Near the scattered hamlet Teggiate the descent recommences, and soon after the road is carried through the first great Gallery, more than 700 ft. long, 15 ft. high and wide, followed by a second, 642 ft. long, and, after a short interval, by a third, 1530 ft. long. These galleries, the longest on any Alpine high road, are constructed of the most solid masonry, arched, with roofs sloping outwards, to turn aside the snow, supported on pillars, and lighted by low windows like the embrasures of a battery. They were rendered necessary to protect this portion of the road from falling avalanches which habitually descend the face of the mountains, and which, if not warded off, would have swept away the road the first year after it was made.

From the entrance of the second gallery there is a most striking view down upon the roofs of the houses of Isola, and the long line of zigzags, abandoned since 1838, by which the traveller originally descended to Chiavenna. At the village of Pianazzo (a cluster of pitch-coloured hovels), the new line, after descending 2 angular terraces, turns off to the 1. This alteration, by which nearly 3 m. of distance are saved, was rendered necessary on account of the injury done to the whole line by the storm of 1834, and also by the great dangers to which that part of the route, between Isola and the Cascade of the Madessimo, was exposed from avalanches, which fall regularly into the savage glen of the Lira, below Pianazzo, producing an almost annual loss of life. In 1835 5 peasants and 8 horses were overwhelmed by the snow in this glen as they were returning from conducting the diligence on a sledge over the mountain. The postilion, being nearest the rock, which fortunately somewhat overhung the road, drew the horse he rode under the cliff as soon as he heard the crash; to this circumstance he and the animal owed their preservation. Although buried like the rest, who perished, they were rescued and dug out after an imprisonment of some hours.

Pianazzo stands at the same height above the sea as the bridge over the Rhine at Splügen. The road, after passing through it, crosses the little stream of the Madessimo, within a few yards of the verge of the precipice, over which it throws itself in a beautiful fall, 800 ft. high. The view, looking down the fall from a terrace near the bridge, is very fine; it is also well seen from the different winding terraces down which the road is carried. [From near the bridge, ascending the stream of the Madesimo, there is a practicable pass to Canicul in the Val Ferrera.] After crossing the bridge, the road traverses some galleries, and gradually descends by numerous zigzags down the face of something nearly approaching to a precipice. This is a most extraordinary piece of engineering, and well deserves examination. It is of course best seen on the ascent.

Campo Dolcino, which, in spite of its sweet-sounding Italian name, is but a poor village, with a tolerable Inn (Post, civil people), on a small grassy plain, on the borders of the Lira.

A further improvement has been made in the continuation of the road, which, on quitting the plain, threads the gorge of St. Giacomo; an inscription, by the road-side, commemorates its completion by Carlo Donegani, in the reign of the Emperor Francis II. It was effected at considerable labour and expense, by cutting through the rock. The vale of the Lira presents a singular aspect of desolation, from the quantity and size of the masses of fallen rock which entirely filled the lower part of it. They are fragments of the neighbouring mountains, which are composed of a species of white gneiss, exceedingly brittle, and which, after exposure to the weather, assumes a red colour. It must have been a difficult task to carry a road through such a wilderness, between such a labyrinth of detached blocks; and it is accordingly in many places narrow, the turnings very sharp, and the terraces too short. The aspect of desolation in this fractured valley would be

greater were it not for the rich dark foliage of the chesnut-trees, of very large size, which now begin to sprout out from among the rocks so as to mask their barrenness. The tall white Italian campanile of the church of Madonna di Gallivaggio, amid such a group of foliage, contrasting with the tall precipices around, forms an agreeable picture. Near it, at the village St. Giacomo, whence the valley is named, the Lira is spanned by a new and bold bridge.

A mile or two farther on, the valley opens out, and Chiavenna expands to view, a picturesque town, beautifully situated, under an Italian sun, surrounded by hills clothed with the richest vegetation, with vines and fig

trees.

Chiavenna (Germ. Clefen, Clavena of the ancients) - Inns: Conradi's, fair; Chiave d'Oro, also good, cheaper; -a town of 3040 Inhab., is charmingly situated in the midst of vineyards, close under the mountains, which appear to impend over it, at the junction of the valley of St. Giacomo with that of the Maira, called Val Bregaglia. Beyond this beauty of situation there is very little here to interest the passing traveller. The town presents a decayed appearance, and many large houses half ruinous, but derives much benefit from its position on the Splügen road, and maintains several spinning-mills for silk and cotton. An ingenious manufacturer named Vanossi at one time wove here a fire-proof cloth of asbestus, a mineral which abounds in the mountains of the neighbourhood. Opposite Conradi's inn, at the foot of a rock, is a large ruined Palazzo which once belonged to the Salis family: strangers are admitted to enjoy the fine view from the summit of the rock. The principal Ch. of St. Lawrence has a tall campanile standing within a square enclosure, surrounded by a cloister. On one side are two bone-houses, filled with skulls arranged in patterns, and, adjoining them, in the octagonal Baptistery, is an ancient stone font, sculptured with rude bas-reliefs, which

will interest the antiquary. The citizens keep their Valteline wine in natural grottoes at the foot of the mountains, which form excellent cool cellars and are called Ventorali.

[Near Pleurs, about 3 m. up the Val Bregaglia, memorable for the fate of its inhabitants, who were buried by the fall of a mountain (Rte. 94), is a peculiar manufacture of a coarse ware for culinary purposes, made out of potstone (lapis ollaris). This stone is easily cut, or turned in a lathe, and is able to endure heat. Pliny calls it lapis Comensis, from its being exported from the lake of Como: the manufacture has greatly dwindled down at present.]

The description of the road up the beautiful Val Bregaglia and over the pass of the Maloja, by way of Pleurs, is given in Rte. 94.

Chiavenna belonged to the Dukes of Milan down to the 16th century, when the Swiss became possessed of it, and it formed, with the Valteline and Bormio, a state subject to the canton of the Grisons. Napoleon added it to the kingdom of Italy, as lying on the S. side of the Alps; and the Congress of Vienna, by the same rule, transferred it to the Emperor of Austria.

The Fall of the Gardona, about 4 m. from Chiavenna, is worth notice. At the distance of hr. from the town on the Riva road, the river on the rt. must be crossed. A walk ofhr. leads thence to the Fall.

The diligences through Chiavenna to Coire in 134 hrs. pass at a very early or late hour. A voiturier to Coire charges 100 frs., sleeping the first night at Andeer, and arriving in the afternoon of the second day at Ragatz. A bargain should be made that he should change horses at Campo Dolcino, and so go at a better pace and avoid waiting 2 hrs. at that dull spot. For the road from Chiavenna to Lecco and the Lake of Como see Rte. 116.

ROUTE 88.

ANDEER TO CASACCIA, BY THE AVERS THAL, FORCELLINA AND SEPTIMER

PASSES.

11 hrs. steady walking: take provisions.

This is the best route for travellers going from Coire to the Engadine wishing to see the Via Mala on their way, but it is little known and unfrequented. 14 m. above Andeer a considerable torrent joins 1. the Hinter Rhein flowing out of a valley that opens S.E. This torrent is called the Avers Rhein, and the main valley through which it flows is the Avers Thal or Val Aversa. The lower part of this valley, however, is called Val Ferrera. About an hr. from the opening of the valley there is a fine waterfall, and the path is carried through a narrow thicklywooded defile, and passing some marble-quarries reaches

Canicul, about 3 hrs. from Andeer; and nearly 3 hrs. farther, ascending by a tolerable path, the chief village of the valley,

Cresta, is reached. There is no Inn either here or at Canicül, but in both places the clergymen receive hospitably the few strangers who pass. Of course, on leaving, a present should be made in such cases to the clergyman's wife or housekeeper. Cresta is a large village, and one of the highest in the Alps, being more than 6000 ft. above the sea. The last straggling pine-trees are seen about the village. Above this the valley opens out into a wide expanse of Alpine pastures, which reach nearly to the summits of the mountains that enclose the head of the valley. About 4 m. beyond Cresta a group of châlets called Juf is passed. [From thence there is a pass called Valetta, towards the N.E., to Bivio on the road of the Julier (Rte. 92). The summit may be reached in 24 hrs. from Cresta: 2 hrs. from the summit is Bivio.]

The higher pass of the Furcula, or Furkel, over which lies the route to Casaccia, is at the eastern extremity of the Avers Thal. The ascent presents no difficulty; but as there is little to point out the true direction, which lies a little N. of E., a guide is required. The summit of the Furcula Pass (8847 ft.)-about 3 hrs. from Cresta commands a wide view over a wilderness of peaks, limited in part by the higher ranges immediately near at hand. The descent on the E. side lies over a slope of snow scarcely steep enough for a glissade, and then over rocks until the horse-track over the Septimer Pass is reached close to the summit, where once stood a small hospice, or place of refuge, now in ruins.

The Septimer, now an indifferent horse-path, but well traced and not difficult, leads from Bivio to Casaccia, 4 or 4 hours' walk. The S. side is much more steep and stony than the other side. The summit is 7616 ft. above the sea-level. The view from this is fine; the Piz Muretto and Monte del Oro being conspicuous features in it. Though impracticable for any kind of vehicles, this was once a frequented highway between Italy and Switzerland until the formation of the carriage-road over the Splügen, which, being a lower pass, and 10 m. shorter, is of course preferred to it. On the Monte Lunghino (9120 ft.), between the passes of Septimer, Julier, and Maloya, are situated the sources of the Maira flowing into the Adriatic, of the Oberhalbstein Rhein flowing into the North Sea; and the river Inn rises out of a small lake and flows into the Black Sea. Thus, one single mountain distributes its rills between the three great seas which bathe the continent of Europe, and in this respect it is unique.

In about 2 hrs. from the summit of

the Furkel Pass the traveller reaches Casaccia (Rte. 94), where very fair quarters may be found at Gioannini's Inn. This pass, though it offers no difficulty to the mountaineer, is rather a hard day's work of about 11 hrs. steady walking.

ROUTE 89.

"For nearly an hour after the summit of the Valserberg the way is marked by poles: the highest châlets are then reached, and a stream from the right crossed. An hour and a half more are necessary to gain Vals or St.

"The great road of the Bernardin is followed as far as Nüfenen, more than an hour above Splügen. Some 3 or 4 minutes after passing through Nüfenen, the footpath to the Valserberg branches off to the rt. by the side of a little stream, reaches in a few minutes more the base of the chain rising from the valley on the N., and continues to ascend along its side at the foot of a line of cliffs. These cliffs extend to the top of the pass, and are an excellent guide to it, the way up being always at a short distance from their base. A wooded spur separates the hollow looking towards Nüfenen from that leading down to Hinterrhein. After an ascent of less than an hour, this spur is crossed nearly at its point of divergence from the northern chain, and just above the wood which clothes its lower part. The high pastures overlooking Hinterrhein are now reached, and the path from that village falls in. There is a very good view from

this point.

"The last ascent to the Valserberg is rather steep, but is marked by poles, and the highest point of the pass is attained in something less than 3 hrs. from Splügen. The Col is a narrow gap in the crest of the chain, covered with snow, and elevated nearly 7500 feet above the sea-level.

"The view to the north is very wild. Several bare mountain ranges are seen, and above them the whole line of the Alps of Glarus, from the Tödi to the Scheibe, an unbroken bank of snow from end to end.

main valley of the Glenner is entered. This is divided into three districts; the lower valley of Lugnetz, the side valley of Vrin, and the upper valley of Vals, called also St. Peter's Thal. In this last district the language is German, as well as in the valley of the Rheinwald and the neighbouring Savien Thal. In the districts of Lugnetz and Vrin Romansch is spoken.

[The scenery of the St. Peter's Thal above Vals is said to be of the grandest character. The last village, Zavreila, is about 3 hrs. above Vals. The path passes in great part through magnificent pine-forests above a formidably deep gorge, at the bottom of which the river works it way. Zavreila is completely surrounded by snowy peaks and glaciers, but there are several passes over which the practised mountaineer may make his way. One, over glacier, leads nearly due S. to the valley of the Hinter Rhein, some miles above the village of the same name; a second, called La Lenta, to Olivone in the Val Blegno, a difficult glacier pass; a third, not so difficult, also reaches the Val Blegno, a little above Olivone, mounting due W. from the châlets of Alpersch, the last in the St. Peter's Thal.]

A very high and narrow gorge above Plaz cuts short in that direction the little plain in which the village is situated. Another defile terminates it to the N. about half a mile below Plaz. This ravine, through which the path to Ilanz, having crossed the river, is now conducted, is one of the grandest gorges by which the Alps are riven. The river is again crossed to its right bank, where a landing from the bridge has only been effected by hewing a shelf out of the rock. The way is afterwards cut with some difficulty along a broken declivity, till the valley opens out at the

châlets of Feistenberg and Montasg, finely placed on the green slopes. A second gorge succeeds, and the path is forced to ascend, scarcely finding ground for its course, until a little oratory by its side marks the close of the ascent and of the long defile (6 m.), and the fertile valley of Lugnetz opens out to the N.

Into its fields the path now descends. The river is crossed some distance lower down, by a bridge just above the

Chalybeate Baths of Peiden; homely accommodation at the Bad-haus, 50 beds, belonging to the medical man of the place. This is too low down the valley to be a good centre for mountain excursions. It lies in a sheltered nook open to the sun. Its neighbourhood is rich in little-known peaks, passes, and glaciers. A wretched char-road leads from Peiden to Ilanz.

From St. Peter's Plaz to Ilanz is a walk of full 5 hrs. (See Rtes. 82, 86.)

almost uninhabited E. side is in places formed by precipices, the rocky escarpment of Mount Heinzenberg. The path is carried up the 1. or W. bank of the Rabbiusa, by the hamlets. of Tenna, Areza, Neukirch, Platz, where the Rathhaus Inn is ill provided.

[A deep path strikes off hence over the col called Stäge across a shoulder of the Piz Beveren to Tusis, 4 hours. The beginning of the ascent is very steep, but afterwards lies over the grass.

The summit of the pass is about 6000 ft., and is reached in 11⁄2 hr. from Platz. It commands a fine view over the Grison Alps. The descent to Tusis traverses the remarkable plateau of the Heinzenberg, an open plain rising by degrees above the valley of Domlesch.]

From Platz the direct way to Splügen continues over the meadows of the Camana Alp to Thalkirche, the oldest and highest church in the district. Now begins the ascent of the Löchliberg, 8442 ft. above the sea-level.

A steep descent leads down to the village Splügen (see Rte. 87).

ROUTE 90.

REICHENAU TO SPLÜGEN, BY THE SAVIENTHAL AND PASS OF THE LOCHLIBERG.

11 hrs. A bridle-path the greater part of the way. Our road runs up the rt. bank of the Vorder-Rhein, through Bonaduz, as far as the German Protestant village Versam, where the fearful gulf of the Versamer Tobel is crossed by a very remarkable wooden bridge, with a span of 200 ft. (probably the widest wooden bridge on this principle existing), and 232 ft. above the torrent Savien. The builder is the engineer La Nicca. Here a path turns S. up the wild valley of the Savien or Rabbiusa, a very remarkable ravine, "wilder than the Via Mala," of which the W. side only is cultivated and inhabited by a Protestant population of about 1000 souls, Germans, who were settled here in the days of the Hohenstaufen Emperors. The