Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN make from the milk, which constitute their chief luxuries. The greatest harmony prevails between tin- 54 THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL. cowkeeper and his herd; indeed they may be consi- dered as one family. He conducts them from pasture to pasture, erecting his temporary habitation at each resting place, and thus they pass their lives in con- stant migration, until the commencement of the winter obliges them to retire into the valleys. Round the necks of the cows are attached bells, which are made to har- monize with the Rans des Vaches, the constant strain of their keepers. The bells are of different sizes, and the merit of each individual cow is distinguished by the size and tone of her bell; indeed it is affirmed, that if by any accident the most meritorious cow (she who bears the bell) has forfeited her rank, and the insignia are trans- ferred to another, all the jealous and angry feelings are exhibited, which a deprivation of honours might be ex- pected to occasion among mankind. In the Pays de Vaud, however, no herds of cattle are seen grazing, and thus one picturesque feature in the country is lost. The farmers of that district know better than to allow them to ramble over their rich pastures, destroying as much as they consume; but keep them in sheds, and supply them with food cut for them without waste. The road to St. Maurice, after leaving the lake of Ge- neva, continues along the banks of the Rhone, whose majestic waters glide rapidly along in their course to the lake, shaded by the exuberant foliage of beech and wal- nut-trees, and rendered picturesque by masses of rocks which rise from its banks. The town is approached by a magnificent stone bridge, which crosses the Rhone where it is very deep and rapid. It is two hundred feet long, and consists of a single arch, having on each side for its ST. MAURICE. 55 foundation an immense rock, which rises on the banks of the river, forming gigantic abutments, known by the fa- miliar name of the Dent de Morcles and the Dent du Midi. This bridge, independently of its situation, boasts the ancient and honourable distinction of having Julius Caesar for its founder. At one end is a tower, which is now a chapel, and at the other is an ancient castle, through which the road has been made to St. Maurice. The plate will be found to afford a faithful representa- tion of it. The town of St. Maurice is singularly wild and beauti- ful. It is situated at the base of a line of rocks, many of which are formed into complete habitations, and almost always form part of the houses of the inhabitants. At a short distance from the town is a spot rendered interest- ing by tradition as the scene of the massacre of six thou- sand soldiers, called the Theban Legion, by order of Miivimian, for their stubborn adherence to the Christian faith. The abbey of St. Maurice, which yet exists, was founded in commemoration of the supposed event, by Sigisrnund King of Burgundy, as a catholic atonement for the crimes of fratricide, and the murder of half his family. Near St. Maurice is the celebrated valley of Chainouni, which, \\ith Mont Blanc and its glaciers, and the still more wonderful Mer de Glace, are the most surprising natural curiosities ever witnessed in this or in any other country. Tins extraordinary valley, strange as it may appear, was wholly unknown to the inhabitants of the country till the year 1741, when it was. discovered by two adventurous 56 THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL. English travellers, who explored the valley, ascended the Montanvert to the Mer de Glace, penetrating those re- cesses where the human voice was never before heard, and treading the paths before unvisited, except by the cha- mois and by the goat of the rocks. It was a singular in- stance of enterprise, and it deserves to be recorded, that although within eighteen leagues of the city of Geneva, it was reserved for the adventure and courage of English- men to disclose to the world the hidden wonders of the Alps. An immense block of granite on the Montanvert, on which the adventurous travellers dined, is called, to this day, " la pierre des Anglais." Mons. de Saussure some years afterwards visited the valley, and was the first to ascend the Mont Blanc. His great work on the Alps rendered the country so famous that thousands of travellers flocked from all countries to see this hitherto unknown and wonderful territory ; and it is now become a regular summer lounge for half the idle tourists of Europe. The valley of Chamouni is about a mile wide. The base of Mont Blanc forms its southern wall, and Mont Bremen, followed by a long chain of hills, is on the op- posite side. The first view on entering the valley is unique and wonderful. The monarch of mountains on the one side, raising his majestic head, and overlooking the world, whose successive ages and changes he has quietly wit- nessed ; the gloomy forests that clothe the base, partly borne down and intersected by immense glaciers, which slowly but irresistibly force their way from the accu- mulated pressure of snow, and seem, like a skirting dra- ST. MAURICE. 57 pery to the mountain, of dazzling whiteness ; the burst- ing torrents which force their way through immense fragments of other worlds ; and the contrast which these sublime monuments afford to the beautiful and verdant clothing of the smiling valley are all justly calculated to inspire the mind with the most vivid and lofty conception of the works of that great Architect, in comparison with which all efforts of human skill betray their feeble origin and sink into insignificance. The tourist who would wish to view Mont Blanc in all its grandeur must ascend Mont Bremen on the opposite side. He will then, stand- ing at about half the elevation of Mont Blanc, be fully impressed with the magnitude of the greatest mountain in Europe. By looking upwards from the valley it scarcely seems higher than its compeers, but from Mont Bremen its superiority becomes awfully conspicuous. The ascent of Mont Bremen is not considered either difficult or dangerous with the assistance of judicious guides, whose directions it is necessary to follow impli- citly : a terrible instance which followed the contempt of their advice occurred some years since. A Danish tra- \elliT named Eschur ventured heedlessly over the glacier of Druet, and always kept in advance of his guides, vainly supposing that his ideas were equal to their experience. Having preceded them on one occasion more than two hundred yards, to their horror he suddenly disappeared from their sight. The nature of the calamity was too well surmised to require explanation. He had slipped ;ui