and surrounded with damp earth, experienced a sense of cold in her feet almost insupportable. After prodigious efforts she succeeded in disengaging her legs, and thinks this saved her life. Many hours had passed in this situation, when she again heard the voice of Marianne, who had been asleep, and now renewed her lamentations. In the mean time, the unfortunate father, who, with much difficulty, had saved himself and two children, wandered about till daylight, when he came among the ruins to look for the rest of his family. He soon discovered his wife, by a foot which appeared above ground: she was dead, with a child in her arms. His cries, and the noise he made in digging, were heard by Marianne, who called out. She was extricated with a broken thigh, and, saying that Francisca was not far off, a farther search led to her release also, but in such a state that her life was despaired of: she was blind for some days, and remained subject to convulsive fits of terror. It appeared that the house, or themselves at least, had been carried down about one thousand five hundred feet from where it stood before. In another place, a child two years old was found unhurt, lying on its straw mattress upon the mud, without any vestige of the house from which he had been separated. Such a mass of earth and stones rushed at once into the lake of Lowertz, although five miles distant, that one end of it was filled up, and a prodigious wave passing completely over the island of Schwanau, 70 feet above the usual level of the water, overwhelmed the opposite shore, and, as it returned, swept away into the lake many houses with their inhabitants. The village of Seewen, situated at the farther end, was inundated, and some houses washed away, and the flood carried live fish into the village of Steinen. The chapel of Olten, built of wood, was found half a league from the place it had previously occupied, and many large blocks of stone completely changed their position. "The most considerable of the villages overwhelmed in the vale of Arth was Goldau, and its name is now affixed to the whole melancholy story and place. I shall relate only one more incident: A party of eleven travellers from Berne, belonging to the most distinguished families there, arrived at Arth on the 2nd of September, and set off on foot for the Righi a few minutes before the catastrophe. Seven of them had got about 200 yards ahead-the other four saw them entering the village of Goldau, and one of the latter, Mr. R. Jenner, pointing out to the rest the summit of the Rossberg (full four miles off in a straight line), where some strange commotion seemed taking place, which they themselves (the four behind) were observing with a telescope, and had entered into conversation on the subject with some strangers just come up; when, all at once, a flight of stones, like cannon-balls, traversed the air above their heads; a cloud of dust obscured the valley; a frightful noise was heard. They fled! As soon as the obscurity was so far dissipated as to make objects discernible, they sought their friends, but the village of Goldau had disappeared under a heap of stones and rubbish 100 feet in height, and the whole valley presented nothing but a perfect chaos! Of the unfortunate survivors, one lost a wife to whom he was just married, one a son, a third the two pupils under his care; all researches to discover their remains were, and have ever since been, fruitless. Nothing is left of Goldau but the bell which hung in its steeple, and which was found about a mile off. With the rocks torrents of mud came down, acting as rollers; but they took a different direction when in the valley, the mud following the slope of the ground towards the lake of Lowertz, while the rocks, preserving a straight course, glanced across the valley towards the Righi. The rocks above, moving much faster than those near the ground, went farther, and ascended even a great way up the Righi: its base is covered with large blocks carried to an incredible height, and by which trees were mowed down, as they might have been by cannon. A long track of ruins, like a scarf, hangs from the shoulder of the Rossberg, in hideous barrenness, over the rich dress of shaggy woods and green pastures, and grows wider and wider down to the lake of Lowertz and to the Righi, a distance of four or five miles. Its greatest breadth may be three miles, and the triangular area of ruins is fully equal to that of Paris, taken at the external boulevards, or about double the real extent of the inhabited city. I notice, however, that the portion of the strata at the top of the Rossberg, which slid down into the valley, is certainly less than the chaotic accumulation below; and I have no doubt that a considerable part of it comes from the soil of the valley itself, ploughed up and thrown into ridges like the waves of the sea, and hurled to prodigious distances by the impulse of the descending mass, plunging upon it with a force not very inferior to that of a cannon-ball. The effects of this terrible convulsion were the entire destruction of the villages Goldau, Bussingen, and Rothen, and a part of Lowertz; the rich pasturages in the valley and on the slope of the mountain, entirely overwhelmed by it and ruined, were estimated to be worth 150,000l. One hundred and eleven houses, and more than 200 stables and chalets, were buried under the debris of rocks, which of themselves * Simond's Switzerland. form a mountain several hundred feet high; m re than 450 human beings perished by this catastrophe, and whole herds of cattle were swept away. Five minutes sufficed to complete the work of destruction. The inhabitants of the neighbouring towns and villages were first roused by loud and grating sounds like thunder: they looked towards the spot from which it came, and beheld the valley shrouded in a cloud of dustwhen it had cleared away they found the face of nature changed. The houses of Goldau were literally crushed beneath the weight of superincumbent masses. Lowertz was overwhelmed by a torrent of mud. Those who desire a near view of the landslip should ascend the Gnypenstock, whose summit may be reached in three hours from Arth. Goldau to Brunnen. At Goldau one of the most frequented bridle-paths up the Righi strikes off to the rt See p. 64. The new chapel and one of the inns at Goldau stand on the site of the village overwhelmed by the Rossberg: its inhabifants, thus destroyed in the midst of security, are said to have been remarkable for the purity of their manners and their personal beauty. The high-road traverses the talus or debris, which extends from the top of the Rossberg far up the Right on the rt., ascending vast hillocks of rubbish, calculated to be 30 ft. deep hereabouts, but near the centre of the valley probably 200 ft., and winds among enormous blocks of stone already beginning to be moss-grown, and with herbage springing up between them, Between these mounds and masses of rock, numerous pools are enclosed, arising from springs dammed up by the fallen earth. 1 1/2 Lowertz, standing on the margin of the lake round which our road is carried on a terraced embankment, lost its church and several of its houses in the same catastrophe. The lake was diminished by one quarter in consequence of the avalanche of mud and rubbish which entered it, and its waters were thrown up in a wave 70 ft. high to the opposite bank so as to cover the picturesque island, and sweep away a small chapel which stood upon it. The ruined Castle of Schwanau, still existing upon it, has an historical interest from having been destroyed at the first rising of the Swiss Confederates in 1308, to avenge an outrage committed by the Seigneur, in carrying off a damsel against her will, and detaining her in confinement. "There is a wild and sombre tradition attached to this island, that 'once a-year cries are heard to come from it, and sauddenly the ghost of the tyrant is scen to pass, chased by the vengeful spirit of a pale girl, bearing a torch, and shricking wildly. At first he eludes her swiftness, but at length she gains upon him, and forces him into the lake, where he sinks with doleful struggles; and, 'as the waves close over the condemned, the shores ring with fearful and unearthly yellings.' Near the village of Lowertz another footpath strikes up the Righi, which is shorter than going round by Goldau for tra→ vellers approaching from Schwytz or Brunnen. About 3 miles above Lowertz it falls into the path from Goldau, p. 47. Sewen-(Inn: Zum Kreutz) — a village at the E. extremity of the lake, is resorted to on account of its chalybeate springs. A direct road to Brunnen here turns to the rt.: it is 1 1/2 mile shorter than that by Schwytz, but is not good. 1 Schwytz-Inns: Hirsch, good;-Rössli. Schwytz, a mere village, though the chief place in the eanton-"the heart's core of Helvetia"-from which comes the name Switzerland, contains a population of 4878 inhabitants, including the adjoining scattered houses and villages, which all belong to one parish. It lies picturesquely at the foot of the very conspicuous double-peaked mountain, called Mythen (Mitre) and Hacke. (4598 ft.) Adjoining the Parish Church a modern building, finished in 1774, is a small Gothic chapel, called Kerker, erected, according to tradition, at a time when admission to the church was denied the people by a ban of excommunication from the Pope. It was built in great haste, half of it within three days, and the mass was secretly administered within it. In the cemetery of the Parish Church is the grave of Aloys Reding, the patriotic leader (Landeshauptman) of the Swiss against the French Republicans, in 1798. The Rathhaus, a building of no great antiquity or beauty, in which the Council of the canton holds its sittings, is decorated with portraits of 43 Landammen, and a painting representing the events of the early Swiss history. The Arsenal contains banners taken by the Schwytzers at Morgarten, and others borne by them in the battles of Laupen, Sempach, Cappel, Morat, etc.; also a consecrated standard presented by Pope Julius II. to the Schwytzers. The Archiv (record office) is a tower of rough masonry several stories high, and was probably once a castle : its walls are remarkably thick, and beneath it are dungeons. Schwytz possesses a Capuchin Convent and a Dominican Nunnery, founded in 1272. A diligence goes once a day to Lucerne and back. The Schwytzers first became known in Europe about the year 1200, in a dispute which the natives of this district had Mrs. Boddington. with the tenants of the monks of Einsiedeln. The holy Fathers concealing from the Emperor the very existence of suci a race as the men of Schwytz, had obtained from him a grant of their possessions, as waste and unoccupied land. The Schwytzers, however, were able to maintain their ow!! property by their own swords, until at length the Emperor Frederick II. confirmed to them their rights. The name Swiss (Schwytzer) was first given to the inhabitants of the three Forest Cantons after the battle of Morgarten, their earliest victory, in which the men of Schwytz had taken the lead, and prominently distinguished themselves above the others. At Ibach, a village on the Muotta (through which the road to Brunnen passes), may be seen the place of asemblage where the Cantons Landes-Gemeinde consisting of all the male citizens of the canton-formerly met in the open air, to choose their magistrates, from the Landammans down to the lowest officer. Here they used to deliberate and vote on the affairs of the state, decide on peace or war, form alliances, or despatch embassies a singular example of universal suffrage, and the legislation of the masses. The business was opened by prayer, and by the whole assembly kneeling, and taking an oath faithfully to discharge their legislative duties. According to the Constitution of 1833, the General Assemblies of the Canton are now held at Rothenthurn, on the road to Einsiedeln. At present the meeting of the Circle only is held here. The road up the Muottathal-which opens out here—is des cribed in Route 75. 1 Brunnen. (Route 18.) ASCENT OF THE RIGHI, The summit of the Righi may be reached in about 11 hours from Zurich and 7 from Lucerne, exclusive of stoppages. Heavy carriages can approach the foot of the mountain at Arth (Goldau), and Küssnacht; and if the traveller ascend from the one, he may send round his carriage to meet him on his descent at the other place, The Righi, or Rigi (Regina Montium is only a fanciful derivation of the name), a mountain, or rather group of mountains, rising between the lakes of Zug and Lucerne, owes its celebrity less to its height, for it is only 5700 feet above the sea, than to its isolated situation; separated from other mountains, in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery of Switzerland, which allows an uninterrupted view from it on all sides, and converts it into a natural observatory, commanding a panorama hardly to be equalled in extent and grandeur among the Alps. It has also the advantage of being very accessible; no less than 3 mulepaths lead up to the summit |