d,--their summits now robed in curling clouds,
and then, as the winds swept them aside, glittering in the sunshine;
the little villages perched like eagles' nests on the cliffs, far, far
above our heads; the deep rocky channels through which the torrents
had madly broken a way, tearing through every obstacle till they
reached the Rhone, and marking their course with devastation; the
scene of direful ruin at Martigny; the cataracts gushing, bounding
from the living rock and plunging into some unseen abyss below; even
the shrubs and the fruit trees which in the wider parts of the valley
bordered the road side; the vines, the rich scarlet barberries, the
apples and pears which we might have gathered by extending our
hands;--all and each, when I recall them, will rise up a vivid picture
before my own fancy;--but never could be truly represented to the mind
of another--at least through the medium of words.

And yet, with all its wonders and beauties, this day's journey has not
enchanted me like Saturday's. The scenery _then_ had a different
species of beauty, a deeper interest--when the dark blue sky was above
our heads, and the transparent lake shone another heaven at our feet,
and the recollection of great and glorious names, and visions of
poetic fancy, and ideal forms more lovely than ever trod this earth,
hovered around us:--and then those thoughts which would
intrude--remembrances of the far-off absent, who are or have been
loved, mingled with the whole, and shed an imaginary splendour or a
tender interest, over scenes which required no extraneous powers to
enhance their native loveliness.--no charm borrowed from imagination
to embellish the all-beautiful reality.

_Duomo d'Ossola._--What shall I say of the marvellous, the miraculous
Simplon? Nothing: every body has said already every thing that _can_
be said and _exclaimed_.

In our descent, as the valley widened, and the stern terrific features
of the scene assumed a gentler character, we came to the beautiful
village of Davedro, with its cottages and vineyards spread over a
green slope, between the mountains and the torrent below. This lovely
nook struck me the more from its contrast with the region of snows,
clouds, and barren rocks to which our eyes had been for several hours
accustomed. In such a spot as Davedro I fancied I should wish to
_live_, could I in life assemble round me all that my craving heart
and boundless spirit desire;--_or die_, when life had e