Illustrations of the Passes of the Alps; By Which Italy Communicates with France, Switzerland, and Germany (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1828 Excerpt: ... far as Airolo, and on the side of Switzerland, from Goschenen to the Lake of Uri, the roads are good. The Swiss cantons, interested in the completion of this route, have determined to render the passage of the mountain as good as the approaches to it, for the conveyance of heavy merchandise. In the autumn of 1825 the author met at Airolo the engineers who had been employed upon the survey and who have undertaken to construct a carriage road across the Mont Saint Gothard. From Airolo a paved mule road leads by a steep ascent towards the summit of the pass. On looking back from the Cappella del Bosco, near the skirts of the last pine forest in the ascent, the scene is very fine, of Airolo, the Val Bedretto, the Pass of Stalvedro, and, beyond these, the upper Val Levantine, and the mountains which bound the horizon towards Italy. After leaving the chapel, a difficult zig-zag path leads to the entrance of the Val Tremola, the last defile on the ascent: there is an air of great solitude and wildness about this part of the road; a miserable little bridge, the Ponte Tremolaf, crosses the torrent, and leads into the defile, which is greatly exposed to avalanches. Simler, in De Alp. Com. says, " Above the village Ayrolus, near the middle of the ascent of the mountain, is a bridge which here is called Tremulous, and crosses the Ticinus, and, in winter, it often happens that the river being covered with ice and snow, travellers pass over the ice as if it were the bridge, to go the shortest way. Sometimes many venture when the ice is not strong enough, and men, as well as their beasts of burthen, are drowned in the Ticinus. But when you ascend above the bridge there are no more woods, but nigged rocks and precipitous sides of mountains covered with snow, which, w...