The road now skirts the deep valley of the Dora, at the bottom of which are seen the villages of Ferrière and Novalèse, deserted in the summer: the old mule-road passed through them.

Molaret, the first Italian hamlet. A footpath descends from the high road a little below the posthouse, much shortening the distance for pedestrians. From some of the turns beyond this place fine views of the valley of the Dora are obtained. A gallery is passed built under a torrent, but is used only when the main-road is dangerous or destroyed. The de

ROUTE 155.

Susa (Inns H. de France, improved -La Posta; H de Savoie.) This town of 3500 Inhab., planted at the point of junction of the roads over the Mont Genèvre (Rte. 160) and the Mont Cenis, is chiefly remarkable for its antiquity, having been founded by a Roman colony in the reign of Augustus, under the name of Segusio. It appears, like most Italian towns, to have decayed, but it now seems reviving. There is a very curious Romanesque church and cloister, and a gateway adjoining the church. There is also a Roman triumphal Arch, of the Corinthian order, erected about 8 B.C., in honour of Augustus. It is in a sadly-neglected condition, and stands a little way outside the town, in what was formerly the governor's garden. Susa and the rest of the route to Turin are described in the HANDBOOK FOR NORTH ITALY.

Railway from Susa to Turin several times a-day, performing the journey in less than 2 hrs.; expr. in 1 hr. 10 min.

TURIN Terminus. (Inns: H. de l'Europe, and H. Trombetta, formerly Feder, both excellent; H. de la Ligurie, near the Rly. Stat., good.) For TURIN, see the HANDBOOK FOR NORTH ITALY.

MONT CENIS AND THE COL CLAIRÉE.

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Those who would make an excursion by the Little Mont Cenis, a singularly wild route, instead of descending by the road or rail from the Hospice to Susa, may accomplish it in 9 hrs. Turin may be reached the same day by a late train from Susa.

None but a practised mountaineer should attempt this very interesting route, as the path along the watercourse traversing the face of the precipices above the Val de Clairée is not adapted for those who have weak heads. Take provisions. The posthouse of the Mont Cenis (Rte. 154) is left by a path which descends directly to the lake, then, skirting its upper border and across the meadows, it soon ascends rapidly towards the pasturages which lead to the châlets of the Little Mont Cenis, distant from the posthouse 2 hrs. The slopes around the plain of the Mont Cenis have some of the best grass in the Alps, and a particularly rich flora; the pastures leading to the Little Mont Cenis are of great extent.

A very short way beyond the châlets of the Little Mont Cenis the col is attained, and the valley which descends to Bramans, in the valley of the Arc, and which lies at right angles with the path across the col, is seen through a great part of its length. On the opposite side of this valley rises the peak of the Grand Vallon;

and a little on the left, from a deep turn in the valley below, called the Combe d'Ambin, rises one of the finest peaks in this part of the Alps, the Mont d'Ambin: on its summit is one of the stations used in the triangulation and measure of an arc of the meridian across the great chain. The entire crest of the Ambin is covered with glaciers, and every crue is traced by a white bed of snow which rests within it. Beyond the lower extremity of the valley of Bramante the mountains of the Vanoise close the view.

To ascend this valley it is necessary to mount from the col of the Little Mont Cenis directly up some rocks, and continue for a short time on that side of the mountain; the path afterwards descends among the huge stones which strew this sterile-looking valley; and, keeping always on the right of the ravine below, which forms the Combe d'Ambin, and through which a stream, like a thread of silver, flows, the path ascends by a rugged and broken course to the châlets of Savines. Here there is a little spot of meadow land, and some scanty herbage. On the left, a rugged path leads across from the posthouse on the Cenis by some little lakes in the mountains of Bard, to this valley, above the châlets of Savines: it is rather shorter, but more fatiguing, than that by the Little Mont Cenis. Wolves are not uncommon in the forest of Bramante, lower down the valley; the dogs kept at the châlets of Savines are of great power, having their necks armed with spiked collars. The wolves here are probably the successors of those ravenous rascals which gobbled up Walpole's poor little dog Toby, as his master passed with the poet Gray at the foot of this forest on his way into Italy.

Above the meadows of Savines, the path rises amidst rocks and stones, and at length reaches a little lake in an elevated plain, in which all seems lone and desolate. The black precipices of the mountain of Bard on the left and those of Mont d'Ambin

on the right, bound its sides: glaciers from the Ambin sweep down to the lake, and small cataracts, from the melting of the ice, mark the dark cliffs with wavy lines of light. Amidst this apparent sterility thousands of gentianellas, ranunculus glacialis, violets of the richest fragrance, and other Alpine flowers, grow and bloom unseen, in every swampy spot, and between the stones with which the plain and col are covered.

This lake is filled by the melting of the glaciers of the Mont d'Ambin. It is called the Lac Blanc, or Lac de Savines, and is about 1 m. long. At its upper extremity is a low ridge certainly not a hundred feet above the level of the lake. This is a crest of the great chain, the Col de Clairée, also called Col du Clapier (8107 ft.); across it two paths lie that on the rt., by a wild and difficult course, leads over the Col de Touilles to Salabertrand, in the Val d'Exilles.

The route by the Col de Clairée to Susa lies on the left: the descent is down a steep and rocky hollow, which terminates at the crossing of a bright stream near a pasturage. This spot, where wine may be cooled in the stream, is a delicious place of rest. At the first moment it is not easy to see how a farther descent is to be effected. The traveller stands upon a platform, seemingly surrounded by precipitous rocks; but there will be little disposition immediately to seek a path, for from this spot one of the most interesting views in the Alps is presented. Immediately below is the deep basin and narrow valley of the Clairée, which is almost always filled with vapour which seems to boil as in a caldron. Beyond it the mountain above Chaumont, in the Val d'Exilies, bounds the view; but, turning towards the left, the Combe of Susa is seen over the intervening mountains, even to its termination in the plains of Piedmont, stretching away to the horizon far beyond the hill of the Superga. On the rt. are the steep rocks, which must be climbed by those who would go from the Col de Clairée to the Col de Touilles. Though long

and extremely steep, the descent will present no real difficulty to a practised cragsman; but none other should attempt it without a guide. In looking back when the head of the Val de Clairée has been reached, it is not easy to trace the line of descent over rocks which in places seem quite perpendicular.

"The pass of the Clairée is, on the Italian side, the steepest that I have ever traversed. This was one of the many difficult passes by which the Vaudois, in 1687, under their pastor and captain, Henri Arnaud, returned to their valleys. They had, after entering Savoy, wandered by a course rather difficult to trace, until they had crossed the Col du Bonhomme, whence they descended into the Tarentaise, traversed the Mont Iséran into the valley of the Arc; thence by the Mont Čenis, the Little Mont Cenis, and the Col de Clairée, into the valley of the Clairée. Here they encountered the troops of the Grand Duke of Savoy, who prevented their entry into the valley of Exilles, and they were compelled to return and cross the Col de Touilles, from which the southern branch of the Clairée, called the Ciauri, flows. The account of their sufferings, before they cleared these mountain passes, and so signally defeated their enemies at the bridge of Salabertrand, forms a part of one of the most interesting narratives ever published; it was written by Henri Arnaud himself, their colonel and pastor.*

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"The recollection of their perilous adventures," says the author of 'Excursions in the Alps,' 'was vividly recalled whilst sitting on a spot which they also had visited, resting ourselves from a fatiguing descent which they had encountered, and in sight of the savage mountain of Les Touilles, by which they were compelled to retreat, and encounter yet further dangers.

*It was translated by the late Hugh Dyke Acland, from a rare copy, under the title of 'The Glorious Recovery by the Vaudois of their Valleys.' The best account of the Vaudois is to be found in the works of the late Rev. D. Gill.

The few miserable huts near us were uninhabited, and afforded neither shelter nor food. Continuing our route, we kept close to the torrent, from which a large stream was separated for irrigation. By the side of the channel we continued some way; then the road sank below it; afterwards we ascended rapidly by a steep path cut out at the foot of precipices, which rose in unbroken grandeur directly over us.

"Along the face of these rocks the channel for the watercourse was cut; and though, at our greatest elevation above the valley of Clairée, we were at least a thousand feet higher than the natural bed of the torrent, we were still below the head of the artificial channel whence its waters flowed rapidly towards us. It was difficult to believe the fact before our eyes; and, as we looked back into the short, deep, narrow valley that we had left, and whilst we saw the Clairée foaming down its course, the aqueduct seemed to ascend steeply from the valley. This water is led round the brow of the mountain to irrigate the meadows above Jaillon. From the highest point of our passage the view up the valley of the Doire to Exilles was very fine; and immediately after passing this point, the Combe of Susa opened to us from between the Roche Melon and the Col de Fenêtre, to the plains beyond Turin. We soon fell into the high road from the Mont Cenis; and about 7 o'clock reached the Hôtel de la Poste at Susa."

Susa Station (Rte. 154).

It is possible to follow the watercourse from the point where it diverges from the Clairée, along the face of the precipice, and joining the road of the Mont Cenis 1 hr. above Susa, thereby save some time. A steady head is necessary.

Railway from Chambéry to Chamousset Stat. (Rte. 154), whence diligences run to Albertville in 3 hrs., to Moutiers in about 6 hrs.

The road crosses the Isère close to the station, and then goes up the valley through extensive marshes on the dyke which has been formed to retain the river. The mountains on each side slope upwards gradually, so as to afford views of the higher villages and pastures, and occasionally of the summits. To the rt. is seen the Château of Ste. Hélène. The road is very straight, level, and dusty, as far as

mountains are wooded, the valley narrow, retired, and pastoral. The ruins of Castles are often seen, on rocky heights with rich backgrounds of forest trees; and the traveller passes through pleasant shades overhung by walnut or chesnut trees.

Immediately after leaving Albertville the river Arly is crossed, and the old town of Conflans (Rte. 150) skirted at the foot of the hill. The next village is La Bâthie (Oblimum), with a ruined castle, and pass to the 1. to Beaufort; and then Roche-Cevins, about half-way between Albertville and Moutiers. About 4 miles farther, near the hamlet of Petit Cœur (celebrated among geologists for the mixture of fossils of the coal-measures and lias), there is a fine cataract, which dashes down amidst immense rocks. A path on the 1. leads to Beaufort by the Col de la Louze (Rte. 151). About 2 m. farther the valley opens into a rich little plain, where the pretty village of Aigueblanche is situated. Here the road rises for some distance, in order to avoid a gorge of the Isère, and then descends again to

Moutiers Tarentaise (Inn: Couronne, improved, good cuisine, civil landlord

keeps carriages, but only 2-horse; the innkeepers in the Tarentaise, and in many other parts of Savoy, are welldisposed to prey upon strangers) is situated on the confluence of the Isère and the Doron or Bozel. Inhab. 1956. This capital of the Tarentaise derives its present name from an old monastery, which was built in the 5th cent, at a little distance from the ancient Darentasia. The history of its church is perfect from its first archbishopric in 420 to its last in 1793, a period of 1373 years. The city now contains an hospital for the poor, founded in the 10th century, and an Ecole des Mines, in which the productions of the mines of Peisey are examined.

The Salt-works, now the distinguishing feature of Moutiers, produce annually nearly 1500 tons of salt, which is extracted from three springs rising