THE DOLOMITE MOUNTAINS.* Wm known to Englishmen as are the
more accessible dis- tricts of the Tyrol, the southern portion of that interesting pro- vince, though even More attractive, is still comparatively un- touched by the irrepressible British tourist. Messrs. Gilbert and Churchill, together with their wives, started in 1856 for a tour in the Tyrol, and were attracted from the beaten route of tourists by an announcement in Murray's "Southern Germany" that from a certain point "the traveller obtains a view of the Dolo- mite Mountains," "which impart an air of novelty and sublime grandeur to the scene which can be only appreciated by those who have viewed it." There is a peculiarly " guide-book " tone in the above phraseology, but it nevertheless served to induce an English party to deviate from their original pro- gramme, and ultimately to explore thoroughly a most charac- teristic and little known tract of Alpine scenery. On their first cursory visitin 1856 the party spent eight weeks in travelling some two hundred miles within the shade of the Dolomites, and met not one single specimen of the tourist proper, either English or foreign, while in a large number of the villages visited they were the first English ever seen by the inhabitants.
But those of our readers who are neither conversant with Tyrol geography nor competent to pass a strict examination in Murray's handbooks, must already be wondering what and where the Dolomites are, and why one should desert the glories of the Rhine or the fashionable mountain tops of Switzerland for a country where "other people" do not go, and which it is conse- quently, in the eyes of many, almost a social crime to visit. The Dolomites, then, are a group of mountains of peculiar geological formation, and therefore imparting a peculiar character to the neighbouring scenery, which extends throughout Carinthia, Carnia, and the district lying immediately to the north of Venetia. Geologists are now pretty well agreed in regarding the Alps as a system or zone of mountain groups, each group consisting, as a rule, of an upheaved granite nucleus, covered by layers of schistous rock, and surrounded by beds of sedimentary formations which isolate the group in question from its neighbours. But in the case of the Dolomitic groups the granite nucleus is replaced by a crystalline rock, composed in varying proportions of carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia. This rock, the origin of which forms the subject of the wildest theories and the occasion of the bitterest quarrels amongst geologists, was first recognized as a mineral possessing distinctive and im- portant features by M. Deodatus Guy Silvanus Tancred de Gralet de Dolomiew, a personage whose career is as little familiar to people in general as the mountains bearing his name are to tourists. He was a Knight of St. John of Malta, born in Dauphine in 1750, and was only saved from a sentence of death recorded against him for fighting a duel by the express pardon of the Pope. After a short period of service in the army, he devoted himself exclusively to the study of chemistry and geology, which he had always cultivated, and in 1778 he became a corre- spondent of the Academy of Sciences. Fifteen years later he com- menced the observations which led to his great discovery, the distinctive features of the rock forming the mountain ranges of south Tyrol. He was one of the band of savans whose presence in Egypt was the occasion for Nap oleon's celebrated order, and when Dm Dolomite Mowitains. Excursions through Tyrol, Carinthia, Carniola, end Friuli, in 1861,1862, and 1863. With a geological chapter and pictorial illustrations horn original drawings on the spot. By Josiah Gilbert cud G. C. Churchill, F.U.S. London : Loagmans, 1861. afterwards captured by the Neapolitan authorities his release was made the subject of special negotiation after the battle of Marengo.
Dolomiew died in 1801, and though the first application of the
term is uncertain, it was not long before the mountains which had formed the subject of his investigation were known
amongst English geologists as the" Dolomites," while Frenchmen, more elegantly gave to the district the name of "La Dolomie." We do not intend to enter for a moment into the merits of the bitter feuds among geologists as to the origin of this unique formation, and can only mention the theory, adopted by Mr. Churchill, to the effect that Dolomite is merely a coralline structure in which the action of sea water has replaced a certain portion of carbonate of lime by the deposition of carbonate of magnesia. Although actual observations as to the formation of coral reefs are far from absolutely confirming this, they are also far from affording evidence for its overthrow, and it is quite pos- sible for a traveller thoroughly to enjoy his visit to south Tyrol without disquieting himself as to the origin of the strange and abnormal formation of the mountains around him. What con- cerns ordinary unscientific but observant travellers most is the weird beauty of the scenery throughout "La Dolomie." Our authors are, as might be supposed from their assiduous devotion to the tour of their adoption, most enthusiastic in speaking of the effect produced by the eternal grey peaks, rising one above another in every direction, now erect and needlelike, now wreathed and twisted in fantastic contortion, utterly different from any mountain scenery existing in the world. To h eighten the unnatural effect produced by the scenery, the absence of glaciers, and consequently of mountain streams, adds to other influences that of an unbroken silence, strangely contrasting with the perpetual rushing of water in Switzerland. Of course the good Carinthians are ardent patriots in the matter of the beauties of their country. They attribute distinct and living indi- viduality to each Dolomite peak, and each village looks upon its own special favourite almost as the tutelary genius of the district.
With regard to the population of the provinces of Carinthia, Camiola, and Carnia, which include the Dolomitic group, it may be said very briefly that they pretty much resemble what the people of the more beaten routes of the Tyrol were before English tourists spoilt them. In Carinthia, or Kernten, the traveller is still looked upon at the village inn as a guest, and not as a victim. The French hotel, with extravagant prices and the typical "garcon," has not yet superseded the indigenous " Gast-haus," with the respectful but courtesy-expecting Kellnerin." The people are to the full as honest, simple, pions, and perhaps even more superstitiously reverent than their neighbours in Tyrol. The parish priest is generally a kindly, warm-hearted man, who mixes to the full in his parishioners' daily life, plays skittles with them at the village inn, consoles them in trouble, and except when any Protestant tendency in his flock calls up the demon of ecclesiatical intolerance, is a most worthy and useful member of society.
Carinthia is not without historical and other associations of the greatest interest. Friesach, the capital, was the home of the daring race of Khevenhiiller, one of whom routed the Turks so gallantly at Villach in 1492, while another of the same name was a redoubtable general of Maria Theresa. Near Klagenfurt stood till recently one of the most significant memorials of antiquity in Europe—the stone "Die Furstenstein," on which the Dukes of Carinthia received the first rites of investiture as princes only. It is now removed to the museum at Klag,en- furl, and decided by the authorities to be the defaced capital of a Roman column. Not far off stands the "Kiirnthens Herzogstuhl," a rude stone throne in the centre of a wild common surrounded by an amphitheatre of Carinthian hills, where the Duke, sitting back to back with the Count of Gorz, received the oath of fealty. No devotee of art either should ever forget that Cadore was the birthplace of Titian° Vecelli, and that his house may still be seen.
A tablet in the side of the house records the fact, and a fountain close by is surmounted by a figure of S. Tiziano, the patron saint of the Vecelli family. The cottage is now occupied by an
artisan. A curious effect of Titian's early associations is brought out for the first time by Mr. Gilbert, who finds unquestionable traces in the scenery of more than one of his paintings of the influences of the peculiar Dolomitic scenery. We cannot but re- commend any one really wishing for some deviation from the ordinary routine of Continental travel to take this volume with him,—it is a perfect guide in the best sense of the word to the whole district,—and start next autumn for "the Dolomite:"
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