96 Dr. B. C. Alexander's Excursions in Upper Styria. 



English feet high, I collected many interesting things : Eritri- 

 chium Hacquetii, Androsace alpina, Geum reptans, Sesleria di- 

 sticha, Primula glutinosa, and others that grow at the snow line. 



Having given a rather detailed account of excursions in the 

 Windisch part of the province, it is fair here to describe one in 

 Upper Styria. On the road towards the Grimming my fellow- 

 traveller was a very intelligent mine-engineer from Hungary, 

 who had been appointed to superintend some iron-works of a 

 Styrian company and been in their service many years. By his 

 recommendation I visited Schladming. The valley is for an al- 

 pine country extremely beautiful. To me alps have no great 

 charms, but the outline of the mountains here is grand and stri- 

 king. The path from Schladming leads for an English mile along 

 a succession of fine waterfalls. The valley then divides, and I 

 ascended the Unterthal. The protestant clergyman lent me a 

 book descriptive of the district, in which these two dales, Ober- 

 thal and Unterthal, are raised into competition with the most 

 beautiful parts of Tyrol. It was into these mountains that the 

 protestants fled for refuge during the persecution under Ferdi- 

 nand II., and half the population of Schladming and the whole 

 of that of the Ramsau is of that persuasion. They are now tole- 

 rated. Nothing can be more striking than the difference between 

 this protestant part and the rest of Styria. Here I found beau- 

 tiful cattle, well-built houses two or three stories high, good 

 fences and well-dressed people. I felt on entering the Ramsau 

 as if I were come to a different kingdom. I had often heard the 

 remark made of the Swiss cantons, but could not conceive it fully 

 till I made this excursion. 



The Yolling lies on the opposite side of Schladming. The guide 

 told me I should find good night-quarters, and brought me to the 

 hut where the dairymaid lives during the summer months, the 

 Zennerinn. 



The next morning we started at five, and were within an hour's 

 walk of the summit, when the clouds approaching rendered it 

 dangerous to proceed, and we descended by a different path into 

 the Oberthal. 



For the first time I had the opportunity of seeing pastoral 

 life on an alp. The evening in July draws in there at about six 

 o'clock, and the goats come home of their own accord. The 

 cows and sheep must be driven home. It is extraordinary how 

 these latter climb the precipices, the cows as well as the sheep. 

 In Switzerland in the same situation there would probably have 

 been a decent inn and accommodation for travellers as good as 

 in towns. In Styria one must content oneself with admiring 

 nature. One advantage of travelling here is the cheapness. I 

 gave a shepherd boy who accompanied me about three hours a 



