T H R O U G H
HAVING fct off, as wc propofcd, we tlireéted our courfe northward, and afcended a hill
mpofed of fchiftns. In about an hour we arrived at St. Maria, the fmaii village where
the good man's cottage Sood. I was ftruck with its fimplicity and ncatnefs. It occupied
a bold eminence, richly adorned with wood; was fmall, but extremely complete;
built of wood, painted of a dart-green colour, and thatched. A large gallery projefled
on the outfide, towards the declivity of the hill, covered and painted the fame as th<
reft of the cottage, but beautiiully ornamented with a variety of Alpine plants.
FROM hence the view was not only extcnfive but eucliantingly diverfified. 1 had not
feen any to compare to it, except at Salanche, in Savoy, from a fimdar frtuation, when
turned towards the bottom of the valley of the fame name, which is terminated by mount
Blanc: for al though that mountain is more elevated than thofe which compofe the Brenner,
and tliat here limit the horizon, yet that view is not fo extcnfive as this.
NOTHISO can be more pleafing than the contraft between the rugged and furrowed peaks
of that tremendous chain of mountahis fecn in the back ground inceflimtly covercd with
fnow, and the rich and fertüe meadows of the valley of Inn, its adjacent hills clothed
w i t h cattle, and fields yielding fruit, corn, and hops, in abundance.
IT appeared like enchantment, and as thougli I had been traufported imperceptibly
from the frozen regions of Norway to the dclightlitl valley of Piedmont or Lombaidy.
HAVtNG ftaid nearly an hour, I quitted with regret that charming fpot; but not till I
had taken a drawing of the cottage and its gallery. With regard to the profpeft, the
attempt would have been beyond my abilities^ for there are many ohjeds in nature which
we mul l content ourfelves to admire, wi thout daring to imitate them.
IN my way back t o the Inn, I added to my colleaion of Plant s the Clematis Refla, the
L a ñ u e a Percnnis, the Prenanthes Purpure.a, the Iris Gramínea, the Cineraria Helenitis,
&c. The remainder of the day I paffed in arranging my plants, the various acquifitions I
had made of ftones, foflils, &c. fince I had been at Infptnek, many of which had
been oiven me by the inhabitants, of whofe urbanity, hofpitality, and good-humour, I
ihall ever retain che mol l flattering remembrance.
S E C T I O N