Morning journal and courier., 1883-08-03

The path up Crocione happily lies in the shadow of a huge shoulder of the hill, so that you escape the extra fatigue of walking in the sunshine We felt some curiosity as to how we were to get over the limestone cliffs that rose sheer above us; but the way unwound itself and presented no difficulties. Above the cliffs the path lies through for est of low beech trees; the grass beneath them is tangle of briony, clemat1s and gen. tian, with here and there the scarlet gieam Of the snake-like mountain gooseberry. Our conductress, imagining that she saw signs Of fatigue in her party, now led us little dis tance of the path, and ordered halt beside spring of sweet, clear water. We sat and listened to the music of the cattle bells above us, for the day WAS fully come and the pas lures on the heights were alive with COWS taking their last mouthful of mountain grass before the winter drove them down, which it was sure to do by the beginning of Novem- Der at the latest The first of the snow peaks we had climbed to see were lying be- | fore us to the east Disgrazia, the northern wall of the Valtelihe, and, nearer still, the ] needle points of the Oima di Zocca above Promontogno in the Val Bregaglia, just pow dered with snow that would not lie there | long. Three quarters of an hour more brought us to the top; and, having rested and eaten without looking at the view-fo1 1 we wished to keep the best to the last and to l get it pure and simple when it came-We
 
 down to take our fill. Below us swam "the IordIy length of Lario ;'' so far below that il seemed as though we might drop a stone into it's depths; and there lay "Bellaz" and 'tMe nag, {" separated by sea of twinkling water that was no color but all light. Grigna Pel' lata on the other side of the lake, was clear. ly saying that, for all his bald head, he was higher than we were; and so indeed he was, for we could not see over him, but had tc
 guess where lay Iseo and Lady Mary's Low ere Lecco and Villa d'Este were both clear and beyond the latter we felt the Lombard plain; see it we could not, for it was ar
 ocean of cloud, out Of which rose in the fal distance the pale blue Apennines above Ge noa. Behind us WAS Monte Generoso, in the foreground and little corner of Maggiore opposite Luino, while to our unutterable de light it seemed as though every alp in Swift l zerland had risen to wish us good morning
 Monte Rosa, in her queen-like grace, dwarf ing the others. Even. Mont Blanc did mol
 deny himself to our search.
 We turned again to look at the lake, anc through my glass was trying to make out
 the Baptistery at Gravedona it's delicate ap
 sidal form was just visible An old peasant | with weather beaten face, but with pleas l ant, frank eyes, came up and began speaking l very rapidly. At first I could not make ou
 what he said, but it presently dawned on me
 that he was talking English; he was extreme ly proud of his knowledge of that language
 His English soon failed him, and he relapsee
 into Italian. He took my glass and looked at Gravedona for some time. Suddenly h'
 shut it up with bang, and said in low 1 voice: ''Do you see that church at Grave
 dona there? It was built by the devil in on' night" s'It is very beautiful to be the dev
 ills work, " said; he looked at me for sec
 ond or two, took pinch of snuff, shrugged
 his shoulders and marched of. It was tim to turn and 20 down.