THE ST. GOTHARD.

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deur. The ascent here is very steep, made by galleries in the face of the mountain. As we neared the summit we found the road, as well as all around us, covered with snow, and pretty flowers peeping through. There are villages scattered along this mountain pass, churches, and solitary houses; yet there is not a tree, and scarce a shrub, any where to be seen: and though on the summit there is a village, and even a good inn, it is impossible to imagine where they procure fuel enough to warm them through the bitter cold of the long, dreary winters they must experience here.

At the summit, we are nine thousand feet above the sea. Certainly I have never been so near heaven in point of altitude as here, and one's thoughts and feelings cannot do otherwise than ascend when surrounded with the wonders of the Almighty hand. I found myself sighing several times with the intensity of my feelings, as I looked upwards from these dark mountain passes; and once, when wrapped in wonder, and I may say devotion, I was almost startled out of my propriety by the shrill bark of a little dog breaking in upon the silence, and I certainly thought him a bad name, though I did not utter it. It has a singular appearance, when thus high to look down and around upon the surface of the clefts and ridges of other promontories, and it seemed to me now that Mount Righi and the Arlberg were but half-grown mountains. Like as a man who, by some little talent, but more by the aid of adventitious circumstances, reaching the highest point of his ambitious aspirings, passes regardless by those who, in the innocence and artlessness of boyhood, he looked up to with respect and veneration. Our mountains will have to grow some time yet before they are as tall as those of this country. Ours seem, like the country, young and new, while these seem coeval with time itself; and you cannot but experience a feeling of awe and veneration when

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THE PASS OF ST. GOTHARD.

you look upon these hoary patriarchs as they rear their

66

frosty pows" skyward: and the effect is beautiful, as you see them sometimes through a light transparent haze, in which apparently a third of them is enveloped.

There was formerly a road over this mountain, but when the pass of the Simplon was completed, its superiority gave it a preference, and this fell to decay; but since then another has been constructed, by the inhabitants of Tercino, in Italy, and of Altorf. Shortly after its completion, however, a storm destroyed a large portion of it; but with the aid of the Emperor Joseph II., it was finally completed, and does credit to the skilful engineer who constructed it. The steepest part of the ascent and descent is made by galleries. The road winding in a zig-zag manner up the size or face of the mountain, is supported by stone walls, guarded at the outer edge by short stone pillars; and as you view them from below, it has the appearance of a fortress-the fortifications with their turrets and battlements, rising one above the other. In the descent, on the Italian side, there is a succession of waterfalls, six of them at short distances, one below the other, each falling from twelve to thirty feet; and as we turned, in the windings of the gallery, we were vis-a-vis and dos-ados with them for some twenty times; till at last, in crossing a bridge, we had the whole in view at once, with the dark valley behind extending far beyond.

At Bellinzona we took steamer and sailed along the Lago Maggiore, so celebrated for its beautiful scenery and its lovely isles Borromeo; and unspeakably lovely it is, with charming Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Piscana, and Giovanni, which have not been too much extolled, for no pen, however graphic, can do justice to a truly beautiful landscape it cannot present the ripple of the wave, the changeful and varying tints of the evening sky, or the movements of animate and inanimate nature, that give life and beauty to the

scene.

We landed at Cesto Callende, and arrived in Milan at eight o'clock, having enjoyed a magnificent sunset. I have just been into a church near by, to see the Catholic funeral service performed over the body of a young girl that was borne past the hotel. The procession was headed by a number of sisters of charity, with blue dresses, white aprons, and white muslin veils over the head; next came a long line of priests, with long black dresses and short lace ones; then the coffin, covered with a rich pall of white satin, embroidered in silk and gold, and bordered with a heavy fringe of gold, and tassels of the same; then followed friends and relatives, with black veils, bearing in their hands lighted wax candles, very long; and all chanting, the men and the women alternately; and now as I write, the rich strains of the organ, mingled with the music of mournful voices, is heard distinctly from the church-for we could not stay to see the whole, having this letter to dispatch.

In the land of the vine, olive and fig-tree--a land literally flowing with milk and honey-I take my leave. En verito, what a feast I could send you, if there were ways and means expedient. Such luscious grapes--white, purple, and redso sweet and juicy! Such exquisite figs, that grow by the way-side and on the mountain; delicious peaches and plums as large as eggs; good apples, and pears in the greatest variety and abundance I have ever seen, with oranges and lemons, brought from a little farther south; add to these green hazle nuts, chesnuts, and Madeira nuts, fresh from the tree, and something you have never tasted, chamois' meat and goat's cheese, fresh, and I think I have given a very good set off to Mr. S's list of bonnes bouches that he sent to tempt us home. Wishing you much enjoyment of the same, I bid you adieu.

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CAVE OF ADELSBERG.

LETTER XI.

CAVE OF ADELSBERG THE RIVER POIK BALL ROOM UNDER GROUND-PROTEUS ANGUINUS-THE BORER.

Trieste, October.

As Mr. C. will send from this point, I have determined to finish my letter, giving you instead of Greece, a description of the cave of Adelsberg, which I think will equally please you. Adelsberg is about thirty-six miles from Trieste. The grotto is said to be the most wonderful and extensive, as well as beautiful, in all Europe, perhaps in the whole world. We had with us all day the Sirocco or south wind, which blows from the S. E., coming from the Levant, and is at times very hot and oppressive. Leaving the busy town of Trieste, we entered upon a barren, arid and mountainous region, not altogether uninteresting however, for the face of the country is very singular in its appearance. On the sides or banks of the road where the different strata were perceptible, you see alternate layers of earth and lime-stone, the latter varying from one to six inches in thickness. These layers run in every direction through the ground perpendicularly, horizontally and diagonally, and being broken or separated into small pieces, resemble rows of brickwork. On the surface the ground is covered with stone that has the appearance of having been melted. It would almost seem that by some convulsion of nature, a mountain had crumbled and fallen to pieces, scattering its fragments over the whole country. About three P. M. we reached the entrance of the cave, an archway or opening in the face of the rock to which the road ascends. Below, at a short distance from

GROTTO OF ADELSBERG.

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this, is another cavernous opening, through which the river Poik enters and disappears beneath the mountain. As soon as we were fairly in the mouth of the cave, the guides lighted their torches, and with baskets filled with candles and matches, were prepared to lead the way, and we commenced our march "into the bowels of the land." Near the entrance is a deep ravine where the guide told us by building steps, thus enabling them to descend some two hundred feet, they could enter another cavern that extended a mile farther, in a direction not yet explored. Not far from this we enter a lofty chamber, called the Duomo. Here the river Poik makes its appearance, rushing like a torrent far below, losing itself again in the bowels of the mountains, reappearing at Platina, being, as is supposed, identical with the river Unz. Planks of wood, it is said, thrown into the stream of the cavern appear in that river after ten or twelve hours. This chamber is more than a hundred feet high, and the river is crossed in one place by a natural bridge of one arch; another passage is made by an artificial bridge erected for the purpose. Crossing this we descend by steps of wood to a great depth, and on the other side again ascend, and enter an extensive range of chambers. As we looked back before entering, the effect was beautiful, aided by the brilliant light of some one hundred candles which the guides that preceded us had placed there. The lofty dome with its beautiful chrystal pillars of stalactite, glittered like diamonds, the rushing of the subterranean torrent in the depth below, and the long row of lights winding along the causeway, steps and bridge, produced an effect indescribable and incomparable. We stood half frightened, half amazed, with the exclamations-wonderful! beautiful! bursting from us at every respiration, till the guides motioned us on to new beauties and greater marvels. Stalactites had formed themselves into every shape that was curious, fantastic or beau