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fecondary valleys above the level of the fea, would be the bell and moft effeflual way of
determining the velocity and direilion of the waters at the time of their reU-eat.
This refleaion induces me to fubjoin the names of the principal fecondary valleys
which defcend from the Alps, and feem to converge towaj-ds what I call die High Valley
of Lombardy.
There are about thirteen, moft of which I have explored. Tliey extend from norUiweft
to fouth-weft, or from Mont St. Bernard to the Col de Tende, two of the grand paffages.
They are each watered by a river which runs in their centre, and throws itfelf into
the P6, except the Stura, which, before falling into that river, mingles its waters with diofe
of the Tanaro. Thefe valleys may be claffed and confidcred in the following order:
Valley of Aoufte, watered by the Doria Baltea.
Pont - - the Oroo.
Contoire - - the Stura Nort.
Sufa - - the Dora, or petite Doüe.
Peroufeor Prajelas - the Clufon.
St. Martin - - the Praiis.
Lucerne - - the Felice.
HighVaUeyofthePÓ, the Pò.
Chateau Daaphin - the Vraita.
Maira - - the Ma ira.
Grena - •• the Grena.
Stiu-a, or Dezmont - the Stura.
GeiTo - - the Ceffo.
They moftly tend to cols, or the moil elevated mountains of the Alps, where paths,
which do not deferve the appellation of roads, have been made paiTable for about three
months in the year only, being commonly, during the other nine, covered by thirty feet of
foow at leail. But in the grand paflages, which axe allowed to be the Col de Tende,
Mont Cenis, and Great and LitUe St. Bernard, where the fnow lies to the full as deep or
deeper than on the others, the road has been rendered as perfea as the extreme height of
thofe tremendous mountains would admit.
The three lail paffag« having already been fo amply and ably defcribed by various
travellers, I ihall entirely confine myfelf to the firft, thinking it to the full as wonderful and
intcreiling to naturaliils, as the othei- three.
On quitting the city of Coni (of which a view and defcription have already been given)
through the gate of Nice, the road leads along the valley of Geffo, for about four miles, to
Borgo St. Dalmazo, formerly a fmall city, but now a market town, having, like many others,
fufFered fcverely by the fucceffive wars which have, at different epochs, defolated the principality
of Piedmont. The countiy, during this fhort diftance, exhibits one of the moft
beautiful and romantic fpots of Italy, extending through a delightful plain watered by
canals, or riviolets, terminated by a continuation of hills richly wooded by ufefal and ornamental
trees. The chefnut is, however, the moft confpicuous, the fruit of it being particularly
efteemed and fought after in Italy. The back ground of this interefting view is,
as it were, crowned by the lofty and tremendous peaks of the Alps. In fliort, the road offers
to the eye a continual fucceffion of rich meadows, fertile fields, and extenfive vineyards,
' tiré au cordeaii,' bending luxuriantly under their weight, and fupported by fruit trees of
various forts, but more generally the mulberry, on account of tlic filkworms, which are
there of tlie greateft confequence; fo that it may truly be faid, that the fame foil produces
corn, hay, wine, and vegetables, beiides the means of cultivating an ejrtenllve branch of
commerce, which is confidcred, not only in Piedmont, but in all Italy, as the moft confiderable
of that country, and which in reality fupports the major part of tlie inhabitants;
for all the peafants, of every defcription, during the proper feafon, attend to the cultivation
of thofe induflrious animals, and afterwards fpin the filk, or cod, both on their own account,
and that of the nobleffe, who, in confideration of hifVing advanced money, take
two-thirds of the profits, and allow them one-third of it for their trouble.
To fo great a degree of encouragement is this branch of commerce carried on in Piedmont,
that prior to the French revolution the produce was eftimated at twenty millions of
Piedmontefe livres annuaUy, or one million fterling, a Piedmontefe livre being equal to an
Engliih íliilling.
The road extends through the delightful valley of Geffo, from eaft to weft, as
far as Borgo de St. Dalmazo, where it changes from north to fouth, and leads to a
fecond valley narrower than the preceding, but equally pleafant and cultivated, and watered
m its whole length (wiiich is from eight to nine miles) by the Borbo, a rapid torrent
which defcends from Üie Col de Tende, and ruihes into the Geffo near the village of Roci
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