302 



VARIETIES. 



DEATH OF QUESADA. The Queen of Spain having been compelled 

 by the late revolt to dismiss Quesada, captain-general of Madrid, he 

 on the 15th, about 1 1 o'clock in the forenoon, left Madrid, attended 

 by a single servant, disguised in plain clothes. On his arrival at 

 Horteleza, distant about a league and a half, he was asked for his 

 passport by the alcadi of the place, when, in the act of delivering it, 

 he was recognised by a corporal of the national guard. He and his 

 servant were at once arrested. Intelligence having reached Madrid, 

 one of the soldiers immediately mounted his horse, followed by others 

 of the national guard. They proceeded to Hortaleza. On arriving 

 at the house where Quesada was imprisoned, they entered it. The 

 general was perfectly calm ; the only observation he made was "that 

 he had fulfilled his duty, and that were he again to find himself similarly 

 circumstanced, he would act in the same manner precisely." The 

 soldier, who had a musket, now fired, and Quesada instantly fell. The 

 unfortunate man, exhibiting signs of life, was beaten on the head by 

 one of the Madrid national guards until the brains protruded from his 

 skull, whilst others hacked his body with their blunt sabres. The 

 general's servant endeavoured to escape, but was also murdered. 

 Quesada's body was horribly mutilated, and his head was severed 

 from his body. 



VARIETIES. 



The Ascent of the Ortlcr in the Alps of 

 Tyrol. At Mont Gallo, a few miles north 

 east ofMountBernina,andeastofthe valley 

 of the Inn, the chain of the Alps bifurcates, 

 the larger ridge running north-east to- 

 wards Nauders, the other, a smaller limb, 

 branching eastward, with many subordi- 

 nate ridges running southward into Upper 

 Italy. The most elevated mountain of this 

 <;hain lies on the Tyroleseside of the point 

 where the confines of Tyrol, Lombardy, 

 and Switzerland meet ; by the Tyrolese 

 themselves it is called the Ortlespitze, 

 Ortler, or Orteler ; its longitude is ten de- 

 grees thirty-one minutes east, and its lati- 

 tude forty-six degrees thirty-eight minutes 

 north. Surrounded on all sides by a de- 

 solate wilderness, and rising above the 

 valleys of Taufers, Schludorris, Fubra, and 

 Martell,its snow-crowned pyramidal sum- 

 mit is the most elevated spot in the Aus- 

 triau dominions, and reaches an altitude 

 of 12,814 English feet. The open and 

 lofty summit is well laid down in General 

 Jomini's excellent chart of the Alps. 

 Until 1804 the foot of man had never 

 reached it, but in September of that year a 

 chamois-hunter, named Joseph Pichler, 

 on the side of Tauflers, after repeated fai- 

 lures, succeeded in mounting to its highest 

 peak. In 1805, the Archduke John of 

 Austria caused a hut to be erected on an 

 elevated part of the mountain, and rings 



and iron staves to be attached to the per- 

 pendicular surfaces ; with these helps Dr. 

 Gebbard, the celebrated naturalist, thrice 

 succeeded in ascending it. The best 

 place from which to start upon this inte- 

 resting excursion is Mais. Proceeding to 

 Taufers, and advancing about two miles 

 from thence, the traveller comes to the iso- 

 lated Pilgrim's Church, called the Three 

 Springs, on the stream of the Tanfers ; 

 he then ascends a desert Alp over a mass 

 of snow to the Riffelu, a rocky ridge, from 

 the foot of which the route ascends, over 

 a surface of loose shifting soil, for nearly 

 four miles, along the edge of an abyss of 

 2080 feet deep. He now steps upon the 

 Ferner mountain, and crosses it in a south- 

 ern direction straight towards Mount 

 Cristallo; after proceeding for seven miles 

 and a half, he turns towards the Schnee- 

 rinne (snow-edge), an almost perpendicu- 

 lar wall, to mount which requires at least 

 four hours, and so dangerous isitthat not 

 even the chamois flies thither save when 

 in fear of his life. The soil is loose and 

 shifting ; the slightest breath of wind is 

 sufficient to set it in motion, and if a stone 

 is disturbed, it is immediately precipi- 

 tated downwards. In this manner the 

 traveller must go round the whole Ortler, 

 and at last reaches the snow-ridge, which 

 conducts from the Zwedul to the summit. 

 The view may be easily conceired to be 



