a civil war between the parties, and a bloody contest near Liesthal occasioned the Swiss Diet, in 1832, to pass an act for the formal separation of the canton into two parts, called Basle Ville and Basle Campagne. The latter consists of two-thirds of the territory of the whole canton, and has for its capital Liesthal. Each sends a deputy to the Diet; but the two divisions enjoy only half a vote each, and when the deputies of the two parts take opposite sides (which is generally the case) their vote does not count. Across the bridge are the remains of the convent of Klingenthal, whose inmates caused what is called "the Nuns' War," 1436. Environs.-About 2 m. out of the town, just within the French frontier, is the ruined fortress of Hüningen, erected by Louis XV. to overawe his Swiss neighbours, and dismantled in 1815. A good representation of the Dance of Death, in burnt clay, may be purchased of Maehly and Schablitz, who have a manufactory peculiar (it is believed) to the spot of "figures plastiques en terre cuite." Although you may post from Basle to Zürich, Aarau and Schaffhausen (see § 5. Introduction), yet, as posting does not extend generally into the adjoining cantons, travellers engage voiturier's horses here to carry them on their journey. Return coachmen are generally to be found at all the inns, and there are persons in the town who keep horses and carriages for hire. Railways to Freiburg, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt.-Terminus at present at Haltingen, 4 m. from Basle. Omnibus thither. To Strasburg by Colmar and Mülhausen.-See HANDBOOK FOR FRANCE. Trains 4 times a day. The early train takes only 4 hrs.; the other trains take 5 hrs. Luggage is examined at St. Louis, the French custom-house. Baggage declared to be "en transit" is exempted from search at the frontier, and is sealed (plombé) until it quits France. Diligences daily, in 2 days and 3 nights, to Paris; to Berne, by the Münster Thal (Moutiers) and Bienne twice, in 15 hrs.; by Soleure in 11 hrs.; to Lucerne twice, in 10 hrs.; to Zürich twice in 9 hrs.; to Aarau, by the Frickthal, in 6 hrs.; to Schaffhausen in 11 hrs. The Routes to Berne by the Hauenstein (Rtes. 3 and 4) command noble views of the Alps; while that by the Val Moutiers (Rte. 1) has also great attractions. Bâle to Berne by Bienne. 25 leagues=76 Eng. m. A diligence daily to Berne and Neuchâtel in 16 hours. With a voiturier the journey to Berne occupies 2 days, stopping the first night at one of the good inns of Bellerive, Tavannes, or Malleray. This rte. is sometimes called de l'Evêché, because it passes through the ancient bishopric of Basle, now united to canton Berne. The valley of the Birs, commonly called the Val Moutiers (Münster Thal, in Germ.), through which this excellent road passes, is one of the most interesting and romantic in the whole range of the Jura. It consists of a series of narrow and rocky defiles, alternating with open basins, covered with black forests above, and verdant meadows below, enlivened by villages, mills, and forges. A road was originnally carried through the Val Moutiers by the Romans, to keep up the communication between Aventicum, the Helvetian capital, and Augst, their great fortified outposts on the Rhine. At St. Jacob, about m. beyond the gates of Bâle, in the angle between two roads, a small Gothic cross has been erected, to commemorate the battle of St. Jacob, fought in 1444, when 1600 Swiss had the boldness to attack, and the courage to withstand for 10 hrs., a French army tenfold more numerous, commanded by the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XI. Only 10 of the Swiss escaped alive, the rest were left dead on the field, along with thrice their own number of foes, whom they had slain. This almost incredible exploit first spread abroad through Europe the fame of Swiss valour; and Louis, the Dauphin, | wisely seeing that it was better to gain them as friends than to oppose them as enemies, courted their alliance, and first enrolled them as a permanent body-guard about his person -a practice continued by the French monarchs down to Charles X. The Swiss themselves refer to the battle of St. Jacob as the Thermopyla of their history. The vineyards near the field produce a red wine, called Schweitzer Blut (Swiss blood). A few miles farther, near Reinach, on the opposite bank of the Birs, is another battle-field-that of Dornach -where the Swiss gained a victory over a much larger Austrian force in 1499, during the Suabian war. The bone-house, in which the remains of the slain were collected, still exists near the Capuchin convent, and is filled with skulls gathered from the field. In the church of the village Maupertuis the mathematician (d. 1759) is buried. A monument, set up to his memory by his friend Bernouilli, was destroyed by the curé of the village, who was in the habit of repairing his hearthstone when broken, with slabs taken from the churchyard. It has been replaced by a fresh monument set up at the expense of canton Soleure. Beyond Aesch the road enters that part of the canton Berne which anciently belonged to the Archbishop of Basle; the valley contracts, increasing in picturesque beauty as you advance. The castles of Angenstein and Zwingen are passed before reaching 5 Lauffen, a dirty walled village. No good Inn. Soyhière (Germ. Saugern)-a village prettily situated, with a small country Inn (Croix Blanche), tolerably good. The Hôtel de Bellerive, 6 hrs. from Basle, good, moderate, and highly recommended. There are mineral baths attached to the house.-D. B. A contracted pass, the rocks of which on the rt. are surmounted by a convent, leads into the open basin of 3g Délémont (Delsberg); but it is unnecessary to pass through that little town (situated on the way to Portentruy), as our road turns to the 1., and continuing by the side of the Birs, enters a defile higher, grander, and more wild than any that have preceded it. This is, properly speaking, the commencement of the Val Moutiers. Rocky precipices overhang the road, and black forests of fir cover the mountains above. In the midst of it are the iron furnaces and forges of Courrendelin (Rennendorf. Inn: Hirsch), supplied with ore in the shape of small granulated red masses, varying from the size of a pea to that of a cherry, from the neighbouring mines. The remarkable rent by which the Jura has been cleft from top to bottom, so as to allow a passage for the Birs, exhibits marks of some great convulsion of the earth, by which the strata of limestone (Jura-kalk) have been thrown into a nearly vertical position, and appear like a succession of gigantic walls on each side of the road. The gorge terminates in another open basin, in the midst of which lies Moutiers. A new road branches off to Soleure beyond the gorge, about 1 m. before reaching 25 Moutiers Grandval, or Münster -(Inn: Krone, good)-a village of 1250 inhab., named from a very ancient Minster of St. Germanus on the height, founded in the 7th century, and now fast falling to ruin. [There is a car road from Moutiers to the summit of the Weissenstein, a distance of about 10 m., up-hill nearly the whole way; but much improved in 1850, and fit for the cars of the country, one of which, drawn by two horses, may be hired here to go and return for 20 fr. It passes through the villages of Grandval (Grossau) and Gänsbrunnen; the ascent occupies 3 hrs. The Weissenstein is described in Rte. 3.] At the upper end of the basin of Moutiers the road is conducted through another defile, equally grand, at the bottom of which the Birs foams and rushes, overhung by perpendicular cliffs and funereal firs. To this succeeds the little plain of Tavannes, in which are situated the villages of Court (Inn: Bär; whence a steep and uneven foot-path runs over the Monto | to Bienne), and 23 Malleray (Lion d'Or, a very good Inn; a convenient sleeping-place, capital trout. Dachsfelden, or 13 Tavannes (Inns: Couronne, rebuilt 1847; good; beds 1 fr. 50 c.;Croix; also good). The valley to the E. of Court, called Chaluat (Tschaywo), is inhabited by the descendants of the Anabaptists, expelled from Berne in 1708-11. They are distinguished by their industry and simple manners: the young men wear beards. m. above Tavannes is the source of the Birs; before reaching it our road quits the valley, mounting up a steep ascent, in the middle of which it passes under the singular and picturesque archway formed in the solid rock, called Pierre Pertuis. It is probably a natural opening, enlarged by art. It existed in the time of the Romans, as is proved by a defaced inscription on the N. side: NUMINI AUG VM VIA CTA PER.M II. VIR COL HELVET It stood on the boundary line separating the people of the Rauraci, whe extended to Bâle, from the Sequani. The archway is about 40 ft. high and 10 or 12 thick. The pass was fortified by the Austrians in 1813. Here is the watershed dividing the streams of the Birs from those of the Suze. : 23 Sonceboz (Inn Couronne, good) a village in the Val St. Imier (Germ. Erguel), up which runs a good road to Chaux de Fonds, and out of which another branches S. to Neuchâtel from Villaret. The road to Bienne descends the valley along the 1. bank of the Suze, which forms several small cascades. The projecting rock of Rond Châtel was occupied in feudal times by a fort, and held by the powerful Bishops of Bâle, to whom it gave the command of this pass. The View from the last slope of the Jura, over Bienne and its lake, with St. Peter's Isle, and the district watered by the Aar, Emme, and Zihl, backed in clear weather by the snowy range of the Alps, from Mont Blanc to the Jungfrau, is exceedingly beautiful. 31 Bienne (Germ. Biel)-Inns: H. du Jura, outside the town, good and clean; Couronne, within the town, fair and moderate; Croix Blanche. Bienne is prettily situated at the mouth of the valley of the Suze, at the foot of the Jura, here mantled with vines, and about a mile from the head of the lake of Bienne (Rte. 45). It is still surrounded by its ancient walls and watch-towers, and is approached by several shady avenues. The number of inhabitants, chiefly Protestants, amounts to 4248. The town anciently belonged to the Bishop of Bâle, but the citizens, early imbued with the spirit of freedom, formed a perpetual alliance with Berne in 1352, for the defence of their liberties, in revenge for which the town was burnt by their liege lord. The Reformation further weakened the connection between the town and its ecclesiastical ruler, and at the beginning of the 17th century his authority became nominal. Bienne is an industrious town, situated at the junction of the high roads from Berne, Bâle, Soleure, and Neuchâtel, between all which places there are public conveyances daily. The new road (Rte. 45) along the W. shore of the lake shortens the distance to Neuchâtel by nearly 8 miles it passes near the Isle St. Pierre, celebrated as the residence of Rousseau. Those who have a taste for climbing may gratify it by ascending from hence the Chasseral (Gestler), one of the highest mountains of the Jura, 3616 ft. above the lake, and 4936 ft. above the sea, with the certainty of being rewarded with a magnificent view if the weather be clear. The ascent can be made in a carriage in 4 hours. Quitting Bienne the high road first crosses the Suze, on its way into the lake, and a quarter of a mile farther on the Thiele (Zihl), on its way out of the lake. The last is a navigable river which drains the 3 lakes of Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Morat, and joins the river Aar about 4 miles lower down. On the margin of the lake, at the out- | let of the Thiele, stands Nydau-(Inn: Bear) and its castle, flanked by round towers and surmounted by a tall square keep. The lords of Nydau, an extinct family, to whom it once belonged, were foes of Berne; their stronghold now bears on its front the Bernese bear, painted of colossal dimensions, and is converted into the cantonal salt-warehouse. From the slope of the hill near Belmont, a good view is obtained of the lake and of St. Peter's Isle. Rt., near a fir-wood, rises an obelisk, by way of monument to the Swiss who fell here doing battle against the French 1798. 23 Aarberg (Inn: Krone) is a town of 864 Inhab. on a rocky promontory, nearly surrounded by the Aar, which, indeed, at high water, actually converts it into an island. The road enters and quits the town by 2 covered bridges. At Neubrücke the Aar is crossed by a covered bridge. 4 BERNE-in Rte. 24. ROUTE 2. BASLE TO SCHAFFHAUSEN, BY AUGST, RHEINFELDEN, AND LAUFFENBURG. 20 Leagues 62 Eng. m. There are two roads of nearly equal length one on the rt. bank of the Rhine, through the territory of Baden, is provided with post-horses at the following stations:-Beugen, 24 Germ. m.; Säkingen, 2 (Inn: Badhaus, best); Lauffenburg, 14; Waldshut, 13; Lauchringen, 11⁄2; Riederer, 14; Jestetten, 1; Schaffhausen, 1. Time taken with post horses, 10 or 12 hrs. In going from Schaffhausen to Basle the stations are to Neuhaus 2 Germ. m.; Lauchringen, 13. The road on the 1. or Swiss side of the Rhine, traversed daily by a Diligence in 13 hrs., a little way outside of Basle crosses the Birs. Hereabouts the men of Basle town were drawn into an ambuscade by those of Basle country, and attacked with the slaughter of 200, Aug. 1833. This combat was followed by the separation of the city from the rest of the canton (see p. 5). The road passes through the two villages of 2 Augst, which stands on each side of the small river Ergolz, on the site of the Roman city Augusta Rauracorum, founded by Munatius Plancus, in the reign of Augustus. Its existence on this spot is sufficiently proved by the quantity of Roman remains that have been, and still are, discovered, wherever the ground is turned up. There are indications of an amphitheatre, now converted into pleasure grounds; but the remains of buildings are very slight. "The relics which have been found are curious, though the proprietor of the ground has arranged them in the style of a tea-garden. There are several columns, inscriptions, tombs, and fragments of statues, all of the Lower Empire; but which the antiquary would do well to examine, as they are inedited."-F. P. 13 Rheinfelden (Inn: Krone, Post), a town of 1500 inhab., surrounded by walls and closed at either end by gates in the true Swiss fashion. It stands on the 1. bank of the Rhine, here crossed by a covered wooden bridge, above and below which the rocks in the river bed form consider Duke able rapids and falls. Opposite the inn is a handsome fountain, a pillar of bronze, supporting a standard bearer with the arms of the town. Bernard of Saxe Weimar gained a battle here in the Thirty Years' War (1638) in which the Duc de Rohan perished. This road is extremely pretty. The finest view is that from the hill overlooking the old town of Lauffenburg. a 4 Lauffenburg (Inn: Post, so so), a town of 900 Inhab., connected by wooden bridge with Klein Lauffenburg, on the rt. bank of the Rhine. The river flows in a deep sunk channel, rugged with rocks which fret its bright blue-green waters; it is here interrupted by more rapids and falls, in German called Lauffen, whence the name of the place. Small boats can only pass them by unloading their cargoes above, and being let down gradually by stout ropes, held by men stationed on the bank. It was in descending these rapids in this manner that a young English nobleman, Lord Montague, the last male of his line, was drowned-on the same day that his family mansion, Cowdray, in Sussex, was burnt to the ground. The accident is commonly, but erroneously, referred to the Rhine fall at Schaffhausen. The road, leading on the rt. that which leads to Baden and Zürich (R. 6), here crosses the Rhine, enters Baden, and joining the post-road on the rt. bank, proceeds to 24 Waldshut (Inns: Rebstock (Vine), clean and reasonable; Badischer Hof); a walled town of 1000 Inhab., on the skirts of the Black Forest. A mile above this, near a small village called Coblenz (Confluentia), the Rhine is joined by the Aar. At Waldshut our road turns away from the Rhine, and proceeds by Thiengen and Erzingen to 54 Unter-Neuhaus, a Swiss village, in the canton of Schaffhausen. 3 SCHAFFHAUSEN. Rte. 7, p. 19. ROUTE 3. BASLE ΤΟ SOLEURE, THE WEISSENSTEIN, AND BIENNE, BY LIESTHAL AND THE OBER-HAUENSTEIN. To Soleure 127 leagues 38 Eng. m., 8 hrs. drive; thence to Bienne 5 leagues. The road is the same as Rte. 2 for the first few miles, proceeding along the 1. bank of the Rhine till within a short distance of Augst (p. 8), where it turns S. to 3 Liesthal (Inns not good: Falke; Schlüssel, la Clé); chief town of the division of the canton distinguished as Bâle Campagne (Basel Landschaft), which, having revolted from the town of Bâle after the July revolution, was separated from it by an act of the Diet in 1832, though the two divisions are still regarded in the Diet but as one estate. Bâle Campagne includes 53 parishes, with about 36,000 inhab., or about four-fifths of the canton. Liesthal, a dirty, uninteresting town of 2170 inhab., since the revolution has become the seat of government. In the Council-house (Rathstube) are curious paintings and sentences on the walls. At Bubendorf is a tolerable inn, near a mineral spring. The valley contracts and assumes a very romantic character on approaching 2 Waldenburg (Inn at Oberdorf, tolerable), a village of 600 Inhab., at the N. base of the Jura. To the E. may be seen the ruins of the Castle, destroyed in 1798, planted on a high rocky ridge, which seems to close up the valley-and a wall once actually extended from it across valley and river. Here begins the ascent of the Hauenstein by a series of zigzags, and continues for 1 hour as far as Langenbruck. The road over the Ober-Hauenstein, once formidable from the abruptness of the ascent, has been greatly improved, and the steepness of the slope so much diminished, that extra horses are unnecessary except for very heavily laden carriages. The summit, 3000 ft. above the sea-level, is easily surmounted in an hour. A heavy toll, amounting to 21 batz for a carriage with two horses, is paid on crossing it. On this account the Swiss voituriers generally avoid this road. Down to the end of the last century so steep was the old road that loaded waggons were drawn up on one side and let down the other with a rope and windlass. Langenbrück (Inn: Bär) is the last village in Bâle Campagne. Holderbank is in Soleure. The ruins of Alt-Bechburg castle are visible over the fir-woods. Near the bottom of the descent the imposing ruins of the Castle of Falkenstein, surmounted by its circular Donjon, rise midway between the two roads to Bâle, by the Hauenstein and by the Passwang, which unite here. This position gave to its ancient owners the powers of levying blackmail upon each of these passes. belonged at one time to Rudolph von Wart, who was broken on the wheel for his share in the murder of the Emperor Albert, and was consoled in his agony by the presence and forti It |