e pine, elm, and ash trees. In the lower valleys,
particularly in the parishes of San Giovanni, Lucerna, La Torre, you will
observe the chestnut, mulberry, and the vine. As to roads and means of
communication, there is nothing to complain of, particularly from the month
of June to September; though I found it so hot in the month of April as to
be obliged to stay in-doors from noon to about four o'clock in the
afternoon. As to accommodation for travellers, I can speak well of the Bear
Hotel at La Torre; and I have read a good account of the Sun at Perousa, as
likewise the Red Rose at Fenestrelle, for passing travellers. Having given
the above with a view of answering questions often asked, especially by
intending tourists, I return to the story of my own observations in La
Torre. The place is not unlike other small towns in the Swiss cantons.
There are a fair sprinkling of shops, with post-office, town-hall, and
market-place. In the centre of the latter I observed a prominent sun-dial,
with the following very appropriate motto, _Vita fugit sicut umbra_.

CHAPTER III.

THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE WALDENSES.

After enquiring as to the geographical position of the Waldensian valleys,
the next most frequent questions which arise are: Who are the Waldenses?
how long have they been in the valleys of Piedmont? what circumstances led
to their taking up their abode there? and what has given to their history
that peculiar characteristic which makes every detail both of their past
and present so intensely interesting to all the lovers of piety and
patriotism wherever the story of their high-souled courage or their
long-enduring faith has reached? It is to answer these questions, as
briefly and yet as accurately as possible, that we address ourselves in
this chapter.

And, first of all, we would state very distinctly that there is no ground
for believing that their name of Waldenses is taken from that of Peter
Waldo, the celebrated merchant of Lyons. Not only because they date their
origin centuries before his time, but also because the names they bear of
Waldenses, Vaudois, and Valdesi all refer to the place of their abode, and
not to that of any individual whose opinions they had embraced, or whose
leadership they had followed. It may further be observed, in opposition to
the opinion of the Waldenses being named after Peter Waldo, that his
second name does not appear as applied to him