Kinzig Kulm, in an historical point of view, as being the scene of Suwarrow's disastrous march from Altorf. Its picturesque attractions are also of the highest order, as the view which it commands is of great extent, and of a most magnificent and comprehensive character. This view is rather improved by being seen from an eminence to the E., reached in 10 m. from the Col. On the N. side are all the rocky tower-like summits surrounding the valley, up which the ascent to the Pass has been made. Above, towards the N.E., appears the broad white mass of the Glärnisch. No valley is visible on this side; nothing but the high pasturages, grass mingled with rocks and snow, supported on the precipices and barren declivities, whose bases are lost in the valleys beneath. By far the finest part of the view is, however, on the S. side. Here the eye plunges down at once to a depth of nearly 6000 ft., into the wide green plain at the confluence of the Reuss and the Schächen, from which the Russian army began their ascent, and whence they must have seen, at one glance, the formidable height of the ridge they had to climb. A glimpse is also obtained, down the channel of the stream tumbling from the Pass, into the valley of the Schächen near Spiringen. Out of these valleys rise in all their majesty the high Alps of the Canton of Uri, vast solid piles loaded above with ice and snow, and furrowed below by many small valleys and ravines, which are, as they ascend, finally lost in the heart of the mountains. The circuit of mountains begins near the promontory of Grütli, above which a part of the distant country about Lucerne jus shows itself. The group of the Rothstocks, on the south of the Grütli, are the first glaciered summits: then come the Spannorter and the host of other peaks, clustering together under the name of the Surenen Alps. Turning thence to the eastward across the Reuss, the circuit includes the Windgelle, the greater and lesser Ruchi, the Scheerhorn, and the Clariden grat, which form a long line in

front of the Pass. The Dödi lies behind the Clariden grat, and is not visible.

"The descent into the Schächen Thal is long and steep, but the path is well traced, and the pole on the Kinzig Kulm, being seen for a long time, would help to guide the ascending pedestrian on this side, though it is useless for that purpose on the other. The path lies throughout down the pastures on the right bank of the stream, but generally at a considerable distance from it. The Schächen Thal is reached at a point a little below Spiringen, after a descent of 24 hrs. From thence to Bürglen it is a walk of

of an hour, and another hour brings the traveller to Altorf.

"A fine excursion may be made from Altorf or Flüelen into the Isen Thal. The footpath along the mountains is very bad, so that it is better to go by boat from Flüelen to the little delta at the mouth of the valley. From the heights above, which have then to be climbed, there is a beautiful view of the bay of Uri, and the valley of the Reuss. About half way up the valley is the village of St. Jakob, which commands a noble prospect of the Uri Rothstock, a great pile of ice and crags, seen through the wooded avenue of the valley. Another hour leads to its base at the valley-head. From here the mountain is a very grand object, but a grander stil! from a very high plateau on the W., cut off by precipices from the Isen Thal. From this plateau it is possible to cross the ridge above into Unterwalden, but there is nothing like a Pass. The regular route from the Isen Thal into that canton is over the Schonegg, the way to the Pass striking off from the path up the valley at St. Jakob."R. E.

ROUTE 80.

AMSTÄG TO DISSENTIS, BY THE PASS OF THE KREUZLI.

"This Pass requires from 10 to 11 hrs., and should not be tried without a

guide. Anton Tresch, of Amstäg, is a good guide."-J. D. G.

"The Maderan Thal, a valley penetrating among the Alps to the E. of Amstäg, between the Bristenstock and Oberalpstock on the S., and the lesser and greater Windgelle on the N., opens a way through them to this Pass. The path runs at starting on the 1. bank of the Kerstlenbach, which joins the Reuss at Amstäg. For a few minutes it is by its side: the ascent to gain the level of the fields above the closing gorge then commences, and continues for about hr. through the forest. The valley behind the gorge is thus entered and followed up; the chapel of St. Antony and little hamlet of Bristen are passed, and a little further on the river is crossed (40 min. from Amstäg), and recrossed 10 min. afterwards. An hr. after leaving Amstäg the stream from the Ezli Thal is crossed. This valley leads to the Kreuzli, and the Maderan Thal is now left. A considerable ascent is necessary to get into the Ezli Thal, as the path has to mount above the head of a high fall, in which the stream precipitates itself into the

Maderan Thal. The Ezli Thal is very narrow throughout it is, indeed, a mere wild ravine, rather than a proper valley. The first bridge over its stream, above the fall, is not crossed, but the three following

are.

Soon after crossing the third of these bridges (about 2 hrs. from Amstäg), the last trees are passed, and the path mounts continually for nearly another couple of hours along the W. flank of a naked desolate ravine. It skirts on its way, in the bed of the stream, the remains of an immense avalanche which fell 1849-a mass of snow, dirt, and fallen rocks, probably a mile long. Beside it stands a cross with the date 1834. A small marshy basin succeeds the ravine, the valley here changing its direction from S. to W. At this basin the way to the Kreuzli quits the valley, passing the river and ascending the eastern mountains. There is, however, no bridge; and the track is

not perceptible in the neighbourhood of the river, though it soon re-appears during the subsequent ascent.

"It is well worth while to follow up the valley for half a mile or a mile above the basin just mentioned, instead of immediately leaving it for the pass. The river is pursued towards the W., till it is lost in a short defile beneath the snow, with which the bed of the narrow passage is choked up. A multitude of gigantic blocks, heaped one above another, form one side of this cleft in the mountains. The snow affords good walking, and the defile soon gives admittance into a large hollow of the highest savage character. It is utterly sterile and uninhabited; a mere receptacle for fallen rocks and snow. The glaciers of the Crispalt sweep down upon it; craggy mountains of the boldest elevation girdle it in; their splendid summits rise on all sides high into the sky. To visit this spot in the journey over the Kreuzli would not increase the duration of the day's walk by much more than half an hour.

"The track which leads to the Kreuzli pass, after the marshy basin is left and the river crossed, continues to ascend towards the E. up an uneven slope, until it reaches the opening of a kind of high, short valley, by pursuing which the summit is to be gained. From this point there is an unexpected view of the bay of Uri, and of the plain at the entrance of the Reuss into the lake. N.B. This is a good halting-place for a mid-day meal by the side of a spring of delicious water. The last ascent to the Kreuzli is gentle but rough, the ground being covered with loose blocks, alternating with patches of snow. The track only appears at intervals, generally upon the snow; but the course of the little valley is in itself a sufficient guide. The crest of the pass, marked by a pole, is reached in 5 hrs. direct from Amstäg, or 64 allowing halts to enjoy the view, and has an elevation of about 7500 feet above the sea.

"The views from the Kreuzli are on both sides of an extremely savage

nature. Nothing is to be seen, through the last short valley, on the side of Uri, excepting a large band of sharp peaks, masses of ice and snow, and a circuit of bare, precipitous mountain sides, rolling down their ruins into the head of the desert Ezli Thal. On the side of the Grisons, the eye looks across the little valley of Strim, into which the descent is very abrupt. Its head is close on the left, where it is surrounded by a range of precipices, which bear up a slope occupied by glaciers. From these glaciers the Oberalpstock and several lesser Alps raise their heads, connected together by a thin rocky ridge with many teeth, which cuts through the fields of snow. There is also an extensive view, looking down the valley, of the snowy mountains between the Grisons and the canton Ticino.

"It is a bad descent into the valley of Strim down a steep declivity, broken by numbers of jutting crags. Occasional goat-tracks supply the place of a regular path. Neither is the track down the valley-when its bed is attained, and the ice-cold river, just sprung from its glaciers, waded through anything like a good path. It requires two long and rather fatiguing hours from the summit of the pass to reach the village of Sedrun or Tavetsch in the valley of the Fore Rhine. The valley of Strim is uninhabited, and its nakedness is not relieved by a single tree, not even a stunted fir. From Sedrun to Dissentis down the valley of the Fore Rhine is an easy walk of 2 hrs. At Dissentis the inns are not very good."-R. E. (See Rte. 77.)

ROUTE 80A.

DISSENTIS TO AIROLO BY THE UOMO

PASS. (11 hrs.).

"As far as the hospice of Santa Maria, 5 leagues from Dissentis, the way to this pass is the same as that to the Lukmanier. A little tributary valley of the Medelser Thal opens from the S.W. into the plain of Santa Maria, and leads to the Uomo pass. The

path ascends from the plain on the rt. bank of the stream which waters this valley. There is no difficulty on the ascent, which is rapid and continuous. The valley is narrow and barren, and presents nothing remarkable. The summit of the pass is reached easily in an hour and a half from Santa Maria. Its height is 7160 ft.; the ground is flat and bog. y, and not adapted for a path it is accordingly traced along a gentle slope on the S. edge of the marsh, where there are one or two rude châlets.

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"The descent is scarcely begun before a commanding view of the knot of the St. Gothard Alps opens out in front above the lesser mountains. The peak of La Fibbia, the highest of the cluster, rises in the centre: the more distant but loftier head of the Galenstock peers over them on the rt. from the opposite side of the Ursern Thal. As the descent is continued, these high Alps are gradually lost, and the scenery becomes rather dull. The pastures, or Alp' of Piora, down which the path lies, produce a cheese of considerable repute in the canton. At length the quick descent ceases for a while, the path having sunk within the mountains, and reached a wild and confined plain. On one side of this plain is a lonely tarn, which is backed by a towering range of savage precipices, streaked by falling threads of white water. Between the tarn and the precipices are a few huts, mere spots beneath the ridge that overhangs them. On the short descent from this plain to the lake of Rotom, the way lies over the ruins of a small landslip, which was probably attended with fatal consequences, as a cross stands by it. The first trees are met with on the lake of Rotom, which completely fills the basin in which it lies. The superfluous waters of this lake are discharged through an opening in what resembles a natural parapet wall, connecting the opposite sides of the narrow cleft, through which the chain of crags beyond the Val Levantina now comes into view. The descent from the lake is abrupt and long, the river forming in quick succession three very

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fine falls, all of different character. The first is a broad and diffuse white cascade, divided by a rock in its upper part into two falling sheets of water which meet below the second is a tumbling cataract : the third, the grandest of all, a condensed body of water shot through a cleft into a deep dark rift. A singular illusion is produced in passing a hut opposite one of these falls. Its roar is heard within the hut, so loud and close as almost to outweigh the evidence of the eyes, that the water is really coming down at some little distance, and in an opposite direction.

"After passing the third fall, the path is fairly out of the Val Piora, and on the flanks of the Val Levantina, having been throughout, during the descent from the pass, on the rt. bank of the stream, which it now abandons. The rest of the way to Airolo is very interesting. The Val Levantina and the St. Gothard road are left far beneath, and the path continues high on the slopes of the mountains, passing through the village of Madrano, and over the thin transverse ridge, pierced by the Ticino, which separates the Val Bedretto from the Val Levantina. Here the opening of the Val Canaria breaks the side of the chain: the path descends, crosses the stream issuing from it, and falls into the St. Gothard road a little below Airolo."-R. E.

ROUTE 80B.

SPLÜGEN TO ILANZ BY THE PASS OF THE

VALSERBERG (10 or 11 hrs.).

"It would save about an hour and a half to cross this pass from Hinterrhein instead of Splügen, but the superior accommodations of the excellent inn at Splügen make it on the whole the best starting-point of the two.

"The great road of the Bernardin is followed as far as Nüfenen, rather 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. It extends over the Tambohorn, the glacier and mountain of the Marscholhorn, and the Piz Valrhein with the great Rheinwald glacier. The course of the valley of the Rheinwald is visible nearly up to this glacier. Immediately below is the village of Hinterrhein, at the foot of the Bernardin pass, and from which the whole tortuous line of that road may be traced, up to the hospice on the summit by the lake of Mosa.

"The last ascent to the Valserberg, a rather steep one, is marked by poles up the face of the mountain. Under their guidance the highest point of the pass is attained without any chance of error, 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, one beyond the other, rising out of the depths of the valleys sunk among them. Above these sombre-looking chains, which extend to the Fore Rhine, the whole line of the Alps of Glarus, from the Dödi to the Scheibe, rises high and white, an unbroken bank of snow from end to end.

"For nearly an hour after the summit of the Valserberg is left behind,