theban mas

sacre (!), and covered with rude frescoes. In the autumn of 1835 a torrent of mud descended from the summit of the Dent de Midi into the Vallais near Evionaz. It covered the high road for a length of 900 ft., and overwhelmed many fields, and orchards, and some few houses; but no lives were lost, as the slow progress of the current allowed every one time to remove out of its way. It is conjectured to have been caused by a glacier bursting and sweeping along with it the debris of the Moraine, which it converted into mud. Blocks of stone, many tons in weight, were carried down with it, and floated like corks on the surface.

This part of the valley has a dreary and barren aspect from the quantity of bares gravel and broken rock strewed over it.

About 6 miles from St. Maurice, 4 from Martigny, is the famous Waterfall of the Sallenche, which here descends into the valley of the Rhone out of a narrow ravine, apparently excavated by its waters. The perpendicular descent of the stream is about 280 feet, but the final leap of the cascade not more than 120 feet. It is a fine object, both from its volume and height, visible from a considerable distance up and down. It is best seen in a sunny morning before 12 o'clock, when the iris, formed in the cloud of spray, hovers over it. The neighbouring village of Mieville sends forth an importunate crowd of beggars and self-appointed guides to conduct travellers from the road to the fall, a distance of a few hundred yards. Before reaching Martigny we cross another stream, the Trient, descending from the celebrated pass of the Tête Noire. On the outskirts of Martigny, upon a cominanding rock, rises the castle of La Batie, formerly a stronghold of the archbishops of Sion. The deep dungeon beneath its tall tower is only accessible by a trap-door in the floor of the chamber above. The river

Geneva to Thonon. 153

After quitting Geneva by the Porte de Rive, a fine view opens out on the right; beyond the Saléve rises the Môle, and the vista of the valley of the Arve is terminated by the Buet, by Mont Blanc and its glaciers. The shore of the lake is dotted over with villas of the Genevese. One of these, near the village of Cologny, the Campagna Diodati, is interesting as having been the residence of Lord Byron in 1816. He wrote here a great part of the 3rd canto of Childe Harold and the tragedy of Manfred.

Beyond the village of Corsier the Genevan territory is left, and we enter the kingdom of Sardinia and the ancient province of Chablais, which extends along the lake as far as St. Gingough. A monotonous plain is traversed in order to reach:

23 Douvaine, the first Sardinian post-station, where passports and baggage are examined.

2 Thonon-(Inn: Les Balances, improved of late)an ancient town of 3740 inhabitants, originally capital of the Chablais.

'N

On quitting Thonon we pass on the left, between the road and the lake, Ripaille, anciently an Augustine convent, founded by Amadeus VIII. of Savoy, in which he ended his days, having assumed the cowl of an Augustine monk. He abdicated, in succession, the dukedom of Savoy, the Papacy (into which he had been installed with the title of Felix V.)

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and the bishop's see of Geneva. He resided here after his second abdication, passing his time, not in the austere penance of an anchorite, but in weaving political intrigues and laying schemes for futnre aggrandisement. Hence the French proverb-" Aller à Ripaille." The castle, with 7 towers, built by Amadeus for himself and the six knights whom he chose as companions, has nearly disappeared. The relic of the convent is converted into a farmhouse. A long bridge of 24 arches carries the road over the Dranse, a torrent descending from the Buet.

Through groves of most magnificent chesnut-trees we pass Amphion, where are baths supplied by a chalybeate spring, and reach

1 Evian-(Inn : H. du Nord; Poste) a town of 1670 inhabitants, at the water-side.

The Rocks of Meillerie, celebrated by Rousseau and Byron, were, under the orders of Napoleon, and with the help of gunpowder, blasted to form a passage for the magnificent road of the Simplon, which is here carried partly through them, partly on a terrace 30 or 40 feet above the lake. The little village of Meillerie was, previous to its construction, barely accessible, except by boats. About a mile off the shore, at Meillerie, the lake attains its greatest depth, 920 Fr. ft. Here Byron was nearly lost in a storm. Rousseau, in the N. Héloïse, has conducted St. Preux and Mad. Wolmar also to this port for shelter from a tempest. On the opposite shore is seen Clarens, and the white wall of the castle of Chillon (p. 149).

23 St. Gingough-(Inn: Poste, comfortable). A deep ravine here divides Savoy from the Swiss territory of the Vallais; travellers entering from the Vallais are subjected to custom-house regulations here.

Bovaret, the next village, lies within the valley of the Rhone, here a broad, flat, and unwholesome swamp. Port Vallais, in the days of

the Romans, stood on the water-side; › all the ground between it and the lake has been produced since the records of history, by the deposits of the river. At Port du Sex the rocks on the rt. encroach so far upon the Rhoue as barely to leave a passage for the road at their base. This defile was originally guarded by an old castle; and, by raising a drawbridge, the passage up or down was cut off. There is a ferry over the Rhone near this, but the cross-roads leading to the opposite side of the valley among the morasses are very bad...

The canal of Stockalper, running nearly parallel with the road, was cut about a century ago, to drain this: portion of the valley.

2. Vionnaz.

2 St. Maurice, (Route 56)., 21 Martigny (Route 59).

ROUTE 58.

BEX TO SION, BY LES DIABLERETS AND COL DE CHEVILLE.

113 stunden = 37 English miles.

Bex is described in Route 56. A difficult, and in parts dangerous, path; at times painfully steep and hardly to be followed without a guide. It is a very long day's: journey, and there is no inn (worthy the name) by the way. After snow it is almost impracticable. It ascends the valley of the Avençon, running. in a direction nearly due E. from Bex, passing Bexvieux to the Chalets of Charnemey (2 hours), and the Chalets of Anzeinde (2 hours). Here the path begins rapidly to ascend in a tortuous course (43) to the summit of the Col de Chéville. The valley into which it descends on the E side of the pass is nearly occupied by the wreck of the fall of the Mont Diablerets, a name given to the spot by the peasantry, it is said, because they regard it as the vestibule of hell. This mountain is composed of limestone strata, much deranged and