176 Route 67.-Government of the Grisons. to the whole country now called Switzerland, or even influenced more than a very small part of it-the forest cantons-except in as far as such a spirit-stirring example is capable of influencing the minds of a neighbouring people. For more than a century after the first Swiss union, the country of Rhætia, now called Grisons, groaned under the tyranny of almost numberless petty lords, who, though they possessed but a few acres of land, or even no more than the number of square feet on which their castle stood, yet assumed the rights of independent sovereignty, waging perpetual petty war with their neighbours-oppressing their own subjects, and pillaging all travellers the ancient form of levying duties and customs. The best notion of the state of society which existed during this period of the Faustrecht (club law), may be formed from the quantity of feudal ruins which stud not only the main valleys of the Rhine, but even the lateral valleys and gorges of the Rhætian Alps. Åt last a day of retribution came. The peasants rose in revolt, and threw off the yoke of the nobles-with less violence than might be expected, chiefly because the great ecclesiastical potentates, the Bishop of Coire, the Abbots of St. Gall and Dissentis, and some of the more influential barons sided with the peasants, directing, instead of opposing, the popular feeling. The result of this was a Rhætian Confederacy, quite distinct from the Swiss Confederacy, composed of Three Leagues (Bünden)-the Upper, or Grey League (Ober, or Graue Bund), 1424 (named from the simple grey home-spun coats of those by whom it was formed); the League of God's House (Caddè in Romansch, in Germ. Gotteshaus Bund), so called from the church of Coire, the head of this league, and its capital, 1396; and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions (Zehn-Gerichte), of which Mayenfeld is chief town (1428). The government produced by this revolution presents, perhaps, the most remarkable example the world has yet seen of the sovereignty of the people and of universal suffrage. Not only every valley, but, in some cases, every parish, or even hamlet, in a valley, became an independent commonwealth, with a government of its own, with peculiar local administrative rights and privileges, in many instances existing at the present day. Sometimes one of these free states, sometimes several together, form a commune or schnitze, literally slice (gemeinde or gericht); each commune has its own general assembly, in which every citizen of the age of 18, sometimes younger, has a vote, and by which the magistrates and authorities, down to the parson and schoolmaster, are elected. A number of communes forms a Hoch Gericht, under a magistrate, styled Landamman, Podesta, or Landvoght. Above this comes the Diet of the League; and, above all, the Diet of the Three Leagues. There still are 26 HochGerichts; the number of communes was 49; that of the smaller communities is not known. Amidst such a labyrinth of government-a complication of machinery, wheel within wheel-it is difficult to understand how any government could have been carried on; and we accordingly find the history of the Grisons little better than a long series of bickerings, feuds, revolts, conspiracies, massacres, intrigues, and peculations. The wisest decisions of the diet of the canton were annulled or frustrated by the votes of the general assemblies, according as the interest or caprice of the most influential popular leader might sway these meetings at the moment. Two great families, those of Planta and De Salis, in the end, long monopolised the chief influence, as well as the patronage and offices of the federal government. Such, then, was the practical result of this democracy of the purest form in theory. Route 68. Canton AppenzellGais. The Grisons were united with the Swiss Confederation in 1803, and are represented by a deputy in the diet. The Three Leagues are still composed of 26 high jurisdictions (HochGerichte), each possessing its own constitution, which often differ entirely from one another. The supreme federal government of the canton is vested in the great council of 15 members, which meets at Coire. The canton Appenzell lies out of the beat of travellers, completely surrounded (enclavé) by the territory of cauton St. Gail, and shut in, at its south extremity, by the Alps; no great high-roads pass through it; and Appenzell itself lies in a cul de sac of the mountains, except for such as will take the difficult paths over the high Alps and glaciers. On this account, it is but little visited by English travellers. The canton is divided into 2 parts or districts, called Rhoden, quite independent of each other, but enjoying only one vote at the diet. Outer Rhoden is a very thickly peopled district, having 8781 inhabitants to the German sq. mile. These are almost exclusively engaged in manufactures, chiefly of cotton, muslin, tambouring, &c. Inner Rhoden, on the contrary, is a land of herdsmen its high and bleak mountains produce nothing but rich pasturage and sweet grass, upon which vast herds of cattle are fed. The government, in both states, is a pure democracy-the General Assembly, or Landesgemeinde, is composed of every male born in the canton. 177 To Gais, 2 stunden = 8 English miles. Travellers going from St. Gall to Coire may, instead of following the beaten track by Rorschach (Route 67), proceed to Altstetten by way of Gais, and make an excursion thence to Appenzell. The road quits the canton of St. Gall and enters that of Appenzell (Ausser-Rhoden) a little before reach ing 1 Teuffen-(Inns: Hecht; Bär). The inhabitants of this village are chiefly engaged in the manufacture of muslin. Grubenman, the carpenter, who built the celebrated bridge of one arch at Schaffhausen, was born here. 1 Gais-(Inns: Ochs (Boeuf); Krone (Couronne); the two best, and both said to be good. Rooms cost from 4 fl. to 10 fl. weekly; table d'hôte, 1 fl.; whey, 20 kr. daily—it' is brought from the high Alps every morning. The bread is very good here. This little village of 42 houses, mostly converted into lodging-houses by the peasants their owners, irregularly scattered over lawn-like meadows, is situated in a bare, bleak country, with scarce a tree or shrub; nothing but pastures around, at an elevation of 2900 ft. above the sea level. Yet the reputation of its pure and bracing air, and of its cure of goat's whey (molken-kur; cure de petit lait), annually attract hither many hundred invalids from all parts. of Europe; and during the season, in July and August, the principal inns are generally crammed full. The peasants' houses are particularly neat and clean, trimly painted outside, as though they had just issued from a bandbox. Gais lies at the S. side of the Gabris, and the view from the top of that mountain is said to be very fine. The native songs of the cow-herds and dairy-maids of Appenzell are To Appenzell, 3 stunden = 11 highly melodious. English miles. It is a walk of about five hours 178 Route 68.-Stoss-Appenzell-Weissbad. from Gais to Herisau (see Route 69). 2 miles to the E. of Gais, on the road to Altstetten, is the Chapel of Stoss, erected on the summit of the steep pass leading down to the Rhine Thal, to commemorate the almost incredible victory gained by 400 men of Appenzell over 3000 Austrians in 1405. The Archduke of Austria and the Abbot of St. Gall had hoped to take the Swiss by surprise with this preponderating force. But a handful of the mountaineers, under the conduct of Count Rudolph of Werdenberg, assembled in haste, gave them battle, and defeated the invaders, with a loss of 900 men, losing only 20 of their own party. The blood of the slain discoloured the mountain torrent which flowed past the battle-field as far as its influx into the Rhine. The view from the Stoss over the valley of the Rhine, 2000 ft. below, and of the snowy mountains of Tyrol and Vorarberg beyond, is of great beauty. A very steep descent leads from the Stoss to Altstetten in the valley of the Rhine (Route 67), a distance of 6 miles. It is a distance of nearly 6 miles S.W. from Gais to 2 Appenzell-(Inns: Hecht (Pike); Weisses Kreutz; respectable alehouses). Though the chief place of the district of Inner-Rhoden, this is but a dull and dirty village of 1400 inhabitants, consisting of old and ill-built houses, with two convents, and a modern Church, hung with several flags; and contains nothing remarkable in it. The Landesgemeinde, or Assembly of the canton, meets on a square, near a lime-tree, every year. In the Record Office, Archiv, are preserved a number of banners, conquered by the Appenzellers of old, and the only surviving trophies of their valour. Here are the flags of Constance, Winterthur, Feldkirch; the Tyrolese banner and free ensign, with the motto "Hundert Teufel," conquered at Landek, 1407; the Genoese banner of St. George, and two captured from the Venetians, 1516, in the battle of Agnadel. It is stated on all hands that a remarkable change greets the traveller, on entering Catholic Inner-Rhoden, from Protestant Outer-Rhoden. He exchanges cleanliness and industry for filth and beggary. What may be the cause of this, is not a subject suitable for discussion here. The Appenzellers are passionately fond of gymnastic exercises; and a part of every holiday is devoted to wrestling and boxing matches. Hurling the stone is another frequent exercise. A mass of rock, varying in weight from a half to a whole cwt., is poised on the shoulder, and then cast forward a distance of several feet. In 1805 a man of Urnäsch hurled a stone, weighing 184 lbs., 10 ft. The Appenzellers are also capital shots: rifle-matches are held almost every summer on the Sundays, and the cracking reports resound on all sides. The laws of the canton (especially of Outer-Rhoden) restrict dancing to 3 or 4 days of the year; but, as the people are much addicted to this amusement, the law is frequently infringed, and the peasants will often cross the frontier of the canton in order to enjoy unmolested their favourite amusement. There is a road from Appenzell to Herisau. (See Route 69.) About 2 miles S. E. of Appenzell is Weissbad," an excellent boarding house and bathing establishment, situated in a beautiful and retired spot, at the foot of the Sentis, surrounded by pleasure-grounds, from which run walks leading up the mountains. The house is capable of accommodating 200 visitors. I have seen few places in the course of my travels where a person fond of exploring and desirous of tranquillity, combined with accommodation on a superior scale (to be procured without trouble or effort on his part), could spend a Routes 68, 69.-Wildkirchlein-Sentis-Herisau. few days in greater enjoyment." Dates and Distances. In addition to the cure of goats' whey, there are also mineral springs at Weissbad, and the bath-houses contain 80 baths. Three small torrents, issuing out of 3 Alpine valleys deeply furrowed in the sides of the Sentis, in whose glaciers they take their rise, unite at Weissbad, and form the river Sitter. About 5 miles up the middle valley is the singular hermitage and chapel of the Wildkirchlein. It is reached by crossing the Alpine pasture of the Ebenalp, which, in spite of its elevation of 5094 ft. above the sea, is in summer a perfect garden, unfolding a treasure to the botanist, and affording the sweetest herbage to the COWS. In a recess scooped out of the face of a precipice, 170 ft. above these pastures, a little chapel has been perched. It was built 1756 by a pious inhabitant of Appenzell, and dedicated to St. Michael, and on that saint's day mass is celebrated here annually. A bearded Capuchin occupies the hermitage adjoining, and will conduct strangers through the long caverns hung with stalactites, which perforate the mountain behind his dwelling. The pilgrimage will be repaid by the charming prospect from the window which he opens. The Sentis (from Latin Sentis, a thorn ?), the highest mountain in Appenzell, 7700 ft. above the sea level, may be ascended from Weissbad. The view from the top is much extolled, and a panorama of it has been engraved. Various paths lead up to it; the best and easiest, which is also perfectly safe in the company of a guide, leads by way of the Meggisalp (3 stunden); Wagenlucke, (2 stunden); to the summit, (1 stunden), a walk of nearly 20 miles. In 1832, an engineer named Buchmuller, while making trigonometrical observations on the summit, accompanied by a servant, was struck by lightning. The shock took away 179 his senses, and he remained in that state nearly an hour; when he came to himself he found his servant dead beside him, and himself so severely injured in one of his legs, that it was with the utmost difficulty and dan. ger that he could crawl down to the nearest human habitation. A steep and difficult path leads S. over the ridge of the Sentis from Weissbad to Wildhaus, the birthplace of Zwingli, in Toggenburg (Route 71), a distance of 20 miles. Another path leads in about 4 hours from Weissbad to Sennewald in the valley on the Rhine. It passes over the shoulder of the Kamor, on the right hand of that mountain, whose top commands a remarkable panorama. Even from the road to Sennewald, the traveller has a delightful prospect over the Sentis and Canton Appenzell, on one side, and over the lake of Constance, Tyrol, and the Rhine on the other. ROUTE 69. ST. GALL TO RAPPERSCHWYL ON THE LAKE OF ZURICH, BY HERISAU AND THE HEINRICHSBAD. 13 Stunden 42 Eng. miles. About 4 miles from St. Gall, a little beyond the village of Bruggen, the road crosses the Gorge of the Sitter, by the magnificent Krätzeren Brücke, a bridge 590 ft. long, and 85 ft. above the stream. A little after we enter Canton Appenzell. 2. Herisau.-Inns: Löwe (Lion) the best;-Hecht (Brochet). Herisau, the flourishing and industrious chief village of the Protestant district of Appenzell, called Ausser- Rhoden, contains 2200 inhabitants, and is advantageously situated at the junction of two streams, the Glatt and Brühlbach, which turn the wheels of its nume rous manufactories. "It is a very singular place from its extraordinary 180 Routes 69, 71-St. Gall to Rapperschwyl. irregularity of construction, and is quite unlike any other town in Switzerland." There are beautiful walks on the surrounding heights; two of them are topped by ruined castles, the Rosenberg and Rosenburg, which, according to the story, were once connected together by a leathern bridge The lower part of the Church Tower, in which the Archives are deposited, is the oldest building in the Canton, dating probably from the 7th century. The articles chiefly manufactured here are muslins, cottons and silk, the last, a recent introduction: 10,200 persons are employed in AusserRhoden, in weaving muslins, and a very large number in embroidering them. There is a direct road from Herisau to Appenzell (Route 68), by Waldstadt, (1 stunden); Urnäsch, (1), and Gonten (1), in all 5 stunden 16 miles. About a mile to the E. of Herisau is the watering-place called Heinrichsbad. The Badhaus is the most elegant establishment of the sort in Switzerland, after Schintznach, surrounded by agreeable pleasuregrounds, the creation of one Heinrich Steiger, a rich manufacturer. Two springs rising out of gravel, and variously impregnated with iron, carbonic acid, &c., are used for drinking, and to supply the baths. Goats' whey and asses' milk are also furnished to those invalids for whom they are prescribed. Accommodation in a cowhouse is provided for invalids suffering from diseases of the chest. The neighbourhood is exceedingly picturesque. Through an undulating country, we reach the frontier of Appenzell, and re-enter that of its grasping neighbour, St. Gall, before arriving at 2 Peterzell: 3 miles beyond the ruined Castle of Neu-Toggenburg, lies 2 Lichtensteig, (Inn: Krone,) a town of 700 inhabitants on the right bank of the Thur, in the ancient county of Toggenburg. Opposite Wattweil, a pretty manufacturing village about 1 mile farther, stand the convent of Santa Maria and the Castle of Iberg(Inns; Rössli; Löwe.) The road soon after surmounts the steep ascent of the ridge of Himmelwald. From its top a beautiful prospect expands to view; in front the lake of Zurich, with the castle, town, and bridge of Rapperschwyl, in full relief on its margin; behind it the pine-clad and snow-topped Alps of Schwytz and Glarus; on the E. the remarkable peaks of the Sieben Kuh-1 firsten, and behind the fertile vale of Toggenburg. The road divides on the opposite side of the hill; those bound for Glarus or Wallenstadt, take its 1. branch, leading to Utznach:→ we follow the rt. to Eschenbach, and 7 Rapperschwyl. Route 14. ROUTE 71. SCHAFFHAUSEN TO COIRE BY TOG- A good carriage-road leads through Schlatt and Neusom to 5 Frauenfeld, in Route 9. 3 Wyl, a little town of 1064 inhabitants in the valley of the Thur, distant about a mile from its 1. bank. We here leave on the 1. the road to St. Gall, and continue up the 1. bank of the Thur, as far as Dietfurth where we cross to 33 Lichtensteig (in Route 69). 14 Ebnat.-Toggenburg, as the long and fertile valley of the Thur is called, extends for nearly 40 miles, from Wyl up to the source of that river. It is bounded by high mountains; on the N. by the Sentis, and on the S. by the peaks of the Kühfirsten. It was anciently governed. by counts of its own. When their.. line became extinct, 1436, the district was claimed by canton Zurich. In the feud which ensued, the Zurichers |