to see in good trim, for here no iuch of ground is allowed to escape from a most assiduous culture.

The limited size of Chur does not hinder it from being one of the most animated and stirring little places in Switzerland; a condition which it owes to its situation on the high road over the Splügen and Bernardin passes, by which the manufactures of St. Gall, Glarus, and Zürich are transported to Italy. About one-third of the inhabitants of Chur derive a livelihood by this traffic, as innkeepers, waggoners, porters, horse-proprietors, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, &c.

The cathedral or church of St. Lucius, with the residence or palace of the bishop, occupy the most elevated part of the town, but are exterior to its gates. The saint to whom the first is dedicated has the reputation of having been a king in England, in the second century, whence he travelled to this strange corner of the world to convert the Swiss to Christianity. His hermitage, it is related, stood on the site now occupied by the church. Holy relics, consisting of a portion of the saint's osseous system, are exhibited in a setting of gold. The building is in the round-arch style, and portions of it were constructed in the seventh century. Besides the grotesque figures which enter into its architectural composition, the church possesses a considerable number of images and carvings, both old and new. There are diligences twice a-day to Zürich, and one over the Splugen to Milan (in June, 1852, the Federal Council gave orders for a second mail to traverse the distance from Chur to Milan every night), one to Bellinzona by the Bernardin, one to Lindau by Bregenz and Feldkirch, and two to St. Gall.

Chur, lying on the outskirts of the Grisons, can afford the traveller little information as to the country or the people who inhabit it. To appreciate these he must visit the valleys, especially the Engadine.

CHUR TO PONTE, IN THE ENGADINE,

BY THE ALBULA PASS.

There are two routes conducting to the Engadine, or valley of the Upper Inn, the best and most recently constructed being that leading to St. Moritz by the St. Julier Pass. The Samaden diligence travels it every day, and performs the distance, about 52 miles, in fifteen or sixteen hours.

The second, and older, coincides with the first as far as Lenz, where it deviates to the east, and is carried towards and over the Albula pass, reaching Ponte, a village lower in the valley than St. Moritz.

The first part of the road, as far as Lenz, lies through a finely-wooded and hilly country. The inn (Krone) at the little town of Lenz is well spoken of. Generally speaking, the traveller to and in the Engadine must prepare to accommodate his wants to a very humble description of entertainment, only the larger towns having anything approaching to hôtel conveniences. The inns at the smaller places are managed upon the calculation, not of the wants of travellers, their least important guests, but of those of the villagers, who accustom themselves to meet there when the labour of the day is ended, order their chopin of wine, and discourse upon the privileges they enjoy. The Romansch language is exclusively spoken above Lenz, even in many of the inns. In any case of difficulty, however, there is always some travelled Swiss, a ci-devant valet, or retired confectioner, who can bring about an understanding between the parties through some of the principal European tongues. From Lenz, where the road to Ponte leaves that of the diligence and the St. Julier pass, it gradually ascends to Bergun, a village with about 500 inhabitants. Beyond this place the ascent is very steep towards the Albula, one of the highest interior passes of Switzerland. The road is practicable for small carts, mounts by the side of a torrent, and soon enters a narrow gorge, which affords room only for the stream and the passage, which has been cut out of the towering rock. On the other side of the rock we enter a tolerably extensive Alpine valley, about three miles in length, and the path ascends a narrow defile among the naked rocks which surround the little lake of Wissenstein. "The ascent is laborious, but the scenery around amply compensates the labour. Five girdles of dark fir span the waists of the rocks, whose grey and rugged heads rise in vast amphitheatre. Below the firs, and among the lower rocks, lies the freshest verdure, watered by innumerable rills that are seen higher up in white threads of foam among the rocks. Here and there is a châlet, here and there a little flock, but these become rarer as you proceed. The path surmounts the fir, and at a sudden turn reaches the little lake and the châlet, where the traveller

may find mountain fare. A few stunted firs are scattered about the lower end, where the water is shallow; but on all the other sides it lies still, and dark, and treeless, beneath the precipices that tower above."

The ascent from this point is extremely steep, and in about an hour's walking the lake itself is shut out from view. A defile of the most desolate character, called Trümmerthal, or the Valley of Ruins, is now entered. It is about four miles in length, and from one to two broad, and environed by high mountain summits, which rise almost perpendicularly from the defile in some places, exposing precipices of two or three thousand feet; in others displaying enormous gaps and caves. Above these the highest peaks, powdered with snow, but too steep to afford it a restingplace, jut into the sky. The whole extent of the defile is made up of heaps of enormous stones, that lie piled on each other, in some places to the height of some hundred feet. Not one mountain plant or Alpine flower is seen throughout the whole range of this defile. All is treeless, herbless, lifeless. Beyond its extremity the valley drops its desolate character, and herbage and mosses, the ranunculus, the mountain anemone, and rhododendron, are met with. The summit of the Albula pass, indicated, as are the summits of most Swiss passes, by a small cross, is just under 7000 feet above the sea level. It is generally covered with green, and occasionally difficult to pass. The two peaks of the Albula mountain, one 1700 the other 800 feet, are seen above the highest point of the road. The path is tolerably level for about three quarters of an hour, and then descends through the rich sloping pastures of Mount Albula, which in summer are covered with sheep and cattle. Here we are at once among some of the best dairies of Switzerland. The shepherds of Mont Albula are civil, and sufficiently intelligent; the stranger desirous of familiarising himself with the mysteries of Alpine dairies will find them communicative, in the not unreasonable hope of receiving some gratuity at the close of their elucidations. The outer part of the mountain châlet affords accommodation for the cattle; the inner part has two rooms, one where the milk is kept, another where the cheese is made; over these is a loft, where the people employed about the cattle and dairy sleep. There is generally one man to fifty cows. Their wages are

about 30s. a month, with a dietary of salted meat, bread, cheese, butter, and milk ad libitum.

The descent into the Engadine is less by at least 2000 feet than the ascent from Bergem, as the village of Ponte is nearly 5000 feet above the sea level.

THE ENGADINE.

The Engadine has a remarkable position in the chain of the Alps, and the manner in which it is enclosed deserves especial notice. It is well known that the culminating points of the chain are found between Mont Blanc and the St. Gothard inclusively, and that the peaks of the Grison Oberland have a less gigantic elevation. But, on the other hand, it seems to be in this last part of Switzerland that the general surface of the soil has been raised by the strongest forces from the bottom of the valley; these are so high as to surpass in elevation many considerable mountains of other European countries. If on a good Keller's map we draw a line from the pass of the Stelvio, or from Mont Orteles, which is close to it, to the Jungfrau, a distance of about 120 miles, this will represent the axis of elevation of the Alps in their most massive portion; for it will be easy to mark transversely to this line, on all its extent, distances more or less remote where the surface of the soil has an elevation of above 4340 feet at the least above the sea level. A line connecting the extreme points of these distances will mark out an irregular figure, enclosing a space composed of two sides of the Alps and several valleys, which may be considered the most compact and elevated mass of European soil, and everywhere exceeding the limit of 340 feet. The breadth of this mass varies considerably, being smaller in the western and larger in the eastern portions. The meridian of Silvaplana, which intersects the Ober or Upper Engadine and its lakes, and runs through the summits of the Bernina, marks the greatest breadth of this elevated part of the country. The Upper Engadine is the most open of all the districts lying on this raised surface, and but for its cruciform intersections would be a Swiss plateau. These intersections are formed by the Inn, the Mera, which flows in a contrary direction, the valley leading to Mont Julier, and finally that of Poschiavo, cut at the base of the massive

Bernina. The line from the Stelvio to the Jungfrau is so certainly the central line of the elevation of the general surface, that, having traced it on the map, we find that the most important passes of the central Alps, the Grimsel, Furca, St. Gothard, and Lukmanier, are exactly over it; while on the south and north, at the distance of one or two leagues, are the Bernardin, Splügen, Septimer, Julier, Albula, and Bernina.

This elevation of the general soil combines with the lesser heights of the mountain summits to give a very low relative elevation to the peaks of the Grison. This will be made more apparent from the subjoined comparative table: