of Saas to Visp, though long and fatiguing, may be accomplished in another day, or accommodation may be found, if necessary, at Stalden, 8 miles short of the whole journey.

On leaving Vogogna, a road, leading directly to the Val Anzasca, lies across the plain, and passes by the village of Pic di Muliera, at the foot of a steep ascent which leads to another village called Cima di Muliera; these are situated on the left bank of the Anza.

The path rises high on the steep slopes which descend to the bed of the Anza, and the village of Castiglione overhangs the richly-wooded sides of the valley. On the lower slopes of the valley the vine flourishes, and the path for miles, with little interruption, is shadowed by trellices. On looking back, the views of the Val d'Ossola are beautiful, and greatly enriched by the luxuriant vegetation of the foreground. The buildings, especially the churches, are still Italian in character, and sparkle in the landscape; and beyond the plain of the Val d'Ossola the mountains which divide it from the Lago Maggiore bound the view.

The road up the valley is scarcely any where level. The valley is remarkably narrow, and the path, accommodated to the sinuosities of the slopes, is carried steeply up and down, in and out, but offering from this cause an infinite variety of sites, whence the scenes of the valley are beautifully presented its steep sides, however, offer few spots for cultivation. Forest, fruit-trees, and vines enrich the whole surface, and it is only on reaching high spots in the path that little plains and slopes of arable and pasturage, and village spires are seen above the belts of forest on the opposite side, and these again surmounted by the peaks of Monte Rosa at the head of the valley.

The descent to the village of Calasca offers beautiful views, and beyond it the path descends to the banks of the Anza, and for some time borders on the stream. Here the fine cascade of the Val Bianca bursts out, one of the celebrated waterfalls of Piedmont. Soon after the valley opens, a little above the Ponte Grande, where a single arch of large span and sweeping elevation, crosses the Anza, here two roads branch off; that on the right bank of the river leads to Banio, a large village whence paths ascend to cross the mountains into the Val Sesia (Route 104). The road to the Monte Rosa ascends by the left bank of the river; in its course it skirts the village of St. Carlo, and the traveller soon after arrives at Vanzone, the chief place in the Val Anzasca, and halfway in his day's journey from Vogogna to Macugnana.

Above Vanzone the same beautiful scenery prevails, and the route passes through many villages,-among them Ceppo Morelli, Campiole, and Morgen-to an abrupt and narrow

defile which marks a distinction between the valleys of Anzasca and Pesterana, the latter being the name given to the upper part of the valley through which the Anza flows, from the plain of Macugnaga to the defile.

The beautiful valley of Anzasca has been described by Brockedon in his "Excursions in the Alps," and a quotation from that work will put the reader, and the traveller in these scenes, in possession of requisite information upon this interesting valley and its inhabitants :

"After sketching the fine view of Mont Rosa from the door of the auberge, and collecting from mine host some information for my day's journey, and a confirmation of my guide's topography in the names of the places which we had passed, we left the retired little plain of Macugnaga. The valley soon narrowed to a deep glen; the descent was rapid, and in less than an hour brought us to the gold mines of Pesterana. There is an El Dorado sound in this, which excites high expectations; but there is no more appearance of it than in the pavement of St. Paul's Churchyard. The mines are explored to find this world's chief mischief,' combined, in very small proportions, in sulphate of iron; a kilogramme of ore yielding, by the process of amalgamation, an average of only six grammes, the richest ore only yielding ten. My landlord at Macugnaga had furnished me with the name of Professor Fantonetti, as the superintendent of the mines, and as the possessor of a collection of specimens of the minerals of the valley.

I called upon this gentleman at Pesterana, and received the most courteous and obliging attentions from him. He sent a servant with me to the mills on the Anza, where the ore is crushed, and to the mines; and directed the miners to give me assistance and information. The first was readily offered; but the last was useless, as I could not understand a syllable of their jargon. I entered the mine about 300 yards, by an adit of slight ascent: here a shaft was sunk about 60 feet, and I saw several miners working on the lower vein of the ore. The quantity raised is not very considerable. Women are chiefly employed in pounding and picking the ore, whence it passes to the mills of granite, in which it is ground and prepared for amalgamation: the final process is in the hands of M. Fantonetti alone. On my return to that gentleman's house, he pressed me to take refreshment, and gave me some specimens of the ore of the mines, and two works which he had written,-one of them, on the mines of those valleys, in answer to a work of Rossini's, at Turin.

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I soon after crossed the Anza, over an alpine bridge, and continued to ascend above the right bank of the river. Numerous adits of mines, indicated by the earth and stones

thrown from them, marked the pursuits of the inhabitants of this valley, who are nearly all niners. The mineral riches of these mountains-iron, lead, copper, silver, and gold-are worked at short distances from each other; and many of the mires of the inferior metals are very productive. The distinction between the continuous valleys of Pesterana and Anzasca, is strongly marked by a vast mass of the mountain, which, nearly closing the bottom of the former valley, leaves only a deep and savage gorge, through which the Anza escapes on the left side into the Val Anzasca. The path over this mass leads through what scarcely deserves the name of a village, Morgen, but which lies in a spot richly wooded by magnificent chestnut-trees. The descent into the Val Anzasca is very beautiful: the river is again crossed, over a fearful bridge, immediately below the defile of Pesterana; and the road continues on the left bank of the river, entirely through the valley. The first village in the Val Anzasca is Campiole, near Ceppo Morelli; it is the place which travellers who would avoid the valley of Macugnaga, or Pesterana, would arrive at by the path over the Mont Moro. The descent, my guide informed me, is longer than from the Macugnaga pass; but much distance is gained by travellers who would go from the valley of Saas direct to the Val Anzasca. Here the Piedmontese dialect began to prevail : though the German patois of my guide was understood even below Vanzone.

"The immediate scenery of the upper part of this beautiful valley, where from its depth the lofty mountains were hid from my view reminded me of some of the sweetest scenes of Devonshire. But the path soon rose above the left bank of the river, and attained a considerable elevation; and I perceived that, except in a few limited spots at the upper end of the valley, and here and there on the steep sides of the mountains, there was no land to cultivate. Extensive forests of chestnut and walnut-trees, fine in form and rich in colour, clothed the hills as far up as the eye could perceive them (except where lofty and distant mountains peered above), and descended far beneath the traveller's path, to where it met the opposite slope, scarcely appearing to leave room enough for the river to struggle through, and of which glimpses were rarely caught. This was the general character of the valley. From a chapel at Cimamorga, in the road near Ceppo Morelli, there is a very striking view: in it all the beautiful characteristics of the scenery seemed to be assembled-the river far beneath struggling through its narrow bed; the majestic forests, which clothed the mountain sides, among which was sometimes seen a village church or group of cottages; and the vista towards the Alps terminated by the vast and beautiful

eaks of Monte Rosa.

"I was much struck by the appearance of the inhabitants of this valley. I rarely saw a plain woman: their beautiful faces and fine forms, their look of cheerfulness and independence, and what in Piedmont was more remarkable, their extreme cleanliness, continually arrested attention. Their costume was peculiar, but pleasing the hair braided; a vest fitted to the form, and buttoned high, over which was another, usually embroidered and left open; beneath, a silk or other cincture round the waist, and a petticoat reaching half-way down the legs: the feet generally bare; the sleeves of the chemise loose, full, and white as the snow of their mountains; with faces, hands, and feet, cleaner than those of any other peasantry that I ever saw. Sometimes I observed a loose coat, like that of the modern Greek, worn over their usual dress, as if going on a distant visit. Naked feet are rarely seen without the concomitants of filth and beggary, and among such persons a large proportion of the gummy; but here the feet, ankles, and legs, were models for the artist; and my admiration as a painter was demanded, in observing the elegant form and graceful appearance of one particularly beautiful young girl, near St. Carlo, who was bearing a vessel of oil on her head to the mines. All this I suppose will appear rodomontade to those who are only acquainted with the ugliness, filth, and wretchedness of the general inhabitants of the valleys of Piedmont; but another fact will support the claims of the Anzascans to distinguished superiority. I did not see nor hear of a goître or crétin in my day's journey of twenty-five miles through the valley-a strong confirmation of the opinions always given to my inquiries by mountaineers themselves, that the filthy habits of a people are the primary causes of goîtres and crétinism; it is thus induced in the community of those afflicted by the dreadful scourge, becomes hereditary, and can only be removed by a change of habits in two or three generations. This valley differs not in the local causes, often cited as productive of crétinism, from other valleys which are marked by this scourge. The waters of the Anza flow from the glaciers of Monte Rosa as those of the Doire descend from Mont Blanc, and both are drank by the inhabitants. The proportions of labour, and the burdens borne, are at least equal in the Val Anzasca; the degree of elevation and moisture is similar; and it is parallel with those valleys which are the most remarkable for this curse, the Valais and the Val d'Aosta.

"The Anzascans are aware that they have a reputation for cleanliness and beauty, and they are justly proud of it. Whilst I was taking refreshment at Vanzone, the principal town in the valley, I mentioned to the innkeeper (rather, a sort of keeper of a chandler's shop) the impression which the

people of the valley had made upon me. He seemed delighted at my having noticed the fine women and their cleanliness, and said that what I had seen was not sufficient to do them justice: 'Come,' said he, into our valley at a festa; see our women on Sunday next at St. Carlo, the village below there, which you see in the valley; all the world will be there: in Upper Val Sesia they boast of their women, but they are not to be compared to ours.' I spoke again of their cleanliness; he said, 'Our women pride themselves upon the quantity, the fineness, and, above all, the whiteness of their linen; and they are so scrupulously clean in their persons, that (I must use his own energetic expression) il est plus facile de trouver une mouche blanche dans cette vallée qu'une vermine.'

"I had not observed any beggars in the valley; and there was no appearance of poverty: mine host said, that the great industry of the Anzascans enabled them to establish funds for their poor, which prevented their wants, and restrained their begging. Those who could not work were assisted, and those who could, were not permitted to be idle. "Some time before we arrived at Castiglione a man had joined us, whose French was a relief to me from the silence of nearly all but gesture which my guide's patois imposed upon me. He relieved Jan, my guide, by good-naturedly carrying his burden, and was persuaded, with difficulty, to partake of some excellent wine of the valley, which we procured at Castiglione. He mentioned his intention of going to the Valteline. I picked up another companion, in a young man of respectable appearance going to Muliera; from him I received much information, as we walked together, about journeys around Mont Rosa, and intelligence of the places and objects en route. It was evening when we reached Cima de Muliera, whence the descent is very rapid by a zigzag paved road to Pie de Muliera, which he kindly walked through, to put me in the right road across the valley to Vogogna. He pointed out a house in passing through Pie de Muliera, which formerly belonged to a superintendent of the gold mines, who had fantastically displayed his riches, or his occupation, by gilding the balconies, railing, and other ironwork of his residence. I think I can perceive in the Val Anzasca the location of the Ictymuli, whose gold mines were so extensively wrought, that Pliny says a law existed among them which forbad their employing more than 5000 men. D'Anville and Cluverius place the Ictymuli at the head of the Val Sesia it has always been a subject of difficulty with ancient geographers; but here, where, and where only in Piedmont, gold is still raised, the name of the Ictymuli may be traced in the villages of Cima de Muliera and Pie de Muliera, at the entrance to the valley where the mines are