the valley of Zmutt struck me more than ever. I believe it to be the finest thing of its kind in the Alps; and it is seen to advantage by keeping on the S. side of the river, where the path runs through magnificent larches, at a great height above the stream.

"The whole of this route, from Aosta to Zermatt, is not to be surpassed in point of grandeur and varied interest by anything in the Alps. It is to be recollected also that (adding to them the Weissenthor) there are no passes more long, more dangerous, and more difficult.

"For some account of the ascent of the Weissenthor, see Route 106. The view from it I thought even superior to that from the Col d'Errin."-A. T. M.

ROUTE 66.

CONSTANCE TO ST. GALL, BY THE
LAKE OF CONSTANCE,

81 leagues=241 Eng. m.

The Lake of Constance. Constance is described in Route 7. 8 or 10 Steamboats navigate the lake of Constance, making voyages 4 or 5 times a-week between Constance and Schauffhausen; daily between Constance and Ueberlingen; Meersburg, Friedrichshafen, Rorschach, and Lindau; 3 or 4 times a-week to Ludwigshafen and Bregenz. The time and place of starting are promulgated in a printed tariff, which will be found hung up in all the inns near the lake. It takes 5 hours to go from Constance to Lindau, and 3 to Rorschach or Friedrichshafen. The steamers take carriages. The numerous stoppages and the shifting of passengers from one steamer to another, are annoyances for which travellers must be prepared.

The lake of Constance, called by the Germans Boden See, and anciently known to the Romans under the name Lacus Brigantinus (from Brigantia, the modern Bregenz), is bordered by the territories of 5 different states-Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland, and a portion of its

coasts belong to each of them. It is about 44 m. long, from Bregenz to Constance, and 30 from Bregenz to Friedrichshafen; about 9 m. wide in the broadest part; 964 ft. is its greatest depth; and it abounds in fish, of which 25 species have been enumerated. It lies 1255 ft. above the sea.

Its main tributary is the Rhine, which enters at its E. extremity, and flows out under the walls of Constance. The accumulated deposits of the river have formed an extensive delta at the upper end of the lake, and are annually encroaching further.

Its banks, either flat or gently undulating, present little beauty of scenery compared with other Swiss lakes; but they are eminently distinguished for their fertility, and its S. shore is studded with a picturesque line of ruined castles or hill-forts of the middle ages.

At its E. extremity it displays alpine features in distant glimpses of the snow-topped mountains of Vorarlberg, but the distant Sentis towers over the cultivated slopes which border the lake, and is a fine feature all the way from Constance.

Its waters, on an average, are lowest in the month of February, and highest in June and July, when the snows are melting: it sometimes swells a foot in 24 hours at that season.

Post-horses may be obtained from Constance to St. Gall: see Introduction, § 5.-The stations are from Constance to

4 Hub, not far from Romanshorn, on the lake.

(From Hub to Rorschach 4 leagues.) 4 St. Gall (in p. 184).

Diligences go 3 times a-day in 5 hours. You may take the steamer to Rorschach (3 hours), and the diligence thence to St. Gall (3 hours).

On quitting Constance the road passes the suppressed Augustine convent of Kreuzlingen, now turned into an agricultural school, with 70 or 80 pupils. The edifice dates from the end of the 30 years' war, in the course of which the preceding building was destroyed.

The Church possesses in a side

J. O.

The canton of Thurgovia, which occupies the S. shore of the lake from Constance to Arbon, is distinguished for its surpassing fertility. Instead of rocks and mountains, and alpine pastures, the characteristics of other parts of Switzerland, this canton presents richly-cultivated arable land, waving with corn and hemp; the place of forests is supplied by orchards; it is, indeed, the garden and granary of Helvetia. The country is at the same time thickly peopled, abounding in villages and cheerful cottages.

14 The nunnery of Münsterlingen, about 4 m. on the road, was suppressed in 1838, and converted into an hospital. The surviving sisters are allowed to occupy one wing of the building during their lifetime. The old convent near the water was the scene of the reconciliation between the Emperor Sigismund and Duke Frederick of Austria, 1418.

2 Uttwyl.

After passing Romanshorn, a village built on a tongue of land, the E. end of the lake, with the distant Alps towering above it, comes into view. On the N. shore of the lake is Friedrichshafen and the Villa of the King of Württemberg, in which he usually passes a part of the summer. See HANDBOOK FOR SOUTH GERMANY.

2 Arbon (Inns: Kreutz; Traube), a walled town of 660 Inhab., close upon the lake. The Romans under Augustus built a fort here, upon the high road from Augst and Windisch to Bregenz, which they called Arbor Felix. It was abandoned by them to the Allemanni in the 5th century. The Castle, on an eminence overlooking the lake, was built 1510, but its tower is said to rest on Roman foundations. The belfry, detached from the church, is boarded, not walled, on

A little beyond Tüback the road divides. Travellers bound direct for Coire will proceed (1.) at once on to Rorschach, 4 leagues from Hub (Route 67), while the road to St. Gall turns S. (rt.)

A gradual, but long and uninterrupted ascent, leads from the borders of the lake along a pleasing valley, near the upper end of which, 1000 ft. above the lake of Constance, is situated

2 St. Gall (St. Gallen). Inns: Lion, very good, and thoroughly comfortable; Hecht (Brochet), good; Rössli (Cheval).

St. Gall, capital of the canton, is situated in an elevated valley on the banks of a small stream called the Steinach. Pop. 10,000. It is one of the principal seats of manufacturing industry in Switzerland. The manufacture of Swiss muslins is the most flourishing, but the spinning of cotton is also rapidly increasing. There are extensive bleacheries in the town, and the neighbouring slopes are white with webs. The embroidered curtains and ladies' collars are very pretty and cheap here.

The antique walls, however, which still surround the town, and the ditch, now converted into gardens, tell of a totally different period and state of society, and recall to mind the ancient history of St. Gall. If we may believe the legend, it was in the early part of the 7th century that St. Gallus, a Scotch monk (? Irish), left his convent in the Island of Iona, one of the Hebrides, and, after travelling over a large part of Europe converting the heathens, finally settled on the banks of the Steinach, then a wilderness buried in primæval woods, of which bears and wolves seemed the rightful tenants rather than men. He taught the wild peo

ple around the arts of agriculture, as well as the doctrines of true religion. The humble cell which the Scotch missionary had founded became the nucleus of civilization: and fifty years after his death, when the fame of his sanctity, and the miracles reported to have been wrought at his tomb, drew thousands of pilgrims to the spot, it was replaced by a more magnificent edifice, founded under the auspices of Pepin l'Heristal. This abbey was one of the oldest ecclesiastical establishments in Germany. It became the asylum of learning during the dark ages, and was the most celebrated school in Europe between the 8th and 10th centuries. Here the works of the authors of Rome and Greece were not only read but copied; and we owe to the labour of these obscure monks many of the most valuable classical authors, which have been preserved to modern times in MSS., treasured up in the Abbey of St. Gall; among them Quintilian, Silius Italicus, Ammian Marcellinus, and part of Cicero, may be mentioned. About

the beginning of the 13th century St. Gall lost its reputation for learning, as its abbots exchanged a love of piety and knowledge for worldly ambition, and the thirst for political influence and territorial rule. The desire of security, in those insecure times, first induced the abbot to surround his convent and the adjoining building with a wall and ditch, with 13 towers at intervals. This took place at the end of the 10th century, and from that time may be dated the foundation of the town. He and his 100 monks of the Benedictine order thought it no disgrace to sally forth, sword in hand and helmet on head, backed by their 200 serfs, in the hour of danger, when the convent was threatened by ungodly laymen. The donations of pious pilgrims from all parts of Europe soon augmented enormously the revenues of the abbots. They became the most considerable territorial sovereigns in N. Switzerland; their influence was increased by their elevation to the rank of princes of the empire; they were en

gaged in constant wars with their neighbours, and were latterly entangled in perpetual feuds with their subjects at home. These bold burghers, who, in the first instance, owed their existence and prosperity to the convent, became, in the end, restive under its rule. In the beginning of the 15th century the land of Appenzell threw off the yoke of the abbot; at the Reformation St. Gall itself became independent of him; and in 1712 the ecclesiastical prince was obliged to place the convent under the protection of those very citizens whose ancestors had been his serfs.

The French Revolution caused the secularization of the abbey, and the sequestration of its revenues followed in 1805. The last abbot, Pancratius Forster, died in 1829, a pensioner on the bounty of others, in the convent of Muri.

The Abbey Church, now cathedral, was so completely modernized in the last century that it possesses little to interest the stranger.

The vast buildings of the deserted Monastery date from the 17th and 18th centuries; and the part of it which formed the abbot's Palace (Die Pfalz) now serves for the public offices of the Government of the canton. In it is preserved the Convent Library (Stifts Bibliothek), which still contains many curiosities, such as numerous Latin classics, MSS. of the 10th and 11th centuries, Greek New Testament of the 10th century, Psalms of the 9th century, various ancient MSS. either from Ireland or transcribed by Irish monks; also a MS. of the Niebelungen Lied, and many letters relating to the Reformation.

The finest edifice is the Orphan House, outside the town, to the N.W.

At the Casino Club will be found an excellent reading-room.

The Freudenberg, the neighbouring mountain on the W. of the town, commands from its summit, about 2 m. off, a fine panorama, including the lake of Constance and the mountains of St. Gall and Appenzell, with the Sentis at their head. A carriage-road leads up to the inn on the top.

Diligences go from St. Gall daily to Constance (3 times); to Zürich, by Winterthur (in 8 hrs.); to Glarus (in 8 hrs.); to Feldkirch, by Altstetten; to Bregenz and Innsbruck; to Coire, by Rorschach, Alstetten, and thence to Milan by the Splügen and Bernardin.

Excursion." A one-horse chaise (Einspanner) costs 5 fl. 24 kr. from St. Gall to Trogen, Gais, Appenzell, Weissbad, and back to St. Gall-a delightful day's drive.”—B.

The posting tariff for Canton St. Gall is given in the Introduction (§ 5).

ROUTE 67.

CONSTANCE-OR ST. GALL TO COIRE, BY RORSCHACH, RHEINECK, RAGATZ, AND THE BATHS OF PFEFFERS.

=

23 leagues 69 Eng. m. from St. Gall. Persons bound from Constance to Feldkirch may travel post cheaper and quicker than by the steamer, which does not proceed direct to Bregenz, and stops at many places on the way. Rorschach (8 leagues from Constance) is as near to Feldkirch as Bregenz.

This road is supplied with posthorses (see Introduction, § 5). It is traversed by Diligences twice a day in 12 hrs. Travellers posting should endeavour to reach Hof Ragatz in one day, as the intermediate stations are not good sleeping-places.

There is a direct and very interesting road (Rte. 68), though hilly, from St. Gall to Altstetten, avoiding the détour by Rorschach and the lake of Constance. The pedestrian, with the aid of a guide, may reach Coire by Appenzell, crossing the mountains to Wildhaus (Rtes. 68 and 71).

23 Rorschach-Inns: Hirsch, moderate-J. O.; Post (Krone). This little lake-port and town of 1650 Inhab. is the principal corn-market in Switzerland, held on Thursday. The grain required to supply the greater part of the Alpine districts of N. Switzerland is imported from Suabia, in boats, across the lake, and is deposited temporarily in large warehouses here. Much muslin is made at Rorschach.

Steamboats go daily between it and Friedrichshafen in Württemberg; and the steamers from Constance and Lindau also touch here regularly, corresponding with the diligences to Milan, Augsburg, Ulm, Stuttgart, and Münich. The deposits of the Rhine are, it is said, forming themselves into shallows between Rorschach and Lindau, which may soon impede the direct navigation of the lake between these two places. On the slope, a little above the town, is the large dilapidated building, called Statthaltery, or Marienberg, a palace once of the proud abbots of St. Gall, now a government School. Its Gothic cloister, and vaulted refectory with bas-reliefs, deserve notice (date 1513). It commands a fine view from its terrace. Near it, perched on a projecting sandstone rock, is the desolate Castle of St. Anne, with its square keep. From the top of the hill, behind Rorschach (1 hour's walk), you may obtain a view over the whole lake of the influx of the Rhine, and of the town of Bregenz.

Skirting the foot of low hills clad with vineyards, beneath which the yellow-bellied pumpkins may be seen basking in the sun, the road passes along under the shade of fruit-trees, but soon quits the margin of the lake to cross the flat delta of the Rhine. The district around the mouth of the river abounds in marsh, and is by no means healthy.

2 Rheineck-(Inn: Brochet (Post), clean, but dear; necessary to make a bargain)-a village of 1370 inhab., on the 1. bank of the Rhine, about 4 m. above its embouchure, situated under vine-clad hills. There are several other castles on the neighbouring heights.

St. Margarethen, a pretty village completely embowered in a grove of walnut and fruit trees, is situated near the Austrian ferry, over the Rhine, which must be crossed in going to Feldkirch, Bregenz, or Lindau (see Hand-book for S. Germany); but it is not passable after dark. Our road

* Stages from Rheineck to Hohen Ems 1+ post--Feldkirch 1 post.

leaves it on the 1., and turns soon afterwards due S. up the valley of the Rhine, through a highly cultivated country rich in grain, especially maize, and abounding in orchards. Only the low grounds on the immediate margin of the river are flat and unhealthy marsh, interspersed with gravel-beds, which the traveller should get over as fast as possible, on account of malaria. The Rhine here is a wide, shallow, muddy, and unsteady stream, constantly changing its channel and overflowing its banks: it is not navigated except by wood rafts, which float down it.

[The road from Feldkirch to Coire is considerably more interesting for its scenery than that on the 1. (Swiss) side of the Rhine, and the expense of posting is reported to be less. It runs through Feldkirch (crossing the Ill), through the small principality of Lichtenstein-Vaduz-Balzers-and over the Luziensteig by Mayenfeld to Coire. (See HANDBOOK S. GERMANY.)] 3 Altstetten (Inns: Post; tolerable; Rabe (Corbeau), miserable)— a town of 6429 Inhab., in a fruitful neighbourhood, and in a lonely spot commanding views of the Alps of Vorarlberg. The postmaster at Altstetten has no pretence to make you take on additional horses either to Sennwald or Rheinegg, and he ought to be resisted. There is a road from this over the hill of Stoss to Appenzell, by Gais (Rte. 68) and St. Gall, 3 leagues: very steep, but quite practicable for light carriages. It takes hours to reach the top with leaders. The view from it over the Alps of the Vorarlberg is fine, and the route interesting. Another road, over the Ruppen, leads in 3 hrs. to St. Gall, by Trogen (pp. 194, 5). The female inhabitants of the lower Rheinthal are all diligently occupied in tambouring muslin; much of which goes over to England.

Oberied-(Inn: H. du Cheval.)

3 Sennwald-a village at the foot of the Kamor (5320 ft. high, 3 hours' walk), commanding a fine view over the Alps of Appenzell, Vorarlberg, and Grisons. Down to the 17th century, the district which we now tra

verse belonged to the powerful barons of Hohen Sax, many of whose castles, reduced to ruins by the Appenzellers, may still be discerned upon the heights on the W. of the Rhine valley. One of this family, a brave and noble soldier, and a Protestant, escaped with difficulty from the massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris, and on his return home was murdered by his nephew. After this foul deed, it is the popular belief that the blessing of God was withdrawn from the race: it is certain they never prospered. In 1616 their vast domains were sold to Zürich, and the family became extinct soon after. The body of the murdered man is still preserved in a perfect condition, in a coffin with a glass lid, dried like a mummy, under the church-tower of Sennwald. circumstance, and the story connected with it, have given to the remains a reputation for sanctity; so that, though a Protestant, the Catholics have stolen some of the limbs as relics, and once actually carried off the body across the Rhine; it was, however, speedily reclaimed.

This

1 Werdenberg-(Inn: Kaufhaus) -was the seat of a noble family of that name, who played an important part in early Swiss history. The Stammschloss, the cradle of the race, still stands in good preservation above the town. A cross road runs hence through the vale of Toggenburg, and past Wildhaus, Zwingli's birthplace, to Schaffhausen (Rte. 71).

24 Sewelen (Inn: Traube, poor) to Wildhaus is 2 posts, and to Wallenstadt 2 posts. "Rt. on the height the ruined castle Wartau; 1. beyond the Rhine, at the entrance of the Luziensteig pass, Schloss Guttenburg. In the background rises the grey head of the Falkniss with its chaplet of snow: the whole landscape is splendid, grand, and full of variety."-B.

Sargans (described in Rte. 14), which we pass a little on the rt.: the roads from the Grisons, and from Zürich, meet that from St. Gall.

37 Ragatz-Inns: Hof Ragatz, originally the summer residence of the abbots, and now a bathing establish