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finest scenery on the road as night sets in, is to me incomprehensible; such, however, is the fact. we approached the Bourg we had shadowy visions of colossal buttresses propping up cloud-dwelling cliffs and scars, but it would have required owls' eyes to have seen the details of the rock-scape.

Our vehicle disgorged us in the black, dirty heart of the black, dirty village, opposite the Dragon,' which turned out a devouring monster to us. The landlady held supreme sway over the diligence trading between Bourg d'Oysans and Briançon. When she ascertained that we purposed sleeping in her house, she accorded us places in the carriage.

Our bed-rooms were rather dreary affairs, slightly larger editions of the Chartreuse cells, but sadly destitute of the cleanliness which characterizes the latter. Our supper was made dainty by the addition of a fine ptarmigan, which our hostess called a pheasant, and for which she charged eight francs, in order, doubtless, that we might hold it in lasting remembrance.

The other bill items were in harmonious keeping with this charge, as is attested by the fact that the total amount was twenty-three francs,-which for two suppers, two beds, and two milky breakfasts, must have yielded the Dragoness' pretty good profit. When I remonstrated over the exorbitant charge, she replied that travellers and provisions were alike scanty. I might have responded that travellers' purses are sometimes scanty too; however, I paid the bill, and I now pay her off by cautioning the

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reader, should he turn his steps to Bourg d'Oysans, to avoid the ، Dragon' as he would its creator, whose name I leave to the reader's imagination.

At half-past five the following morning we were en route, or at least, en coupé, but the machine could not move until some repairs had been effected by the village smith, who hammered and battered away at the vehicle, for the purpose, as he alleged, of strengthening it, at the imminent risk of knocking it clean over. In England, passengers would have taken the liberty to remonstrate at such proceedings being carried on while they were in the carriage; but here the passengers bore themselves patiently and meekly, as French travellers always do-enduring all things, and perhaps, hoping all things. At length the smith pronounced the diligence road-worthy. Our driver, who had taken advantage of the delay to sleep out his broken slumbers, was roused, and we departed. The newly-risen sun was fighting gallantly with the mists, which on the mountain crests were losing their substantiality, but they still overspread the plains and valleys like a huge opaque curtain which had not been raised. Our fellow passengers were more numerous than the narrow dimensions of the vehicle rendered desirable. The coupé-in which we were stowed-was narrow and leg-torturing; had we possessed it unshared we should not have complained, but there was a third party, who being not of the leanest kind, acted as a most unpleasant wedge during the journey.

The body of the carriage was occupied by a lady and three gentlemen, all bound with us for Briançon. About an hour after leaving Bourg, we came to the mouth of the dark gorge of Les Infernets, and commenced its long and arduous ascent. Of course we walked, and were well pleased to have the opportunity of doing so. The scenery of this gorge is of the most sublime and awful nature. Its name is full of dark import. At the bottom, several hundred feet below the traveller, the Romanche writhes convulsively, foaming and roaring as it ploughs its way onwards. Precipices of vast height tower over the road, and this, not the least wonder of the defile, is carried by a succession of terraces and tunnels, cut in the solid rock along the breast of the gorge. Some of these galleries are of great length: one is 269 yards long, and is lighted by three large lateral openings, which afford glimpses of dreadful depths far, far below.

The evidences of a master-mind are apparent in the construction of this road. Indeed, only a daring man would have suggested it. That man was Napoleon. At an early period of his power, he saw the desirableness of effecting a communication between Grenoble and Briançon, which would enable the heaviest four-wheeled vehicles to pass. A path practicable for hardy mules existed, identical for a considerable portion of the way with the ancient Roman road, traces of which yet remain. But this was a passage of great difficulty and even danger, as

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it was carried over the mountains at an elevation of 1000 feet higher than any part of the new road. The latter was commenced in 1804. Had it been required for military purposes, it would doubtless have been speedily completed; but as this was not the case, the works proceeded very slowly, and ceased before half the road had been constructed, nor, as will be seen presently, is it yet finished.

On emerging from the gorge, we entered a valley strewn with huge boulders which had fallen from the precipices on either side. Not a human habitation was visible; the scene was wild and dreary in the extreme. At a turning of the road, a broad and deep cataract flashed into daylight from the dark recesses of the rocks, and came tumbling down to the skirts of the road. This waterfall bears the name of Le Saut de la Pucelle, in connexion with the common legend of some romantic girl who loved not wisely, but too well,' and preferred death to dishonour-an alternative she met by casting herself into the dashing waters of the cataract.

We now came to the miserable hamlet of Le Dauphin, which marks the entrance to the Hautes Alpes, and, still ascending, entered the stupendous gorge, called the Combe de Malval,* which abounds with all the attributes of mountain grandeur. Vertical precipices rise from it crusted with glaciers, giving

* It is worthy of remark, that the word combe is equally applied in England and the Alps to a cul-de-sac valley.

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COMBE DE MALVAL.

birth to torrents which stream down like lines of burnished silver.

On attaining the extremity of the Combe, our diligence stopped, and we were requested by the driver to descend. We supposed that we were about to climb another steep, and inquired whether the ascent was long; but the reason for our being asked to dismount was far different to what we imagined. The road had come to a termination, and as the diligence was unprovided with wings, it was evident that it could travel no farther. This fact accounted for certain evasive answers which I received at Grenoble respecting the road, the existence of which as a continuous line between that city and Briançon I very much doubted. The clerk, however, assured me that the carriage travelled between the two places, but the fellow lied in his throat, and I much regret that I had not an opportunity of proving to him that I was now aware of this fact.

It was amazing to witness the placidity of our fellow passengers at this imposition. It scarcely ruffled their tempers. The husband of the lady alone evinced anger. However, they undoubtedly acted the part of true philosophers, for a whirlwind of passion could not have impelled the diligence an inch farther. A sledge drawn by mules was waiting to transport the luggage to La Grave, at which place, which we were told was une petite demi-heure distant, we should find another vehicle to take us on.

It turned out to be a good hour and a half's walk.