but had no real difficulty in crossing; on the Italian side the snow
was gone and the path soon became clear enough, so we sent our guide
to the right about and trudged on alone.

A sad disappointment, however, awaited us, for instead of the clear
air that we had heretofore enjoyed, the clouds were rolling up from
the valley, and we entirely lost the magnificent view of the plains
of Lombardy which we ought to have seen; this was our first mishap,
and we bore it heroically. A lunch may be had at Prali, and there
the Italian tongue will be heard for the first time.

We must have both looked very questionable personages, for I
remember that a man present asked me for a cigar; I gave him two,
and he proffered a sou in return as a matter of course.

Shortly below Prali the clouds drew off, or rather we reached a
lower level, so that they were above us, and now the walnut and the
chestnut, the oak and the beech have driven away the pines of the
other side, not that there were many of them; soon, too, the
vineyards come in, the Indian corn again flourishes everywhere, the
cherries grow ripe as we descend, and in an hour or two we felt to
our great joy that we were fairly in Italy.

The descent is steep beyond compare, for La Tour, which we reached
by four o'clock, is quite on the plain, very much on a level with
Turin--I do not remember any descent between the two--and the pass
cannot be much under eight thousand feet.

Passports are asked at Bobbio, but the very sight of the English
name was at that time sufficient to cause the passport to be