Semmering, and 1308 feet above the level of the sea, the railway ascends the mountain by a succession of windings, which disclose a continual change of the most beautiful and romantic scenery, until in something more than twenty-four miles it has gained an elevation of 1480 feet. From this altitude it begins to descend towards the south, and often when it enters a valley terminating in a cul-de-sac, after turning the head of the glen it runs back for more than a mile parallel with the line it pursued on the other side of the valley, and continues till it finds an opening to the south; where again it is perhaps compelled to make a similar retrograde movement in search of an outlet; passing in its course through no less than fifteen tunnels, besides some most extraordinary galleries cut in the face of the precipices, and long corridors with rows of arches looking out from the rock upon the deep valleys below. In these valleys, rich in cultivation and pasture, and sheltered by forests which clothe the mountains to their summits, are seen here and there villages, scattered houses, convents, and châteaux; while on the towering crags above, perched like eagles’ nests on the rocks, whose natural sides cannot be distinguished from the grey masonry by which they are surmounted, rises many a noble ruin frowning in the silent grandeur of ages gone!
Castle of Klamm.
- ↑ The highest are—Grünschacher, 5490 feet; the Henkuppe, 6340; and the Schneeberg, 6570.