select the pass leading from Barcelonette to the sources of the Stura and the country of Saluzzo. The valleys were explored by the Marshals Lautrec and Trivulzio and by Pedro Novarro, who undertook not only to conduct the infantry, but all the artillery, consisting of 72 large pieces and 300 small. This was successfully achieved after great difficulty, the guns requiring to be swung by rope from rock to rock, where neither bridge could be built nor a passage made by blasting; and on the third day the army encamped on the crest of the ridge. The Rocher de St. Paul, near Barcelonette, which barred the road, was blasted in a single day by P. Novarro, one of the first engineers who practised military mining. But this was the easiest part of the task; far more arduous was it, on the edge of sloping crags smoothed by avalanches and slippery with ice, to plant and to fasten the timber props on which frail bridges could be reared to cross the torrents, and against the face of precipices and over gulfs, to erect scaffoldings which horses, mules, and heavy cannon could venture to cross. In some cases this was impossible, and the only alternative was to let down the gun by ropes into the gorge on one side and raise it up on the other. All these and many more difficulties were overcome; on the third day the army camped on the summit of the pass, on the fourth the obstacles of the Pico di Porco were surmounted, and on the fifth the French were pouring like a torrent over the plains of Saluzzo.

Barcelonette (Inns: Lionne ; H. Berlie; H. Arnaud), with 2000 Inhab., is situated on the rt. bank of the Ubaye, shut in by mountainsN. the Castebello, S. the Roche Pointue. It is better built than one would expect to find in a valley so sequestered. In the principal street a fountain bears a bronze bust of Ant. Manuel, the orator of the Restoration. Barcelonette is chiefly inhabited by proprietors of the alps and pasturages

of the valley. To these more than 100,000 sheep are brought, during the summer, from the vast plains of La Crau, in the neighbourhood of Arles, and are driven into the most difficult accessible pasturages, often 20 days' journey. From their wool some coarse goods, consumed chiefly by the inhabitants, are made. Corn is grown in the valley; but for almost everything else the natives are indebted to strangers; it is not long that the cultivation of potatoes has been practised among them.

This valley was known to the Romans, but little of its history is to be relied upon, except in connection with that of Embrun which has been better preserved. It is known that it was subjected to irruptions by Saxons and by Saracens, who made their way from Marseilles; these were defeated by Charles Martel; under Charlemagne France had the benefit of a protecting government.

In the sixth century, a convent of Benedictines established here did much to ameliorate the condition of the inhabitants; but all the wars in which Provence has been engaged have extended their horrors to this valley, and it was often laid waste by the Saracens, particularly in the 10th century. From the 14th it was alternately subject to Savoy or France. Amadeus conquered it in 1388; it was reattached to Provence by René of Anjou in 1447; it was again taken by the duke of Savoy, Charles III., in 1537. In the middle of the 16th century the inhabitants adopted the Reformed doctrines, but they were shortly after either forced to abjure them or were expelled their country.

Napoleon contemplated the construction of a road through the valley of Barcelonette to pass the Col d'Argentière and enter Piedmont by the Val della Stura, and this is now being carried into effect.

[There are many communications with the neighbouring valleys by mountain passes; as with Embrun by the Col de la Vachère, with Colmar and Allos (Rte. 168), and with Nice

by the valleys of the Tinea and the Var.]

Soon after leaving Barcelonette, near the village of St. Pons, the ruins of a castle and a ch. are seen in a fine situation. The first large village is Les Thuiles, and the next, after crossing the Ubaye by a wooden bridge, Méolans; from which there are two passes to Embrun; the Col de l'Eyssalette, N.E., the Col de Dormillouse, N.W. Lower down, amid dreary and wild scenes, the general character of the valley of Barcelonette, there is one striking exception in a village, beautifully situated, called

Le Lauzet (Inn: H. de l'Europe), the Goshen of the valley. It is agreeably wooded; near it is a little lake which abounds in trout, and in the immediate neighbourhood are fruittrees and a fertile soil. A little way below, however, the scene changes again to sterility. After crossing a ridge, a series of tourniquets leads

belonged to Sardinia. By a wise arrangement it was ceded to France, in exchange for the valleys of Pragelas and Exilles, when France and Sardinia prudently agreed upon the chain of the high Alps as their line of demarcation.

Embrun (Inn: H. de Milan), a town of 4183 Inhab. ( (See HANDBOOK FOR FRANCE.)

ROUTE 168.

is called, the Chemin Royal. Below it the valley offers some of its most wild and grand scenes. On looking back from the road which is carried high above the torrent, the Ubaye is seen issuing from the defile of La Tour, and beyond it the grand form of the Cugulion des Trois Evêques, which divides the valley of Barcelonette from that of the Var: the scene is one of savage dreariness.

The road continues on the 1. bank high above the river; until, leaving the side of the hill upon which the fort of St. Vincent is placed, it leads down to the little village of Ubaye.

From this place, one road passes down by the Ubaye to its confluence with the Durance at La Brioule; and another ascends, N., the side of the mountain to the Col de Pontis, leading to Savines on the Durance, in the high-road from Gap to Embrun, which is distant from Savines 6 m.

From the road to the Col de Pontis, the hill of St. Vincent is a strikingly fine object, surmounted by forts which guarded the entrance to the valley of Barcelonette, when it

RANCE, TO BARCELONETTE, BY COL-
MAR AND ALLOS.

Instead of following the high road to Gap, the route of the diligence, the traveller who, from Marseilles, and Digne, would approach the Alps sooner, may reach them by an interesting line of route either on horseback or on foot, and pass through scenes little known to English ramblers.

From Digne, a valley of rather Alpine character, and therefore welcome as an escape from the parched plains of France, leads by the village of Draye to the Col du Tour, where there are refreshing green pasturages, 4

hrs. from Digne: thence a path leads down through sun-burnt valleys, rather resembling those of the north of Spain than of France, to the village Château Garnier, 7 hrs. from Digne, with a poor inn, the only resting-place. From Château Garnier, the traveller soon reaches the valley of the Verdon, and, in its ascent, the interest increases to

Colmar (Inns: chez Veuve Roux;

chez Gautier), a very small fortified town, which commands the entrance to a gorge, and was, with Barcelonette, formerly in the possession of the Piedmontese government. It is still garrisoned, and its gates are shut at 9 P.M. with as much regularity as when it was a more important station. From Château Garnier to Colmar is 34 hrs. A little above the town, in the valley, there is a small intermittent spring. Still further up the valley of the Verdon, 14 hr. above Colmar, is the little town of

Allos, nearly 5000 ft. above the sea, in a high Alpine valley, surrounded by lofty mountains. The accommodation for travellers is poor, but the people very obliging. The neighbourhood of Allos is scarcely known to English travellers, but it well deserves their attention. [An excursion should be made to the Lac d'Allos, a distance of about 4 hrs. E. by the village of Champ Richard. The lake is one of the largest and most profound in the French Alps, though it is situated at the height of 7346 English feet. Its form is almost circular, its circumference nearly 4 miles, and for about 1000 ft. above it rises the Mont Pela (8600 ft.). There is, perhaps, no spot in the Alps more wild and sequestered. The neighbouring mountains are covered with snow, below which are stunted pines hanging from precipices and deep ravines. The lake is remarkable for its outlet, by which the water passes underground for 1500 feet; it then bursts into the valley, but, after foaming down a succession of cascades, meanders in gentleness and beauty through pasturages rich in vegetation.] From Allos to Barcelonette the route lies up the valley of the Verdon, and after passing the village of La Foux, and crossing a stone bridge, the path to the Col de Peire, which divides the valley of Verdon from that of Barcelonette, is soon gained. It is a fine pasturage to the summit; and from it a charming view is suddenly presented on looking up the valley of the Ubaye. The descent from the col is

steep but exceedingly romantic, leading down through a valley of great boldness richly wooded. Barcelonette (Rte. 166) may be reached on foot in 7 hours from Allos. In descending from the col, the valley of the torrent Bachelard opens on the rt., flanked by grand precipices; it leads E. to St. Dalmas le Sauvage, and thence to St. Étienne (S. Stefano), in the valley of the Tinea. From St. Étienne the traveller may cross the Col du Mont Penche, or the Col di Sta. Anna, to the Baths of Vinadio, in the valley of the Stura, in Piedmont (Rte. 166).

ROUTE 169.

BARCELONETTE TO BRIANÇON, BY THE VALLEY OF THE UBAYE AND ST. VERAN.

Besides the three routes from the

valley of the Ubaye to Embrun, by Barcelonette, the Col de la Vachère, and the Col de Vars and Guillestre, there is another, by which the traveller may reach the valley of the Guil, and visit wild and sequestered scenes in the neighbourhood of Monte Viso; but the path, though not quite impracticable for mules, is only fit for a pedestrian; at least this is the case with the pass of the Col de Longet.

About 2 hrs. above Barcelonette

lies the confluence of the Ubayette and the Ubaye; the former leading to the Col d'Argentière, the latter to the Embrunnais by the valley of Maurin.

The ascent of the Ubaye leads by a deep ravine below the camp of Tourneaux, where the remains of redoubts

and intrenchments still mark the importance of this frontier passage: in the early part of the 18th century, when the valley of Barcelonette belonged to Sardinia, this spot was the scene of many struggles. A mule path, which leads high above the rt. bank of the river, passes into the basin-shaped valley of St. Paul. Before reaching the village, the path by the Col de Vars to Guillestre and Embrun winds up the deep ravine of the Rioumonas, a torrent which descends from the Col de Vars and the villages of Le Serrel and l'Entraye; this pass is easy, and by it the distance from St. Paul to Guillestre is little more than 5 hrs.

Above St. Paul the valley narrows again and continues like a ravine until it expands into the commune of Maurin, a name given to the three villages of Majasset, La Barge, and Combremont. Majasset is about 4 hours' walk from the confluence of the Ubaye and Ubayette, 6 hrs. from Barcelonette, and at the foot of a pass to Seillac and Guillestre by the Col de Ste. Anne, E. of the Pointe de Ste. Anne (11,278 ft.). As it is possible, it will be wise to sleep here, and a trusty guide should be engaged (the services of the innkeeper Cressy may be obtained) to cross the Col to St. Veran. Near Maurin they have begun to work serpentine as ornamental stone, and between this valley and that of the Guil serpentine and diallage constantly occur. Three or four passes across the great chain lead on the right into Piedmont. 1, the Col de Maurin into the valley of the Maira to Dronero; 2, the Col de Lautaret and Col de Malecoste to Casteldelfino in the Val Vraita; and 3, the eastern Col de Longet, from the head of the valley of the Ubaye to Ponte Chianale in Val Vraita. Majasset is the station of the French douaniers, who have in this valley to guard an extensive frontier by these passes. A little above the last village the traveller arrives at the small Lac de Paroi, a piece of water which evidently owes its origin to a stupendous landslip from the western side of the valley

called the Costabella, which, it is said, descended in the 13th century. On the margin rye is cultivated, though the height is very great. After passing this lake and a series of cascades, the valley is ascended steeply for several miles by a wild path, bounded by lofty peaks, and terminating in the track to the eastern Col de Longet. This extends over fine pasturages, at a great elevation, to an abrupt and magnificent descent into Piedmont. The path by the western Col de Longet, called sometimes the Col de Cula, is that which leads to St. Veran; it rises on the left to cross the ridge which divides the valleys of Maurin and St. Veran. The ascent is quite pathless and often over patches of snow; the crest has a great elevation 10,076 English feet (?). It is attained in 4 hours from Majasset: the view from it is stupendous; on one hand towards Monte Viso, which appears quite close, and on the other to the Dauphiné Alps, which are nowhere so finely seen as from this point. Scarcely a trace of vegetation is to be found on the summit. A very steep descent leads, in 2 hrs., to St. Veran, a populous village, 6591 feet above the sea, being probably the highest village, with the same amount of population, in Europe. Around it barley and rye are cultivated; the former to the elevation of nearly 7000 feet.

St. Veran is situated in a remarkably verdant and well-watered valley of the same name. Its appearance is extraordinary; for, instead of houses, it seems to be a mass of space and scaffolding; the houses are built entirely of wood, except that sometimes they rest on a basement of stone, which incloses the stable, a common but dirty practice in the high villages of the French Alps. Around the houses they construct a veranda or gallery, with a roof projecting 6 or 8 feet, and fitted with the sort of scaffolding which gives so odd an appearance, at first sight, to the village; the purpose of this woodwork is to