mm.\
THE TARENTAISE.
tropolis of the Grecian and Pennine Alps,
and afterwards the seat of one of the most
ancient bishoprics in Europe. The mountains
that form the western boundary of the
Tarentaise, separate this province from the
valley of the Maurienne, which extends from
Asuebelle near the O Lower Isere, to Mont
Cenis. The mountains on the east divide
it from the district of Beaufort, and join the
central chain of the Alps at the Col de Bon
Homme, and the Little St. Bernard. Soon
after entering the valley of the Upper
Isere, the road seems to wind in a labyrinth
among impassable mountains, having
the river on the right, which forces its
passage impetuously among the rocks,—
black and turbid as the fabled Acheron,
from the particles of dark schist which it
carries down in its course ; for after passing
Conflans, the mica slate is succeeded by
dark slate, schiste ardoise. There are extensive
quarries of roofing slate near the road.
Not far from the entrance of the valley, we
saw a man descending from the woods, the
most perfect picture of a savage I ever
beheld: he was nearly naked, his skin of a
dark copper colour, his hair black and
matted, his beard shaggy and grisly, and
THE TARENTAISE. 267
the expression of his countenance in
keeping with his general appearance; he
was, indeed, one of the “ homines intonsi et
uncultiF such as Livy describes in this part
of the Alps. To what cast of society he belonged
I could not learn, as our voiturier
was a stranger to the country. We saw
no one resembling him in any part of
Savoy. Certainly, when Hannibal passed up
this valley, none of the native inhabitants
could have appeared further removed from
civilised life. The mountains that immediately
bound the upper valley of the Isere
seldom rise so high as to reach the line of
perpetual snow : their sides, to a considerable
height, are covered with forests, among
which pinnacles of rock rise out, bare and
threatening. In the deep gorges on each
side o fth e valley, many an impetuous cataract
bounds from precipice to precipice, till
it reaches the Isere : two of these are of
vast magnitude, and would be thought
worth a day’s journey to see, in countries
remote from the Alps. In the whole of
this valley, particularly in the higher part,
there is an air of gloomy grandeur, and a
sombre imposing solemnity, that I have
never observed elsewhere : the blackness