MOUNTAIN PASSES. 
The vast barrier formed by an extensive chain of mountains, would 
shut out the countries on either side from all communication with each 
other, were it not for certain gaps, or breaks in the line, whereby a 
passage is obtained over this colossal wall. Such openings are called 
passes, and are so frequent, that in the Swiss portion of the Alpine 
Chain alone, there are not less than fifty. 
In travelling up these passes, the gradual change in climate, scenery, 
and produce, which takes place in a day's journey, is very interesting. 
At first the slopes are covered with corn, ripe perhaps, for the harvest, 
and the warmth is that of midsummer ; further on the crops are 
green, and scarcely yet in ear ; a little higher up the pass the corn 
gives place to the dark and gloomy pine-forest. Beyond the forest, 
the vegetation becomes extremely scanty, though even on tne edge of 
the glacier bright flowers peep out during the short summer. But 
as the top of the pass is gained, vegetation disappears, or is only seen 
in the dry lichen on the rock. The air becomes intensely cold, and 
the whole scene is one of wintry desolation. 
The above engraving represents a remarkable pass across the Swiss 
Alps, called the Gemmi. The summit of this pass is more than seven 
thousand feet above the level of the sea ; and exhibits the wildest and 
most, dreary aspect, being formed of naked rocks on which not even a lichen 
is to be seen. From a point very near the summit of the pass a magnifi- 
cent mountain view is obtained : Monte Rosa, the second Mountain in 
Switzerland, and the chain of Mountains which separate the Canton of the 
Vallais from Piedmont, being immediately in front of the spectator. As 
the traveller (supposed to be coming from the Canton of Berne) descends 
into the valley, his path is along the narrow ledge of a precipice of fear- 
ful depth, where the rock is all but vertical. Here is formed one of the 
most extraordinary of the Alpine paths, said to be constructed by the 
Tyrolese. It is a shelf or groove, cut in the face of the wall of rock, 
and varying from three to five feet in width. It descends in a zig-zag- 
manner down the rock, and is scarcely broad enough to allow a mule to 
pass. The road is protected by a low wall, but it is, nevertheless, a fear- 
ful thing to travel along so narrow a shelf, with a wide abyss yawning 
before you. Over this pass, and along this remarkable road, invalids 
are constantly carried to the hot springs at Leuk, a small hamlet situ- 
ated on an elevation greater than that of the highest mountains of 
Great Britain. Sick and infirm persons are carried on men's shoul- 
ders in a sort of litter, and sometimes have their eyes bandaged, that 
the terrors of tbe situation may not shock their nerves. Suck are some 
of the wild and terrific features of mountain scenery, among which the 
traveller, humbled by a sense of danger, and awed by the majesty of 
nature, can scarcely fail to recognize the wonder-working power of the 
Divine Hand. 
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE 
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. 
