ALPINE ROADS. 19 



The object of Napoleon in its formation is well 

 explained, when on two different occasions he asked 

 the engineer sent to him to report progress, " Le 

 canon quand pourra-t-il passer au Simplon ? " showing 

 that his thoughts were all bent upon war, and not 

 upon the encouragement of commercial enterprise, or 

 the establishment of peace. 



The Pass of the St. Gothard, 6808 feet, is a most 

 excellent road, and renowned for the grandeur of its 

 scenery ; even in winter travellers can sometimes cross 

 it in sledges. The traffic when the road is open far 

 exceeds that of any other Alpine pass at so great an 

 altitude ; the principal traffic is from North Switzerland 

 and Germany into Italy. 



The Devil's Bridofe is in the midst of the Schollinen 

 ravine, which is a rocky ravine running two and a half 

 miles between gigantic granite cliffs. The Schollinen 

 is the grandest feature of the St. Gothard road, not 

 surpassed throughout Switzerland, and the Devil's 

 Bridge is in the midst of this terrific ravine ; there is not 

 an inch of ground upon which a human foot can rest 

 except what has been hewn out of a solid wall of rock, 

 and yet here is a wide, well- constructed, well-main- 

 tained road and a bridge, perfectly proportioned and 

 constructed. Murray says that this point of the road 

 must hav^e been a cid de sac until the torrent was 

 bridged and the rock excavated. The old bridge w^as 

 abandoned for the new, which rises to a higher level. 

 The old bridge was twice the scene of extraordinary 

 conflicts during two campaigns, within six weeks of 

 one another. 



On August 14th, 1799, the French, under Lecourbe 

 and Loisen, surprised the Austrians, v/ho held the 

 valley of the Reuss, and drove them across the bridge, 



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