wild flowers, and felt that we had experienced a consummation of curiosity; that we had looked upon that, than which earth could offer nothing to the eye or heart of man more awful or more magnificent.
MONASTERY OF ST. BERNARD.
Elevated on the Alps which separate Le Valais from Piedmont stands the celebrated Hospice au Grand St. Bernard. It is 8314 feet above the level of the sea, and is the highest inhabited spot in Europe. It is of the order of St. Augustine, and was founded, in the eleventh century, by St. Bernard de Manthe, a gentleman of Savoy. Before Buonaparte made the great and useful roads over the Simplón and Mount Cenis, the most frequented passage from Italy to Switzerland was by this convent. It is still a very considerable thoroughfare, especially for the poor Piedmontese, who cross these Alps every spring to Italy and France, for employment. In this convent twelve Monks and six Domestics constantly reside, to receive the poor without payment, and to succour the distressed traveller. For this purpose the domestics go out every morning in the winter, on different routs, to search for travellers who may have lost their way. They are accompanied by their Dogs, which are of the Spanish breed, nearly as large as young heifers, fine powerful animals; and whose sagacity is so unerring that they follow the tracks where the human foot has passed though covered with snow eight feet deep. They go before the domestics, clearing a path through the snow with their heads and feet; and as soon
