redolent of pine odors, near the foundations of a ruined stronghold,
the Burgkofel, we came upon a realm of gigantic boulders. Some, in
the shape of huge granite slabs, formed a rude, continuous broadway;
others, scarred and furrowed, but softened and beautified by golden
and silver lichen, torn by storms and snow from the cyclopean
mountain-walls, were scattered topsy-turvy on either hand; many had
become lodged in the river, where they carried on a steady defence
against the tumultuous Giessbach, which, having its rise in mountains
ten thousand feet high, leapt, foaming milky white, over and between
them, forming a long series of bold cascades for a distance of half a
dozen miles. The road continued by the boisterous rapids, hemmed in on
the other hand by woods and threatening mountain-walls. The thunder of
the waters prevented continuous conversation: we therefore admired in
silence the grandeur of the scene and the magnificent glimpses which
slight curves in the road afforded ever and anon of neighboring
mountain-peaks and wooded valleys below.

No carriage of any kind can ascend this road. It would be difficult
indeed for horses; nevertheless, the herds of cattle traverse it
in the journey to and from the Olm, their hoofs being able to find
foothold on the rock. Moidel said that the cattle were so delighted
to go to the Alps for the summer after the winter's confinement in
the stall that they made the journey with a kind of joyful impatience,
going on still more eagerly as they approached the end. "Not so,
however," added Moidel, "with the pigs. I have often sat and cried on
these rocks at their perverse ways when I have had to bring them up.
They would only stand still and grunt while I begged and prayed and
pushed. When they reached the top a new spirit soon seized them: they
were here, there and everywhere--in a week's time leaping like goats,
as if they had taken to wine."