We left Chamouny at an early hour to proceed on our way to Martigny,
from which it is nine leagues distant; but as there is nothing which
deserves the name of a road, we continued our journey on mules. The
morning was so very hazy, that we were prevented from enjoying the
prospect from the Col de Balme, and we travelled for several hours
amongst mountains, at one moment enveloped in the fog, which was
sometimes the next instant carried to a considerable distance from us,
by one of those sudden currents of air which are so common in these
elevated situations. As we approached Valorsine, the rain began to fall,
but fortunately it was not of long continuance, and afterwards the
weather became much clearer.
_Nothing can surpass_ the romantic situation of this little village, its
valley is one of the most secluded we had yet seen amongst the Alps.
The impression which this scene has left on my mind, can never be
effaced; every thing presented an appearance of tranquillity, and of
extreme simplicity. It was the feast of the patron saint of the village,
and the peasants were in their best dresses. The women were of a better
appearance than is usual in Savoy; their dress attracted the particular
attention of our French companion, who had never before quitted his own
country, and who had previously expressed a contempt for Savoy, which he
now seemed willing to retract; and certainly it would be difficult to
see a spot where primitive simplicity was more conspicuous. We
determined to refresh ourselves here, and afterwards went through the
village to the church, which was decorated with flowers for the
festival; and during our walk we were saluted with the utmost civility
by the peasants, who surveyed us with a curiosity which proved they had
but little intercourse with strangers. A monk saluted me, and said in
Latin he was rejoiced again to see Englishmen. In one of the groups, I
observed a fortune-teller, who seemed to have a good deal of custom,
but her dialect was one of the most singular I ever heard. The inn where
we breakfasted, like most of the houses here, was raised on beams, to
allow for the depth of the snow in winter. They are built of timber, and
covered with pieces of fir, cut to about the size of tiles. The rooms
were very small, and could with difficulty accommodate the unusual
number of guests then assembled. Civility was more abundant than
provisions, but there was more fruit than one could expect to see
amongst these mountains.
If the peasants of Meillerie, which is the part of Savoy Rousseau took
so much pleasure in describing, at all resemble those of Valorsine, he
cannot there at least be accused of having dealt in fiction. M. de
Saussure relates an anecdote which serves to give an idea of the
Savoyards in these situations, so remote from the corruption incident to
cities. He says, "I was one day prosecuting my researches amongst the
Alps, and being without provisions, was induced to take some fruit not
far distant from a cottage. I observed a woman coming towards me, as I
concluded, to ask payment for the fruit; and I assured her I had no
intention of going away without satisfying her. She answered, 'I came
out thinking you had lost your way, and that I might be able to set you
right. As for the fruit, I will take nothing for it. He who made it, did
not intend it for the use of one in particular.'"
We had not yet performed above half our journey, and as it was getting
late, we were obliged by the representation of our guides to continue on
our road, which lay through a romantic district, abounding with streams
and falls of water. Some of the fir trees on the Tête Noire opposite to
us, are said to be above 100 feet in height. We were after the first
league frequently obliged to dismount, having in some places literally
to ascend steps cut in the rock, which I think must have not a little
puzzled two gentlemen, who set out on _horseback_ about the same time we
did from Chamouny, but who did not reach Martigny for a long time after
us, and were greatly tired with the difficulties they had to encounter.
The village of Trient is in a romantic situation, but has not the same
attractions as Valorsine. The hill near it is astonishingly difficult of
ascent. The guides wished us to let the mules shift for themselves; and
we all at last arrived at the summit. An hour afterwards, we reached the
Mount Fourcle, from which is seen a vast extent of country. This view is
by some travellers considered as surpassing all others in Switzerland,
as it embraces the greatest part of the Canton of the Valais, watered by
the Rhone; and we could distinctly see its capital city Sion, although
above eight leagues distant. Martigny and St. Branchier seemed to lie at
our feet; but we had still a long way to descend before we reached them.
The city of Sion will be long remembered as the scene of one of the most
horrible of those outrages which cast such a just odium on the French
name. It was given up to the savage fury of an army irritated by the
brave but ineffectual resistance, which its inhabitants attempted to
oppose against the invaders of their property and liberty. But here, as
in too many other instances, numbers occasioned the worse to prevail
over the better cause. A person on whose authority I can confide,
assured me he was at Geneva, when a part of the French army arrived
there after this _glorious_ exploit, and that rather than return without
plunder, they carried away with them the miserable household furniture
of these unfortunate people, which sold at Geneva for a sum so trifling
as hardly to pay for the expense of conveying them thither. It may seem
_incredible_, but it is however _true_, that many of the inhabitants of
the Valois, _regret the recovery of their independence_, and would wish
again to see their country in the possession of the French. They prefer
the advantages which Buonaparte's military road, and the frequent
passage of his troops into Italy afforded them of making money, to their
present liberty under a government of their own selection.
The country, for about a league before the entrance into Martigny,
becomes much more civilized than that we had just passed. The fields
are well cultivated, and are divided by hedges from the road: here are
some of the largest walnut trees I have ever seen.
On the left we remarked the venerable and extensive remains of la
Bathia, an ancient castle, formerly inhabited by the Bishops of Sion. It
is boldly situated on a rock, which rises over that impetuous torrent
the Dreuse, which a little below falls into the Rhone.
The town of Martigny is situated on the Rhone, in that delightful plain
which we had so much admired from the Fourcle, and which did not
disappoint the expectations we had formed of it. It is well watered,
highly cultivated, and abounds with neat cottages, and seems almost to
realize some fancied descriptions of enchanted valleys, being shut out
from the surrounding countries by a formidable barrier of snow-clad
mountains, and possessing in itself so attractive an aspect. Martigny is
a well-built town; and some antiquarians insist, that it is the ancient
Octodurum of the Romans. I can give no opinion on a point which has
occasioned differences amongst the learned; but the present appearance
of the inhabitants was very favourable, it being a holiday here as well
as at Valorsine, and although their festivity was not altogether marked
by the same simplicity, yet it was sufficiently removed from that which
prevails in many other countries to interest us by its singularity. We
were here amused with an account of two English gentlemen, who attempted
to ascend Mont Blanc, notwithstanding the assurances they received of
the impracticability of the attempt under present circumstances, as a
chasm had lately been made by the thaw on one side of the mountain; but
they were not to be intimidated either by the advice of the inhabitants,
or by the accounts of the hardships suffered by M. de Saussure, and
judging with _Hannibal_,
"Nil actum reputans si quid superesset agendum."
"Think nothing gained while ought remains."
They set out on this difficult enterprise, attended by eighteen guides,
but were at length obliged to desist, after running many hazards, and
after having expended at least £50. If they failed in accomplishing
their undertaking, they had at least the satisfaction of exciting much
wonder amongst the surrounding peasants, at the curiosity and rashness
of the English. Our party were more easily satisfied; and having seen as
much as could be accomplished without very great difficulty, we were
contented to judge of the rest from the ample descriptions that have
been published respecting them.
I could have wished, however, that time and the consent of the majority
of the party, would have permitted my ascending to the convent on the
Great St. Bernard; but being left in the minority, I did not feel
disposed to make the excursion by myself, and I therefore prepared to
accompany my friends back to Geneva. At Martigny, we entered on a part
of the grand road of the Simplon, and bidding adieu to our mules, and to
the mountains over which they had carried us, we proceeded on our
journey in a _charaban_ (or light country cart, with seats across it) to
Bex. I did not observe that extreme indolence in the inhabitants of the
Lower Valais, with which they have been reproached by some travellers.
They are no doubt very poor, but their cottages are not devoid of
neatness and comfort. Our attention was soon attracted by the famous
cascade called the _Pisse Vache_, the beauty of which consists chiefly
in its seeming to issue immediately from a cavity in the rock, which is
surrounded by thorns and bushes. Its perpendicular height cannot be
estimated at less than 200 feet, although many make it double that, or
even more. The country of the Valais is remarkable for the vast numbers
of persons it contains, affected with the _goitres_ and also of
_idiots_. The neighbouring provinces are also more or less affected with
these maladies.
Many writers have exerted their ingenuity in endeavouring to account for
this singularity with greater or less success; but what at Geneva is
considered as the best treatise on the subject, is that by _Coxe_ in his
_Account of Switzerland_. A gentleman there lent me a French edition of
this valuable work, from which I extracted the following account of the
origin of the _Goitres_, (or extraordinary swellings about the glands
of the throat,) which in Switzerland is considered as very satisfactory.
Mr. Coxe says,
"The opinion that water derived from the melting of snow, occasions
these excrescences, is entirely destitute of foundation, which one
cannot doubt if it is considered how generally such water is used
in many parts of Switzerland, where the inhabitants are not at all
subject to this malady, which is, however, very prevalent in parts
where no such water abounds.
"These swellings are also frequently seen near Naples, in Sumatra,
&c. where there is little or no snow."
Mr. C. proceeds to shew that this malady is occasioned by a calcareous
matter called in Swiss _Tuf_; and adds, "This stone resembles very much
the incrustations at Mallock in Derbyshire, which dissolve so completely
in the water as not to lessen its transparency; and I think that the
particles of this substance so dissolved, resting in the glands of the
throat, occasion the Goitres, and during the course of my travels in
different parts of Europe, I have never failed to observe, that where
this _Tuf_, or calcareous deposit is common, _Goitres_ are equally so. I
have found an abundance of tuf, and also of goitrous persons in
Derbyshire, the Valois, the Valteline, at Lucerne, Berne, Fribourg, in
parts of Piedmont, in the valleys of Savoy, at Milan, and at Dresden. I
also observed that at Berne and Fribourg, the public fountains are
supplied from sources where there is a vast quantity of this calcareous
deposit. General Pfiffer has informed me, that there is but one spring
at Lucerne, which is free from tuf, and that those who reside in its
vicinity, are much less subject to the goitres than the rest of the
inhabitants. A surgeon also, whom I met at the baths of Louesch,
informed me that he had _frequently_ extracted from different goitres
_small pieces of tuf_, which is also found in the stomachs of cows, and
the dogs of this country are also subject to this malady. This gentleman
added, that, to complete the cure of young persons attacked by this
complaint, he either removed them from waters impregnated with tuf, or
recommended them to drink only of water that had been purified. The
children of goitrous parents are often born with these swellings; but
there are also instances of children born with goitres, whose parents
are free from them."
That celebrated naturalist, M. de Saussure, attributes Goitres not to
the water, but to the heat of the climate, and to the stagnation of the
air, and he informs us, he has never seen Goitres in any place elevated
5 or 6,000 toises above the level of the sea, and that they are most
common in valleys where there is not a free circulation of air. "But it
may be observed, that in these elevated situations, fountains are too
near their sources to dissolve as much calcareous sediment as by the
time they reach the plain. Some say, that strangers are never attacked
by the Goitres, but the truth is, they are only less subject to them
than natives of the country. In fine, we may observe, that if snow water
occasions the Goitres wherever they abound, there should also be snow
water, which experience proves not to be the fact. If the concentration
of heat and stagnation of the air are necessary to their formation, it
would follow that they should not abound in those places where the air
circulates freely, which is not less contrary to fact than the former
supposition. If waters impregnated with tuf, or certain calcareous
substances, produce the Goitres, it will follow, that in every place
where they abound, the inhabitants should drink of waters so
impregnated, which seems consonant to the truth of the fact." The same
causes which occasion the Goitres, have probably a considerable
operation in producing the number of idiots, as they are always in most
abundance where the Goitres prevail. Such is the intimate and
inexplicable sympathy between the body and the mind. When the Goitres
become large, they produce a difficulty of breathing, and render the
person so affected, extremely indolent and languid. These idiots are
treated with great regard by the rest of the inhabitants of the country,
who even consider them, in some degree, peculiarly favoured by
Providence--thinking that they are certain of eternal happiness, as not
being capable of forming any criminal intentions. Exaggeration is the
common fault of travellers, and, to judge from the accounts given by
some who have visited this country, a stranger would be led to suppose,
that all its population were either idiots, or afflicted with Goitres.
The fact, however, is, that the inhabitants of the Valais are in general
a strong and healthy race, but that these two unfortunate maladies are
here in greater frequency than in any other country.
Our next stage, after leaving Martigny, was St. Maurice, which derives
its name from an abbey, founded by Sigismund, king of Burgundy, about
the commencement of the sixth century, in honour of a saint, who is said
to have here suffered martyrdom, having refused to abjure Christianity
at the command of the Emperor Maximin. Its more ancient name is said by
antiquarians to have been Agaunum. This place is very justly considered
as the key of the Lower Valais, of which it is the chief town. Its
bridge over the Rhone is of one arch, of 130 feet, which is thought to
be the work of the Romans, and by its boldness, does not seem unworthy
of a people whose edifices are so justly distinguished for their
elegance and durability. Here is also a curious Mosaic pavement, and the
antiquity of the place is proved incontestably by the many ancient
medals and inscriptions which have been found here at different periods.
It must, indeed, have been always remarkable as a military position, and
it is difficult to imagine one of greater natural strength, or more
easily defensible by a small force against superior numbers. The road,
which is extremely narrow, passes for a considerable length under a
mountain, which is absolutely inaccessible.
Having passed the bridge, we entered the territories of the ancient
canton of Berne, but now of Vaud (as I think there appears to be but
little doubt that it will be speedily acknowledged as such by the Swiss
diet). Here our passports were demanded, but more in compliance with old
regulations, than from any mistrust of us; and one of our party having
forgotten his passport, the officer was perfectly satisfied with his
leaving his name and address.
The Rhone is here of astonishing rapidity, and its waters have quite a
milky hue, from the vast quantities of melted snow with which they are
supplied. On quitting the lake at Geneva, the river is of a transparent
blue colour, which is attributed partly to its having deposited its
sediment in the lake, and partly to the nature of the soil over which it
there passes. The rest of our stage was through a picturesque country,
and the road was excellent.
* * * * *