These peaks are likewise not all of granite, but in part composed of lamellated
argillaceous rock, containing grains of quartz and feldspath, and, in part, of lamellated
quartz ose rock.
It is however those of granite only that contain rich raines of rock-crystal, of which
there are some so abundant, as to yield several thousand quintals annually. Indeed
many of the neighbouring peasants subsist entirely by the produce reaped in procuring
them, which is a most dangerous enterprise, pursued at the risque of their lives. Some
of these caves, or more properly ovens, from whence the crystals are picked, have been
shown me, whose interior was covered with micaceous earth of a greenish tinge, and
small crystals of mica and feldspath. At the village of Urseren I have also seen some
beautiful black crystals, which sometimes contain particles of red fiuspar.
The passage of St. Gothard is probably the only mountain in Europe that is formed
by the junction of such a number of long chains of spiry peaks, piled one above
another, as already observed, to such an astonishing height, or that gives birth to so
many rivers and torrents as this does. For, if we begin on the south, we shall there
find the Tesino, which takes its source on the summit of the mountain, and then
empties itself into the Lake Majore and the Pô. Eastward are the three sources of the
Rhine, which by their junction contiguous to the town of Richenau, five-and-forty
miles from their source, form that beautiful river, which, after traversing a part of
Switzeriand, Germany, and Holland, throws itself, near Leyden, into the German
Ocean. Northward flows the Rheuss, which, as before stated, takes its source in the
Lake Luzendro ; then, passing through the Lake of Lucerne, or Four Cantons, mingles
with the Aar near the town of Vindisch, fifteen miles before this last river reaches the
Rhine : whUst, north-west, runs the same river, which traverses the lakes of Brieng and
Thun; and, westward, the Rhône, the course of which I have described from its
source to where it throws itself into the Mediterranean Sea.
Having now given a pretty accurate description of this stupendous passage, particulariy
attending that part which appears best calculated to satisfy the traveler's
curiosity, I shall resume my narrative from the hospice, or hospital, which I have already
said is not to be compared, in neatness or internal regulations, to the one on the
Great St. Bernard ; this institution not having the same means to maintain itself with
similar profusion, though still a most fortunate and comfortable asylum. Here I staid
about three hours, during which I visited every part of the building and its environs ;
after this, being desirous of seeing the Pont du Diable, or Devil's bridge, my guide and
I crossed the Rheuss, and proceeded to Urseren, a town five or six miles from the sumr
mit of the pass.
The road, on first setting out, began to descend rapidly ; but having passed through
the small village of L'Hôpital, situated in the valley of Urseren, it became less so. The
town, which takes the name of the valley, where we slept, is accounted its metropolis j
and the inhabitants, who enjoy great privileges, are to be considered as protected,
rather than governed, by the canton of Uri.
They are judged by their own laws, and they elect their own magistrates ; the chief
of which, who is named by the people assembled in a body in the open air, near the
above-mentioned village, the second Sunday in May, every two years, takes the title of
Amman, or Thai Amman, Governor of the Valley, and presides at a council composed of
individuals also chosen by the people.
The inhabitants of this singular little valley, whose extent does not exceed ten miles
in length and five in width, and so elevated that trees cannot exist, are nevertheless
opulent, well informed, and carry on a considerable traffic in cattle and cheese.
The day after I visited the Pont du Diable, or Teuffels-Bruck, three miles and a half
distant from Urseren, where the road, which is also the one which leads to Switzerland,
is rugged and steep j but, at no great distance from the above town, it is cut
through a hard rock, forming a vault of about eighty yards long, twelve wide, and ten
in height. This passage or gallery, effected at great expense and labour, through a
hard quartzose rock, is called by the people of the country Umer-iock, or Tron du Pays
iUmer, or Urserai.
The rocks are here so abrupt, and the valley so contracted, that, before this opening
was made, the numbers of people that perished by the avalanches was dreadful ; for
the falls of snow are so frequent and tremendous in the spring, that there have been
instances of the valley being entirely filled up with i t j so that the following lines of
Claudian, who lived in the fourth century, alluding to the army commanded by the
general Stilico, passing across the Rhstian Alps, may be deemed equally applicable to
this high contracted pass.
Sed latus, Hesperii quo Rlistia jungitur ora,
Prairuptis ferit astra jugis, pandit-que terendam
Vix ffislale viam. Multi ceu Coitone visa