ia,
primula, varieties of the sedum, some of which are peculiar to this
mountain, and are elsewhere unknown.

After passing the Hospice near the summit of the Col, the valley of
the Guisanne comes in sight, showing a line of bare and rugged
mountains on the right hand and on the left, with a narrow strip of
land in the bottom, in many parts strewn with stones carried down by
the avalanches from the cliffs above. Shortly we come in sight of the
distant ramparts of Briancon, apparently closing in the valley, the
snow-clad peak of Monte Viso rising in the distance. Halfway between
the Col and Briancon we pass through the village of Monestier, where,
being a saint's day, the bulk of the population are in the street,
holding festival. The place was originally a Roman station, and the
people still give indications of their origin, being extremely
swarthy, black-haired, and large-eyed, evidently much more Italian
than French.

But though the villagers of Monestier were taking holiday, no one can
reproach them with idleness. Never was there a more hard-working
people than the peasantry of these valleys. Every little patch of
ground that the plough or spade can be got into is turned to account.
The piles of stone and rock collected by the sides of the fields
testify to the industry of the people in clearing the soil for
culture. And their farming is carried on in the face of difficulties
and discouragements of no ordinary character, for sometimes the soil
of many of the little farms will be swept away in a night by an
avalanche of snow in winter or of stones in spring. The wrecks of
fields are visible all along the valley, especially at its upper part.
Lower down it widens, and affords greater room for culture; the sides
of the mountains become better wooded; and, as we approach the
fortress of Briancon, with its battlements seemingly piled one over
the other up the mountain-sides, the landscape becomes exceedingly
bold and picturesque.

When passing the village of Villeneuve la Salle, a few miles from
Briancon, we were pointed to a spot on the opposite mountain-side,
over the pathway leading to the Col de l'Echuada, where a cavern was
discovered a few years since, which, upon examination, was found to
contain a considerable quantity of human bones. It was one of the
caves in which the hunted Vaudois were accustomed to take refuge
during the persecutions; and it continued to be called by the
peasantry "La Roche armee"--the