m the Vorarlber^y in the Autumn o/1846. 241 



then, but not very often, a crag appears, relieving by its grey 

 colour the unvarying green which surrounds it. 



The 111 is a river of some importance in this province, and, 

 after a course of about forty miles, flows into the Rhine, near 

 Feldkirch. A short way above this town it rushes be- 

 tween two nearly mural precipices, of 300 feet high. Ten 

 or eleven miles above this point, it passes through a similar 

 but much wider opening ; and the intervening space is a val- 

 ley of varying breadth, sometimes of three miles, surrounded 

 by mountains of moderate height. The perfect level of most 

 parts of this valley indicates that it had, at one time, been 

 the bed of a lake ; and the occurrence, at various points, of 

 perfectly flat surfaces, 10 or 12 feet raised above the general 

 level of the valley, lead us to infer that the lake had once, 

 at least, been partially emptied, before the rocky barrier near 

 Feldkirch had been completely burst through by some over- 

 powering force. 



The mountain-sides of this valley of the 111 do not form a 

 continuous boundary, but smaller streams descend on either 

 side, through openings of various characters. Some are nar- 

 row ravines, or tobels, as they are called, while others open 

 out into wide spaces, having their villages and cultivated 

 fields around them. There is not a great deal of bare rock 

 to be seen : the steep sides are sometimes bare, like what are 

 called " scaurs" in the south of Scotland. The soil, in the 

 level of the valley, is rich and deep ; that on the mountain 

 sides is usually rather shallow, and covers over, in every 

 part, a thick bed of gravel. Wherever the upper bed of 

 eai*th has been removed by the elements, or by the industri- 

 ous operations of the people, this gravel comes into view. 



The summer of 1846 was as hot and dry in the Vorarl- 

 berg as in other parts of Europe. When I arrived, in the 

 middle of August, there had been no rain for many weeks, 

 with the exception of a few thunder- showers, hasty in their 

 appearance and in their departure. All the crops were abun- 

 dant (excepting the potatoes, which were nearly destroyed), 

 and much earlier than in ordinary seasons. On the evening 

 of the 20th of August, rain began to pour, and, out of the 

 twelve succeeding days, only one was entirely fair; while, 



