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summit into the dark blue sky to such an
amazing height that it almost seems to impend
over the spectator. The valley of Saas
abounds with minerals, some of which are
rare, and here are found in situ rocks of
saussurite, exactly similar to the blocks of
that mineral, which are scattered over many
parts of the vicinity of the Lake of Geneva.
For this information I am indebted
to M. A. De Luc, who showed me several
specimens from the rocks in the valley of
Saas, which we compared with the fragments
found near Geneva.
Briegg has a singular appearance: its
churches and colleges are in a style of
architecture unlike that of any other in
Furope, except at Moscow. Fbel says the
houses are covered with brilliant silver mica
slate, but so far from this being the case, the
roofs of all the buildings, except the
churches, are covered with a coarse dark
slate, nearly as black as soot. I t is true
the great globes and domes, which surmount
the churches, are covered with tin,
but this is the covering of almost all the
churches and public buildings in Switzerland
and Savoy. I feel much inclined to
believe, that M. Fbel travelled through the
southern part of Switzerland in his closet.
Briegg was formerly a town of considerable
consequence, and there are several
very large mansions, with grated windows,
lofty and gloomy, like prisons. The place
is now so much on the decline, that owing to
the poverty o f the inhabitants, many of these
mansions are entirely shut up ; in others
the old proprietors reside on the wreck of
their little property, but they are only able
to occupy two or three rooms, and many of
them cannot even afford to keep a servant.
I have before mentioned that the Jesuits
have a large establishment here. Briegg
appears to have been their favourite abode,
when they were driven from other parts of
the canton. The village of Naters, on the
opposite side of the valley, has a pleasing
appearance at a distance, but on entering
it, we found every thing miserable and
dirty, except the house of the curé and the
church.
The valley of the Rhone, above Briegg,
becomes narrower, and extends about twelve
miles farther to the glacier of the Rhone.
The general appearance of the country
round Briegg is desolate. Our landlord, in