. The Rhone, a tumultuous stream,
roars in its bed, now quite insignificant compared to the majestic river
at Geneva. In the valley tilled fields are laid out, dark green spruces
peep out of the snow on the slopes, while above all the snow-white
summits of the Alps are enthroned.

A few minutes beyond Brieg the train rushes at full speed straight into
the mountain. The electric lamps are lighted and all the windows closed.
The tunnel is filled with smoke, and a continuous reverberation dins our
ears. The Simplon tunnel is the longest in the world, being 12-1/2 miles
long. It is only a few years since it was completed. Work was begun from
both sides of the mountain at the same time, and when the excavations
met in the middle and a blasting charge burst the last sheet of rock, it
was found that the calculations had not been an inch out. After fully
twenty minutes it begins to grow light, and when the train rolls out of
the tunnel we are on Italian ground.

The train now descends a lovely valley to the shore of Lago Maggiore.
Framed in steep mountains, the dark blue lake contains a small group of
islands, full of white houses, palaces, and gardens. One of these is
well known by the name of Isola Bella, or the Beautiful Island.

Night hides from our eyes the plains of Lombardy, Milan with its famous
cathedral, the bridge over the Po, and then a number of famous old
towns, including Bologna with its university about fifteen hundred years
old.

Next morning, however, we see to the south-west something like a flaming
beacon. It is the gilded dome of St. Peter's Church, which, caught by
the rays of the rising sun, shines like a fire above the eternal city.

THE ETERNAL CITY

The King of Italy has 35 million subjects, but in Rome lives another
mighty prince, the Pope, though his kingdom is not of this world. His
throne is the chair of St. Peter, his arms the triple tiara and the
crossed keys which open and close the gates of the kingdom of heaven. He
has 270 million subjects, the Roman Catholics. For political reasons he
is a voluntary prisoner in the Vatican, a collection of great palaces
containing more than 10,000 halls and apartments. There also are
installed museums, libraries, and collections of manuscripts of vast
extent and value. The Vatican museum of sculpture is the richest in the
world. In the Sistine Chapel, a sanctuary 450 years old, Michael Angelo
adorned the roof with great pictures of the creation of the