G O T 



ccrn, and fi-om thence throws itfeif into the Aar. The val- 

 ley of St. Gothard is exceedingjly dreary. It does not 

 contain a fingle {hed, nor produce a lingle tree ; and the 

 fules of the mountains are barely fprinkled with fliort her- 

 bage. 



Mount St. Gothard affords one of the beft Alpine paf- 

 fages from Germany and SwiiTerland to Italy. The Romans 

 were acquainted only with that over the Great Bcrnhard and 

 Keptimer. The Gothard was called by them fonvjtijnes 

 Adula, fometimes the Illgh and Lcpeiithie Alps. The prefcnt 

 road over this mountain begins at the village Hofpital, in the 

 Urfern valley, and terminates on the foulh fide, at Airolo : 

 its breadth is from ten to tu-clve lect, and it is covered with 

 large pieces of granite. 



I'he firll attempt of pafTing over the Gothard in a travel- 

 ling carriage, was iuccefotuUy made in the month of July, 

 '775' ^y ''^'-' '^'^^ ^'"- ('I'eville, the gentleman to whole eai'ly 

 exertion in colletling and in employing perfons well qualified 

 to alhfl him, we owe the extenlive afTemblage of minerals 

 lately purchafedby government for the Britiih mufeum. 



Though, in the high Gothard valley, the temperature is 

 feldom below 19^ of Reaumur, yet, on tlie N. fide of tl:e 

 mountain, the climate is fufficiently rough to make the growth 

 of trees ceafe at the height of 4566 feet. Among a vail 

 number of plants common to the Alps in general, we find 

 here, as peculiar to mount Gothard, the Viola minima, and 

 Campanula palula. 



But moll interefting is this mountain in regard to its mi- 

 neral fubilanccs, and its geognoftic ftrudlure in general : for, 

 rel'pecling the former, it mav be laid, that there is Icarcely 

 any where a traft of country known, that, within the fame 

 extent of fpace, affords fo coniiderable a variety of them. 

 This is not the place for enumerating all thefe foffils ; we 

 fhould, Ivowever, not omit mentioning, that the ireniiUte, 

 which has received its name from the valley of Tremola, is, 

 according to Ebel, not *"'ound there, but deeper down the 

 monntain, in the Leventine valley. See Tremolite. 



The St. Gothard confilts entirely of primitive rocks, which, 

 however, dllplay great variety in their mixture. On the 

 N. fide veined granite, gneifd, mica-date; in theplainof the 

 rocky valley, where the Hofpitium Hands, granite of large 

 grain, traverfed by beds of veined granite and mica-date ; 

 from the fummit down\v.irds, on the S. fide, maffive granite 

 of large and fmall grain alternately, veined granite, mica- 

 date ; in the Treraola valley, on the Fieado and Sorefeia, 

 hornblende- date commences, mixed in fome places with fine 

 granular quartz, in others with feldfpar, and lower down 

 with fine reddiih-brown, dodecahedral garnets ; over which 

 b'eautiful rock the road winds, through llie Pioftella foreil, 

 down to Airolo. On the N. fide, in the Urfern valley, among 

 the juil mentioned rocks, runs pot-ftonc on the S.S:E. part 

 of the valley, and on the N.N.W. primitive iiins-llone and 

 clay-date ; v/hile the S. fide in the Leventine, Canaria, arid 

 Flora valhes, exhibits primitive limc-ftone and gypfum. 

 ■ All rocks of the Gothard are di'pofed in flrata, having a 

 direftion from E.N.E. to W.S.W., and from N.E. to S.W. 

 v.hich is bell obferved between Hofpital and Airolo, where 

 the road makes a tranfverfal feftion, almoll through the 

 ■\^-hole of the central chain. The regularity of the llratiii- 

 tation of the granite is mod ftriking in the neighbourhood 

 ef the RuduHt bridge : the llrata are from three to four 

 inches thick, and have titeir dlreftion from N.E. to S W. 

 Likeu'ife, on the Profa and Ficudo, and fouthwaid from 

 j^ofpital do«n the valley of Tremola, the primitive limc- 

 ftone and gvpfum, which pafs on the S. fide of the moun- 

 tain through tiie Leventine, Canaria, and Piora valleys, and 

 tik:. lim;.-llooe, clay-Hate, and pot-Hone, ften on its N. fide, 



GOT 



in the Urfern valley, are the continuations of the fame 

 formations that range through the whole of the Pays de 

 Vaud. 



The ridges of mountains conftituting the Gothard are ex- 

 ceedingly broken, and bear the marks of caufes the moft de- 

 flru(itivc ; nor is it iinprobable that they were infinitely higher 

 in ancient times, and that, at the period of the Romans, they 

 were not unaptly called the Highejl yllps. The upper rocky 

 valley, where the Hofpitium is fituated, is covefcd with 

 nuniberlefs pieces of rocks, which are all precipitated from 

 the furrounding peaks. The great proportion of a fmall 

 grained granite, among the rocks of the Gothard, are the . 

 probable caufes of this extraordinary devaftation. The up- 

 per, nearly circular, rocky valley, was in former times co:r.- 

 pletelv fliut on all fides: the remains of the recks that for- 

 merly filled the chafms are ftill <ii!linttly feen on the N. fide, 

 near the bridge over the Rudunt, where the Reufs forms a 

 beautiful fall ; and on the S. fide, below ttie Hofpitium, the 

 rocks approach each other fo clofcly, that th.e violent aelion 

 which produced the prelent chalms is iulHeiently evident. 

 Before that revolution happened, it is highly probable that 

 this confiderable valley formed a deep lake ; nor is it lefs fo, 

 that the Urfern-valley, before the Devil's mountain was ■ 

 broken through, and the upper Leventine valley, before tlie 

 Platifer, near Dazeo Grande, was rent afunder, reprcfented 

 deep feas of confiderable extent. , 



GOTHEBORG, a town of Sweden, in Weft Goth- 

 land, dillinguilhed by a commodious port, and ffanding 

 near the fcite of Lodefe, a town built by Gullavus Vafa, 

 which, being endowed willi fingul.ir privileges, foon be- 

 came the great emporium for the trade of the weilern: 

 provinces. Charles IX., when duke of Gothland, having, 

 in 1604, laid the foundations of a new; town in the idaiid of 

 Hifingen, not far from LodelVj called it Gotheborg, in 

 honour of his duchy. On his acccflion to the throne, he 

 creeled in his new town a trading company; drew thither 

 many foreigners, particularlv the Dutch, to whom he allow- 

 ed an exemption from all duties of export and import during, 

 twenty years ; eilablilhed a corps .of Englilh and Scots 

 troops, and granted to the Calviiiills the free excrcife o{ 

 their religion, the firll place in Sweden where this to' .-rat ion 

 was permitted. By theie means Gotheborg foon became a. 

 flouridiing port, and, next to Stockholm, the moll coninier-. 

 cial t^wn in Sweden. In 161 1 it was reduced to adies b/ 

 the Danes, and afterwards rebuilt in the reign of Guftavus 

 Adolphus on the prefent fcite, and obtained a confirm.ation 

 of its ancient rights, v.'itli a grant of feveral new privilege.'. 

 Gotheborg is built in a fingular .fituation. At a frnall 

 diflance from the fea is a mardiy plain, not more than lialf a, 

 mile in breadth, watered by the river.', Gotha and Moldal, and 

 almoil iuclofed with high ridges of hare and rugged rocks, 

 Gotheborg (lands partly on the ridges, and partly in the 

 plain, and is divided into the upper and lower town. The, 

 latter is entirely level, interfeiled by feveral canals, and the 

 houfcs are conilrutied on piles: the upper part liangs oil; 

 the declivities, and rows of buildings rife one above the 

 other like the feats of an amphitheatre. The whole is regu- 

 larly fortified; and the cireamference is near three miles, ex- 

 cluiive of the fuburbs, called " Haga," which lie towards 

 the harbour. The Itrecls -arc uniformly ftraight; fome few 

 of the houfcs arc of brick, brit moll of them are conilruclcd 

 of wood, painted red. 1 iie liarboim, formed by two cliai: s 

 of rocks, is about a q-itaicer of a mile in breadth; and the 

 entrance is defended by the fort of New Elfiborg, which 

 Hands on .a fmall rocky idand, and contains a garrilon of 

 250 meji, 



A royal fociety of fcieiiccs and literature has been lately 



ciUbhlhcd 



