CHAP TEE XXXIV.

THE JULlEll PASS- THE INN-THE ENGADINE -THE BERNINA TASS.

Du. James Johnson, when prosecuting his philosophical researches on the EhaetianAlps, was an eye-witness to their frightful devastation. Great disasters were severallyexperienced by the cantons of Uri, Vallais, and Tessin , hut we limit ourselves to thecatastrophes which occurred in this part of Switzerland . A storm, coming from thewest, extended itself over the whole country of the Grisons , and continued its ravages,without interruption, to the following day. Innumerable cataracts, suddenly dischargedfrom the mountains, carried away everything that opposed their course. An immensequantity of trees, fifty houses, and upwards of thirty bridges, were either destroyed orentirely swept off by the torrents. The magnificent route between Coiro and theSplugen , and chiefly in the Scliamscrthal, was almost entirely obliterated; the vastembankments were broken down, and that beautiful valley was transformed into a lake,when the waters, swollen to a height far exceeding the disastrous inundation of 1817,carried off several inhabitants and much cattle. In this district alone, the damage wasestimated at upwards of one million of florins. Other valleys suffered severely. In theOberland the bridges were all, or nearly all, destroyed. In the village of Splugen fivemen perished; a handsome building lately erected, a dozen other houses, the great stonebridge over the Seriinda, were all swept down by the torrent, and it was only with thegreatest difficulty and hazard of life that the bridge over the lthine was saved, BetweenSplugen and Naufanen the dykes gave way, and several houses and sheds of cattle wereborne down by the torrent. In one of these houses, the family were quietly seated attheir evening meal only an hour before.

The Julicr pass, in the Grisons , is estimated at 8,134 feet above the level of the sea,and its ascent may bo effected from Stalla, called also llivio, in about two hours. Fromthe avalanches which threaten the traveller in other parts of Switzerland , this portion ofthe country is remarkably exempt. Dut then his expectations must not be high oflooking again at the grand or the sublime, lest there be a frequent result.

On the summit of the pass there are two roughly hewn granite pillars, called Julius’sColumns . The stone was dug from the neighbouring mountains, it is supposed, by theEomans. Murray says : “ They arc about four feet high, and destitute of inscription ;but may have been set up as mile-stones in the time of Augustus , who caused a Romanhighway to be carried from Chiavenna, over the passes of the Malbja and Julier . Acarriage-road was formed across the pass of St. Mauritz in 1823 ; but as no attempt wasmade till very lately to improve the approach to it through the Oberlialbsieiu, littleadvantage was gained by it. Flocks of Bergamesquc sheep are often found on thehighest pastures, near the summit of the pass, in summer. A still more, easy descentleads into the Engadine, to the village of Silva Plana .”