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TO THE

TWENTY-SEVENTH VOLUME

OF THE

MONTHLY REVIEW

ENLARGED.

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

ART. I. Schilderung der Gebirgsvölker der Schweitz, &c. i. e. A De scription of the Tribes which inhabit the mountainous Parts of Switzerland. By JOHN GOTTFRIED EBEL, M. D. Vol. I. Con taining the Canton of Appenzell. 8vo. pp. 478. Leipzig. 1798.

TH HE smaller cantons of Switzerland are the only states in Europe which, for a period of about five centuries, have preserved both their constitutions of government, and the limits of their country, unaltered. It may therefore appear rather singular that, while numerous travellers are repairing to the distant regions of the globe for the purpose of making discoveries, more should not have directed their inquiries to a part of the world which, besides its situation in the

very heart of Europe, is in every respect an object of the greatest curiosity. Switzerland is indeed visited by almost every tourist; and from the number of accounts respecting it which have been published, we might infer that it must have been completely described :-yet the present performance has fully convinced us of the reverse.

Dr. EBEL, who is well known by his useful work, intitled Directions for Travellers through Switzerland, must have been extremely_industrious in the course of his inquiries concerning the canton of Appenzell; and, on whatever he treats, his information seems to rest on the best authorities. He commenced his journey from the lake of Constance: but, though his observations during the first part of it are neither trite APP. REV. VOL. XXVII.

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nor

nor uninteresting, we shall pass them over, in order to exhibit a few specimens of his more curious remarks.

Among the various modes of industry in Innerooden *, Dr. EBEL mentions that of feeding snails. In the little garden grounds along the river Sitter, such numbers of snails are kept during the summer season, that the sound caused by the motion of their denticulated jaws, while they are eating, is distinctly heard at several paces from the spot. Young snails are collected in the adjacent parts, and are placed in these gardens; where the owner supports them, tili, on the approach of winter, they enclose themselves. In addition to the food which they find on the grounds, and which a cherry-tree, planted in every garden, affords them, they are supplied with leaves of lettuce, colewort, cabbage, and other vegetables, by which they grow and fatten surprisingly. Some time before Lent, the owners pack up the closed snails in casks, and carry them for sale to the convents of Suabia, Bavaria, and Austria, and even as far as Vienna, where they are purchased as delicacies. By this traffic, some have acquired a handsome fortune.

Pasturage being the principal employment in the interior part of the eanton, whatever respects the breeding of cattle, the management of dairies, and the making of cheese, is carried to a high degree of perfection among these mountaineers; who present us with the portrait of a true pastoral nation. Here both the rich and the poor are cowkeepers; though many of the latter do not grow so much hay themselves as they require for their cattle during the winter season, or have no grass lands at all. To supply this deficiency, they employ agents throughout the canton, who are to inform them where good hay may be obtained, which farmers made it in favourable weather, &c. and then the Senn, or the great cowkeeper, who is in want of fodder, makes his agreements for the winter with the wealthier farmers, to whom he successively drives his cattle as soon as they return from grass. Thus the itinerant Senn, with his cows, often visits five different places during the winter season. He who sells the hay furnishes the Senn not only with stabling for his beasts, but boards and lodges him as well as his whole family. In return, the Sem, besides paying the stipulated price for the hay, allows to his host as much milk, whey, and Zieger (a kind of lean cheese) as may be used in the house, and leaves him also the manure of his cows. In the middle of April, when Nature revives, the Senn again issues forth with his

* The canton of Appenzell is divided into Innerooden or the interior part, and Ausserooden, which comprehends the tracts situated near the borders.

herd

herd to the meadows and fertile Alps, which he rents for the summer. Thus the life of these men is a constant migration, affording the most pleasing variety, and blessing them with health, content, and cheerfulness.

The manner in which the farmers of Appenzell turn to profit the urine of their cattle, by making saltpetre from it, is very simple. In so hilly and mountainous a country, most houses and stables are built on slopes, one side of the edifice resting on the hill, and the other being supported by two strong posts, elevated two or three feet above the ground; so that the air has a free current under the building. Immediately under the stable, a pit is dug, usually occupying both in breadth and length the whole space of ground covered by the building; and instead of the clayey earth which is dug out, the pit is filled up with sandy soil. This is the whole process, and all the rest is done by nature. The animal water, which is continually oozing through the planks of the floor, having drenched the earth contained in the pit, for the space of two or three years, the latter is emptied, and the saltpetre is refined and prepared in the usual manner.

The original breed of cattle in the canton of Appenzell is of a black and brown cast: but the Senns, preferring a motley herd, compose it of black, brown, and some bay cows: to complete which set, a black cow with a white belly and a stripe of the same colour along the back, is required. The animals are curried, dressed, and tended with the utmost care; and they thus have an appearance of sleekness, cleanliness, and health, superior perhaps to that of any other cattle in the world.

The following passages, we think, deserve a literal translation:

• The mountaineer lives with his cows in a constant exchange of reciprocal acts of gratitude: the latter affording him almost whatever he wants; and the Senn in return providing for and cherishing them sometimes more than his own children. He never ill-treats his cattle, nor makes use of a stick or a whip: a perfect cordiality seems to prevail between both; and the voice of the keeper is sufficient to guide and govern the whole herd. The cow, in the canton of Ap penzell, enjoys more of that regard which is due to every useful creature, and is altogether more comfortable, than millions of human beings in Europe; who, placed under the influence of the cudgel and the knout, have too much reason to curse their existence. Is it possible that, at the end of the eighteenth, or (as it is termed) the philosophical century, this parallel should be correct to such a revolting degree! Shocking reality!

• Fine cattle are the pride of the cowkeeper who inhabits the

Alps :-but, not satisfied with their natural beauty, he will likewise

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please please his vanity. He adorns his best cows with large bells suspend ed from broad thongs; and the expence in such bells is carried even to a luxurious excess. Every Senn has an harmonious set of at least two or three bells, chiming in with the famous ranz des vaches. The inhabitants of the Tyrol bring a number of such bells, of all sizes, to every fair kept in the canton of Appenzell. They are fixed to a broad strap, neatly pinked, cut out, and embroidered; which is fastened round the cow's neck by means of a large buckle. A bell of the largest size measures upwards of a foot in diameter, is of an uniform width at top, swells out in the middle, and tapers towards the end. It costs from forty to fifty gilders; and the whole peal of bells, including the thongs, will sometimes be worth between 140 and 150 gilders, while the whole apparel of the Senn himself, when best attired, does not amount to the price of twenty gilders. The finest black cow is adorned with the largest bell, and those next in appearance have two smaller. These ornaments, however, are not worn on every day, but only on solemn occasions, viz. when, in the spring, they are driven up the Alps, or removed from one pasture to another; or when they descend in the autumn, or travel in the winter to the different farms, where their owner has contracted for hay. On such days, the Senn, even in the depth of winter, appears dressed in a fine white shirt, of which the sleeves are rolled up above the elbow; neatly embroidered red braces keep up his yellow linen trowsers, which reach down to the shoes; a small leather cap, or hat, covers his head; and a new milk bowl, of wood skilfully carved, hangs across the left shoulder. Thus arrayed, the Senn precedes singing the ranz des vaches, and followed by three or four fine goats; next comes the handsomest cow with the great bell; then the two other cows with smaller bells; and these are succeeded by the rest of the cattle walking one after another, and having in their rear the bull with a one legged milking stool hanging on his horns; the procession is closed by a traineau, or sledge, on which are placed the implements for the dairy. It is surprising to see how proud and pleased the cows stalk forth when ornamented with their bells. Who would imagine that even these animals are sensible of their rank, nay touched with vanity and jealousy! If the leading cow, who hitherto bore the largest bell, be deprived of her honours, she very plainly manifests her grief at the disgrace, by lowing incessantly, abstaining from food, and growing lean. The happy rival, on whom the distinguishing badge of superiority has devolved, experiences her marked vengeance, and is butted, wounded, and persecuted by her in the most furious manner; until the former either recovers her bell, or is entirely removed from the herd. However singular this phænomenon may appear, it is placed beyond all doubt by the concurring testimony of centuries.

• The cows, when dispersed on the Alps, are brought together by the voice of the Senn, who is then said to allure them (locken). How well the cattle distinguish the note of their keeper appears from the circumstance of their hastening to him, though at a great distance, whenever he begins to hum the ranz des vaches. He furnishes that cow which is wont to stray farthest with a small bell, and knows by her arrival that all the rest are assembled.

• The

The famous pastoral song of the Swiss mountaineers, known by

the name of Kuhreiben, or ranz des vaches, is very frequently heard in Innerooden. It neither consists of articulated sounds, nor is it ever sung by the cowherds with words to it: all the tones of it are simple, and mostly formed within the throat. Hence the tune produces very little or no motion of the jawbones, and its sounds do not resemble those which commonly issue from the human throat, but rather seem to be the tones of some wind instrument; particularly as scarcely any breathing is perceived, and as the cowherds sometimes sing for minutes together without fetching breath.'

The food of the inhabitants is exceedingly simple, consisting chiefly of milk, cheese, whey, oatmeal, and potatoes. Bread is not in common use, except among the rich. Their dress is equally plain, Fashion having not yet extended her sway over these mountains. There being no such disparity of fortunes among them, as in almost every part of Europe, a great uniformity prevails, in diet, dress, and manners, and constitutes the great support of their civil and political equality. From the crowds of beggars often seen in the canton of Appenzell, travellers have sometimes been led to draw erroneous inferences concerning the prosperity of the people: but the fact is that hosts of beggars, attracted by the charitable disposition of the Appenzellers, flock thither from Suabia, and other neighbouring provinces of Germany.

The inhabitants of Innerooden are entire strangers to whatever comes under the description of taxes, oppressions, constraint, arbitrary power, and the various modes of ill-treatment which the poor and dependent elsewhere experience from their superiors and rulers. With the manifold sufferings and cares which, like torrents, rush forth from these sources over the nations of the earth, the mountaineer of Appenzell is totally unacquainted. Undisturbed and content in the bosom of surrounding mountains, he is solely occupied with his cows and the Alps on which they graze. No other wish agitates him than that of a plentiful growth of grass in his meadows, and for the health of his herd; he feels no other desire, after the completion of his work, than to enjoy the society of his family in quiet and comfort, refreshing himself with milk and cheese; or sometimes to pass an hour or two with an acquaintance at the inn, over a glass of wine. The government of this republic confines itself merely to granting protection, and to providing for the security of persons as well as of property. The people have no desire for instruction and knowlege, which they deem very unnecessary for them; and they are so ignorant, that the majority of the inhabitants of Innerooden cannot read and write. Nothing urges them to attain even that humble degreç

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