SWITZERLAND. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION, CONTENTS. Page § 1. PASSPORTS AND CUSTOM-HOUSES § 2. ROUTES TO SWITZERLAND-SKELETON TOURS xi xii § 12. DIRECTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS, AND REQUISITES FOR A JOURNEY - IN SWITZERLAND MAPS-DANGERS OF § 13. OBJECTS MOST DESERVING OF NOTICE IN SWITZERLAND- § 14. ALPINE PASSES § 19. HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS, Lakes, and PASSES § 20. GLOSSARY xxxii xxxix ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA, 1873. Particular attention is requested to the following Corrections and Additions. Telegrams in Switzerland cost franc, but if sent through the people of the hotels are charged 1 franc! To secure safe receipt always pay for an answer (réponse payée). PAGE 49. Lucerne. Physician, Dr. Nager, is highly recommended; speaks English, studied in England.-Swann Hotel very good. 80, col. ii. The steamer on the Lake of Thun lands her passengers on the S. side at Därligen Terminus of the Railway to Unterseen, Interlachen, and Brienz. It is called the Bödelibahn. [Neuhaus is deserted.] 81. Dr. Mani has left Interlachen. 83. Mürren. H. et Pension Mürren-a large house, new 1872; splendid view. A third hotel is just built, 1873. 94. Reichenbach H. not so good as Sauvage at Meiringen. 98. Guttanen. Inn Bär is a better sleeping place for ladies than Handek. 112. Brieg. H. Sonnenberg, new and good; a little above the village. Engelberg. New large hotel, Sonnenberg. 121. St. Gothard Railway. The works on this Pass are begun in earnest, The great Tunnel, 83 m. long! (14,900 mètres) was commenced, 1872. below Göschenen, where the rock is gneiss, and also near Airolo, on the Italian side. 133. Kandersteg. H. et Pension Gemmi, 1872. 147. Comballaz. There is but one Inn or Pension here, and that a very uncomfortable one. 173. Geneva. The Musée Académique was removed, 1872, to the New Academy on the Bastion. 178. The Voirons. The Inn here is no longer to be recommended. 180. The Pierre aux Dames is removed to the Bastion, near the New Academy. 210. Domo d' Ossola, H. de Ville (ancienne Poste) is the best Inn. Both are dear. 267. Chiavenna. Conradi's is the only Inn for English travellers. 277. St. Moritz Baths. Hotel cuisine improved, under new manager. 290, col. ii. Bernina Inn by no means to be recommended; uncivil host. 294. Klosters-Inn, Pension Silvretta; good. A hut has been erected on the Silvretta glacier, 3 hours' walk from this, to shelter travellers. 369. The Tariff for Guides has been revised. To Monte Rosa, 40 frs. instead of 50 for guide; 25 for porter. To the Trift, 30 frs. for guide, &c. ROUTES 37 AND 129. Pedestrians going from Leukerbad to the Val d'Anniviers need not go through Sierre, but may reach the bridge across the Rhone by turning into a footpath on left, hour or 20 minutes after passing the village of Salgesch, where lunch should be secured, as there is no other chance before reaching S. Luc. In passing up the sunny and shadeless slope of the Val d'Anniviers, the traveller will not find the opportunity, which he constantly meets elsewhere in Switzerland, of refreshing himself at frequent springs. No spring or stream is met with on the road for 2 hours after leaving the Rhone. ROUTE 31. Engelberg. There is a charming walk along a well marked footpath on the slopes of the mountain, a short way above and south of the village. Ascend a footpath a little beyond the pension of Hotel Titlis, and follow it about 2 miles to the chalets of Schwand. From this point a winding path leads down through the pine woods to the high road in the valley, about 2 miles from Engelberg. The path may be followed along the mountain side some distance beyond Schwand, or by turning up the mountain at the chalets a path leads over a shoulder of the mountain back to Engelberg. [This latter route I was only told of, and cannot speak from experience. I think it must be a pleasant walk.] ROUTE 121. Borca. Note. Pedestrians down the valley should from this point follow the path which runs along a wooden staging raised above the bed of the stream, and is much better than the mule-track. The staging, formerly used as a wood slide, runs continuously from Borca to the Ponte del Valt, where it crosses to the right bank, and must then be abandoned for the bridle-road as far as Campiole, the staging in the gorge having broken away. Below Campiole the wood-slide path should be again resumed as far as Ceppo Morelli. ROUTES 122 AND 127. Weissthor Pass. In crossing this pass from the Riffel to Macugnaga, I saw nothing of "the wall of frozen snow "like a tight-rope," spoken of as the chief difficulty of the pass. The route from the Riffel lay along gentle snow slopes, exactly as described, but there was a steep though very short (scarcely 5 minutes) snow slope to be ascended by steps up to the rocks of the Weissthor. ROUTE 127, p. 374. The passage of the Trift-Joch is much facilitated by the erection of a cabane at "la Mountet," on the southern slope of Lo Besso, just above the Zinal glacier, about 4 hours' easy walking from Zinal. By sleeping at this cabane (it is marked on Dufaur's map) the col may be reached early in the day (easily in 3 to 4 hours from the cabane), and the danger from falling stones almost entirely evaded. A ladder and rope, în addition to the chain, are also fixed near the foot of the rocks, at a point where an overhanging mass formerly barred the passage, and compelled the ascent of a steep iceslope. I can recommend the guides Simon and Louis Zufferey; one of them brother-in-law to Pont, landlord of the excellent Inn at S. Luc. They are both cheerful, active, and willing, and use their axes like men. Our time over the Trift was: Traversed glacier and reached foot of final moraine 12. 0, Noon. Thence it is about two hours' easy walking into Zermatt.—C. (3) DESCRIPTION OF THE RIGI RAILWAY. THE gradient over about one-third of the line is 1 in 4, i. e. for every 4 ft. of length the line rises 1 ft. This is exceedingly steep, much steeper, in fact, than would be practicable for horse-carriages on ordinary roads, and in this consists the extraordinary character of the railway. To ascend or descend such a gradient by ordinary railway appliances would be impracticable; stationary engines and ropes would be difficult of application and highly dangerous, and it has therefore been necessary to adopt a system of propulsion which, though it was tried in the infancy of railways, has never been used in their practical development, namely, the rack and pinion. Two rails are laid down on the ordinary plan, but between them is placed a long-toothed rack, in which engage the teeth of a pinion or toothed wheel, worked by the locomotive, and the revolution of this wheel causes the ascent of the train. The engine is made as light as possible, there being no necessity, as on ordinary railways, to procure adhe sion by weight on the wheels. It has little resemblance to an ordinary locomotive, the boiler being upright: and with a view to give it a vertical position when on the steep gradient, it slopes considerably when standing at the stations, which has a very odd appearance. Only one carriage is taken up at a time; it is very light, but will carry about 50 passengers; when a greater number have to be conveyed extra trains are sent. The speed, both ascending and descending, is purposely kept very slow, not much exceeding 3 m. an hr. The great point aimed at is to ensure safety, which, with such a frightfully steep gradient is a difficult problem. It has however been carefully studied, and the ingenious ar rangements made with this view are worth a short description, to satisfy the minds of nervous people. Collisions at such a slow speed are not to be feared: the dangers are of two other kinds. In the first place the engine or carriage might get off the rails, which, with a precipice of some thousands of feet close alongside, might have an uncomfortable result. This is provided against by a clip on both engine and carriage, which embraces two projections on the middle or rack-rail; so that if the flanges of the wheels should run off their rails the vehicle cannot get away. On But a more serious risk to be guarded against is that of the train becoming unmanageable and running down; a risk which always exists on steep gradients even in ascending, and still more in the descent. ordinary railways the control is effected by breaks applied to the wheels; but on such an incline as 1 in 4 these would be useless, for even with all the wheels locked the train would still run down by its own gravity. Hence it has been necessary to devise an entirely different scheme, which is most ingenious and perfectly effective. The carriage is provided on one of its axles with a cogged-wheel similar to the driving-wheel on the engine, and double-clip breaks, worked by powerful screws, are applied to drums fastened on this shaft; so that by screwing these tight a hold is obtained on the rack-rail, and the carriage is held up with great security. The locomotive is provided with a similar break on its free axle, while the driving-axle has a still more powerful break adapted to the shaft of the engine, so giving a double security in case of the accidental fracture of any part of the machinery. With these breaks the train, while running down at the slow speed adopted (not exceeding 4 m. an_hr.), can be brought to a stand almost instantaneously, and firmly held in its place on the steepest part of the incline. Another very ingenious contrivance is also adopted in running down hill; the steam being entirely shut off, the pistons, worked by the motion of the train, are made to compress the air in the cylinders, and to drive it through an aperture capable of regulation; this acts as a break, and serves to regulate and control the speed. The rack is strongly formed in wrought iron, and the pinions working into it are of the best cast steel, these materials giving the best security against fracture. As an additional precaution, the carriage, in ascending, is not coupled and dragged behind the engine as on ordinary railways, but is loose, and is pushed on in front. By this arrangement if anything should happen to the engine and it should run down, it need not take the carriage with it, as the latter can be stopped by its own break, and will remain where it is till help can be procured. In running down the carriage follows the engine by its own weight, and the same security is obtained.-W. P. |