ill, of course, mountainous, with a
roaring torrent, the Ticino, almost equal to the Reuss in its
impetuousness, yet it is much more luxuriant than the Swiss side.
Mulberry trees and vines gradually begin to appear, and the little
church towers (called in Italian, Campanili) becoming more frequent as
one goes south, greatly add to the picturesqueness of the landscape.

Here it may be as well to remind our girls that the Canton Ticino,
though Italian in language, in scenery, in architecture, and, in fact,
in all its characteristics, yet politically belongs to Switzerland.

After passing Faido the scenery becomes, if possible, more beautiful,
and at Bellinzona, the capital of the Canton, we saw our _beau-ideal_ of
Italian landscape. From a distance especially Bellinzona is very
striking, with its three castles and fine 16th century Abbey church;
though when one approaches it more closely, like so many Italian towns,
it is slightly disappointing.

As we approach Lugano, the mountains become less elevated, but the soil
far more rich and fertile, and the olive and aloe, so characteristic of
Italian landscape, are to be seen.

About an hour before reaching Lugano both of us began to feel unwell and
very irritable from the continual travelling; the younger of us
especially so, as he was rapidly developing an attack of his horrible
complaint--indigestion.

On arriving at Lugano we drove in the Hotel Omnibus to the Hotel du Parc
and ordered tea to be brought up into our room, after partaking of which
we went to sleep until table d'hote time. The dinner was, of course, the
first we had tasted in Italy, and we cannot say that it impressed us
favourably with Italian cooking. Everything was oily and rich, and
suggested indigestion and biliousness. After dinner we strolled out of
the hotel to get our impressions of the town of Lugano. The first thing
we noticed was the beautiful Monte S. Salvatore, covered with verdure
from base to summit; and then we admired the charming position and
great picturesqueness of Lugano. Viewed from near the lake, and looking
back on to the town, the number and variety of the Campanili, the
flat-roofed houses scattered near the lake, and the hills covered with
foliage, presented a most delightful scene. With the lake itself we were
disappointed, the mountains struck us as being rather uniform and
uninteresting; the shape of the lake also is not so beautiful as that of
either Como or Maggiore, as we