726 



EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA. 



20. Jlntiquities. At Augst, not far from Bale, are the ruins of a Roman city, partly under 

 the level of the Rhine. The theatre, aqueduct, and walls are indistinct ; but there are in the 

 library at Bale 12,000 medals, chiefly found in these ruins. It is supposed, that the city was 

 destroyed by an earthquake. At Avenche, the ancient Aventicum, are, among other antiqui- 

 ties, mosaic pavements, sculptured cornices, &c. The bridge of St. Maurice, over the Rhone, 

 was built by the Romans ; it is very narrow but solid. It has a single arch of 200 feet, rest- 

 mg on mountains on either side, gigantic abutments of 8,000 feet. 



21. Population^ Revenue, Slc. The population is estimated at 2,000,000. The revenue 

 of the country, before it was conquered by the French, was 4,662,000 dollars. At present 

 it is about half that sum. It is raised from domain lands, taxation, and customs. Each can- 

 ton supplies a certain contingent to the general army of the confederacy, which amounts to 

 about 33,000 men, and the internal strength of the country is further increased by a body of 

 militia. It is calculated, that above 30,000 Swiss are employed in the service of foreign 

 States. 



22. History. The Swiss are the descendants of the ancient Helvetii, subdued by Julius 



Cesar. They continued long under a nominal 

 subjection to Austria, till about the year 1300, 

 when the emperor Albert the First treated them 

 with so much rigor, that they rose in rebellion. 

 William Tell slew Gesler the Austrian viceroy, 

 and delivered his countrymen. On this occasion, 

 the three cantons of Uri, Schweitz, and Un- 

 derwalden, in 1308, entered into a league for 

 mutual defence. At a later period, the other 

 cantons were successively included, and in 1513, 

 the federative republic was complete. Switzer- 

 land was overrun by the French armies in 1798, 

 and the government experienced some altera- 

 tions. Geneva and the Valais were, for a time, 

 annexed to France, but were subsequently re- 

 stored. A new constitution was established in 1814. Switzerland is nominally a neutral and 

 independent power, but the influence of Austria is felt and acknowledged in every part of the 

 confederacy. 



CHAPTER XCII. GENERAL VIEW OF THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA. 



1. Boundaries. The Austrian Empire is bounded on the N. by Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, 

 and Poland ; on the E. by Russia and the principality of Moldavia ; on the S. by Wallachia, 

 Servia, the Ottoman Empire, the Adriatic, and the Po ; and on the W. by Sardinia, Switzer- 

 land, and Bavaria. It extends from 42° to 51° N. lat., and from 8° to 26° E. long., having 

 an area of 255,000 square miles, with 34,100,000 inhabitants.* 



2. Mountains. Austria is traversed in diff'erent directions by numerous chains of the great 

 Alpine and Carpathian systems of mountains. The mountainous chains to the south of the 

 Danube belong to the former. The Rhetian Jllps traverse the Tyrol ; of which the Ortler, 

 12,850 feet high, is the loftiest summit. The JVoric Jllps extend across Saltzburg and Stiria 

 to the neighborhood of Vienna ; principal summit. Gross Glockner, 12,755 feet high. The 

 Carnic Jllps extend from the sources of the Brenta to Villach, separating Tyrol and Carinthia 

 from the Venetian provinces ; highest summit 11,500 feet. A continuation of this chain ex- 

 tends to the southeast under the name of the Julian Jllps. 



The principal chain of the Carpathian Mountains surrounds the plains of Hungary like a 

 semicircle, separating Hungary and Transylvania from Moldavia and Galicia, and dividing the 

 waters of the Baltic from those of the Black Sea ; they terminate at Orsova on the Danube. 

 None of their summits exceed the height of 10,000 feet. A western branch of this system 

 extends from the sources of the Oder to those of the Elster, under the general name of the 

 Sndetic Mountains. They have an elevation of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet. 



Tell shooting at the Apple upon his son's head. 



* This includes the Italian provinces. The description them, as the}' have been separately described in the a» 

 9f the physical features of the empire will not extend to count nf Italy. 



