Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. I.djvu/64

80 little cottages. In the hollows of the valleys roars the river; the clouds slowly roll along, dividing themselves amongst the immense rocky heights. In whatever direction you turn your sight, you behold Alps, valleys, deep woods, soft, waving pasture meadows, dark rifts of the mountain, whence, as you can see, flow streams in the spring season. Every thing is grand, wild, strong, but at the same time fresh and peaceful. Are you weary?—are you thirsty?—sit down upon that fragrant grass, beside this bank of wild strawberries, as large as those grown in gardens. More juicy, more beautiful ones cannot be found on earth; and this air—ah! do you feel it? It is impossible to describe its purity and freshness, its revivifying power, both of soul and body. Look around! Near you, and all around you, is a flower-world of old and new acquaintance. Here the sweetly-fragrant Alpine pink, with its spear-like leaf, Dianthus superbus, well deserving of its name; there, tall and erect, like a real king's candle, the stately yellow gentian, Gentiana l a u tea, with thick clusters of gold-colored flowers; and there, the most ornamental of all umbels, the beautiful Astran s t ia major. Pretty, bright-colored thistles shine out in crowds. Higher up come the Alpine roses, Rododendrons, and many another sweet-smelling plant which is only found there. But we will not go any further to-day.

We will descend and enter some of the little cottages at the feet of the mountains. We must not leave the foot-path without having become acquainted with the principal places to which it leads, the dwellings where human beings reside, spirits who love or