722 



SWITZERLAND. 



is not proportionate to ts extent. It is distinguished for its erudition and its industry, having 

 an active trade, a flour shing commerce, and many learned institutions. Zurich is pleasantly 

 situated on the Limmat, at the extremity of the pretty lake of the same name. Like Bale and 

 Geneva, it has long been distinguished for its cultivation of learning, and it has extensive manu- 

 factures and a flourishing trade. Population, 11,000. 



Lausanne, the capital of the Pays de Vaud, is much visited by foreigners, on account of its 

 delightful situation. It stands near the lake of Geneva, the banks of which are covered with 

 vineyards, while the snowy summits of the Alps rise in the distance. Gibbon resided here for 

 some time. Population, 10,000. In the northern part of the canton is Yverdun, where Pesta- 

 lozzi established his school. St. Gall contains a celebrated abbey, numerous manufactures, 

 and some literary institutions. Its trade is extensive. Population, 9,000. Friburg deserves 

 notice on account of its numerous literary establishments and its Jesuit's college. Popula- 

 tion, 7,000.* 



Lucerne, on the lake of the same name, occupies a gentle eminence, and is surrounded by a 

 wall and towers. Among its curiosities is the model of Switzerland, executed in relief by the 

 late General Pfyfler. Population, 7,000. 



4. Agriculture. The nature of the country presents numerous obstacles to its cultivation ; 

 but they have been, in a great measure, overcome by the industry of the inhabitants. The 

 traces of the plough are visible on the sides of the precipices apparently inaccessible, and spots, 

 which nature seemed to have doomed to eternal sterility, are crowned with vegetation. The 

 produce of grain is generally equal to the consumption ; but pasturage is the chief object of 

 the farmer. 



5. JManufactures and Trade. The chief manufactures are cotton and woolen goods, linen, 

 silk, leather, jewelry ware, and particularly watches. Though in the centre of Europe, Swit- 

 zerland has been much restricted in its commercial intercourse, by the barriers of the Alps, 

 and the prohibitory systems of the neighboring States. Of late years, however, all the branch- 

 es of industry have been flourishing, and the various roads over the Alps, and the introduc- 

 tion of steam navigation upon the lakes, have facilitated the intercourse with foreign nations, 

 and between the different cantons. The principal exports are cattle, the productions of the 

 dairy, and manufactured goods. The imports are principally corn, flax, raw silk, cotton, 

 spices, and various kinds of manufactured goods. 



6. Inhabitants. The Swiss have the beauty that comes from strength and health. They 

 are robust and temperate, but their countenances have little of the beau ideal. In the territo- 

 ries that border on France, Germany, and Italy, there are French, Germans, and Itahans, and 

 there are a few Jews, principally in Aargau. 



7. Dress. The higher classes generally follow the French fashions ; but the common peo- 

 ple have many peculiar forms of dress ; varying somewhat in the different cantons, and all pic- 

 turesque. They are less becoming, however, than the common prints would lead one to sup- 

 pose. They are generally simple and convenient. The dress of the females is the most pe- 

 culiar, for the men have no longer a national dress. It consists partly in -a short petticoat. 



* The following description of the great suspension 

 bridge at Friburg, the longest bridge of a single span in 

 the world, is from a scientific journal. This great work 

 was completed in two years and a half, at a cost of about 

 112,000 dollars. 



The town of Friburg is built on the left bank of the Sa- 

 vine. Both sides of this small stream are very steep, and 

 rise to the height of about 220 feet ; and travelers were 

 formerly obliged to descend the hill in order to reach a 

 small wooden bridge which crosses the river, and immedi- 

 ately after, by a steep ascent of about 200 feet, to reach 

 the top of the opposite bank, before coming to the centre 

 of the town. The passage through Friburg thus occupied 

 nearly an hour. These difficulties were long considered 

 the unavoidable consequence of the situation of the town, 

 until some bold spirit conceived the idea of uniting, by 

 means of a suspension bridge, the steep banks of the Sa- 

 vine. It was necessary, that the bridge should pass over 

 a great part of the town itself, and the scheme was consid- 

 ered oompletely Utopian. 



The gateways at either end of the bridge, are 65 feet 

 high. The masonr^y of the gate is 46 feet in width, and 

 its thickness is about 20 feet; and although the largest 

 blocks of hard limestone were employed, iron cramps com- 



plete the union of the stones, and about 24 tons of iron 

 were used for this purpose. The width of the valley of 

 the Savine, at the point where the bridge is built, or, in 

 other words, the span of the suspended roadway, is 871 

 feet. 



The roadway is suspended by four cables of iron wire, 

 passing over the upper part of the gateways. Each cable 

 consists of 1,200 wires, each about 1-10th inch in diameter, 

 and 1,140 feet in length. To avoid the difficulty of moving 

 these heavy cables, each wire was brought separately to 

 its place, and they were united on the spot by the work- 

 men, who were suspended during the work. It is calcu- 

 lated, that the four united cables are capable of sustaining 

 a weight of 2,946 tons. The cables are fixed in shafts cut 

 out of solid rock, on either side of the river ; on each of 

 these shafts, four cables pass through a vertical cylindrio 

 chimney or pillar, which bears three heavy domes resting 

 upon it, and at the same time abutting against grooves 

 cut with much care in the rock to receive the springing- 

 stones. At the bottom of the pillars, the cables are made 

 fast to blocks of very hard stone, which are cubes of six 

 and a half feet. The cables, therefore, cannot slide with- 

 out lifting the whole of these enormous buildings, strength- 

 ened 8s ihey are by their connexion with the solid rock 



