Letter 1st
Martigny
August 28th 1821
I arrived here yesterday evening at five o’clock, & have been waiting ever since for Mr Feilding <1> who has not appeared according to engagement. What detains him I cannot think, but it is most provoking, for I have lost the finest morning that ever was, in doing nothing, at this stupid place where nothing is to be seen. If he had not tied me down to this rendezvous I would have gone this morning to see the celebrated glacier which has done so much mischief to this country; or to the waterfall, but if I go anywhere I am sure he will come in the mean while & be vexed at my being out of the way. I fancy the Montagu’s [sic] must have delayed him & the fuss of getting them over the Gemmi –
The day I left you I got no further than Zweysimmen in the Simmenthal. As night came on a magnificent storm of thunder & lightning which cleared the air, but en revanche <2> the torrent carried away the bridge between us and An der Lenk where the passage of the mountain begins.
Next day we started early & got five or six men to pull us through the stream where the bridge ought to have been. This operation & breakfasting at Lenk made it ½ past 10 when we set out to cross the mountain.
I shd have thought this, time enough to cross any mountain in Christendom, but it did not turn out so – We walked 2 hours thro’ meadows & woods gradually rising, & made a detour to see a fine waterfall. Thence further progress seems barred by an amphitheatre of perpendicular mountains – We followed a steep zigzag path up the face of the cliff, which took us at once from the meadows into the regions of eternal snow. It was a long climb, but at last we gained the summit & found a little lake of the deepest blue seated in a hollow whose sides were formed by the [illegible] rock & shelving snow. In the [mid]dle<3> of the lake was an island of the [illegible] snow, which was visible to a great depth, under water. The sides of the island were overhanging, being corroded by the water, and the part which was beneath the surface of the lake appeared of a lively blue colour. Descending the south side of the mountain we were overtaken by a storm of thunder & lightning & melting hail which was very violent while it lasted. The length of this pass is endless, we walked very steadily all day, but it was not till ½ past 7 that we reached the first village in the Valais. It was getting dark & we had 2 leagues more of intricate road to Sion, so we called a council of war, & as there was no inn we adjourned to the curé, who received us very hospitably. Yesterday we started at 8 o’clock & reached Sion at 10, a pleasant path which it would have been a pity to pass in the dark. We stayed at Sion three hours, & then drove here in a char à banc. <4>
Your Affte Son
W.H.F. Talbot
À Miladi
Miladi Elisabeth Feilding
Poste Restante
Bern
Notes:
1. Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780–1837), Royal Navy; WHFT’s step-father.
2. On the other hand.
3. Text obscured by seal.
4. Charabanc, wagon with benches.