214 Account of the Fall 



tage. Oa the left hand spread the blue and tranquil surfac?e 

 of the lake of Zug, on the margin of which yet stands the 

 pleasant village of Art, ahnost in contact with the ruins, 

 and trembling even in its preservation. 



We proceeded, in our descent, along the side of the Rigi, 

 toward the half buried village of Lowertz. Here we saw 

 the poor curate, who is said to have been a spectator of the 

 fall of the mountain. He saw the torrent of earth rushing 

 toward his village, overwhelming half his people, and stop- 

 ping just before his door. What a situation ! He appeared, 

 as we passed, to be superintending the labours of some of 

 the survivors who were exploring the ruins of the place. 

 A number of new-made graves, marked with a plain pine 

 cross, showed where a few of the wretched victims of this 

 catastrophe had just been interred. 



Our course lay along the borders of the enchanting lake 

 ofLowertz. The appearance of the slopes on the eastern 

 and southern side? told us what the valley ofGoldau was 

 a few days since ; smiling with varied vegetation, gay with 

 villages and cottages, and bright with promises of autumnal 

 plenty. The shores of this lake were covered with ruins of 

 huts, with furniture and clothes, which the vast swell of 

 its waters had lodged on the banks. As we were walking 

 mournfully along toward Schweitz, we met with the dead 

 body of a woman which had been just found. It was 

 stretched out on a board, and barely covered with a white 

 cloth. Two men, preceded by a priest, were carrying it to 

 a more decent burial. We hoped that this sight would have 

 concluded the horrors of this day's scenery, and that we 

 should soon escape from every painful vestige of the calamity 

 of Schweitz. But we continued to find relics of ruined 

 buildings for a league along the whole extent of the lakej 

 4nd a little beyond the two islands mentioned above, we saw 

 lying on the shore the stiff body of a peasant which had 

 been washed up by the waves, and which two men were 

 examining, to ascertain the place to which he belonged. 

 Our guide instantly knew it to be the body of one of the in- 

 habitants of Goldau. But I will mention no more particu- 

 lars. 



