Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/104

94 One enters the Tyrol by Scharnitz, The boundary-line is marked by a wall which bars the passage through the valley, and abuts on both sides on the mountains. It looks well. On one side the rocks are fortified; on the other they ascend perpendicularly. From Seefeld the road continually grew more interesting, and from Benedictbeuern to this place it went on ascending, from height to height: while all the streams of the neighbouring districts were making for the Isar. Now one caught a sight, over a ridge of rocks, of the Valley of the Inn; and Inzingen lay before us. The sun was high and hot, so that I was obliged to throw off some of my coats; for indeed, with the varying atmosphere of the day, I am obliged frequently to change my clothing.

At Zierl one begins to descend into the Valley of the Inn. Its situation is indescribably beautiful, and the bright beams of the sun made it look quite cheerful. The postilion went faster than I wished; for he had not yet heard mass, and was anxious to be present at it at Innspruck, where, as it was the festival of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, he hoped to be a devout participant. Accordingly, we rattled along the banks of the Inn, hurrying by Martinswand,—a vast, precipitous, wall-like rock of limestone. To the spot where the Emperor Maximilian is said to have lost himself, I ventured to descend, and came up again without a guide; although it is, in any case, a rash undertaking.

Innspruck is gloriously situated in a rich, broad valley, between high rocks and mountains. Everybody and everything was decked out in honour of the Virgin's Nativity. At first I had some wish to stop there, but it promised neither rest nor peace. For a little while I amused myself with the son of my host. At last the people who were to attend to me came in one by one. For the sake of health, and prosperity to the flocks, they had all gone on a pilgrimage to