431 A VISIT TO THE GREAT ST. BERNARD. 



gent a more sublime object than the St. Bernard unless, indeed, it 

 were its loftier neighbour, Mont Blanc itself. 



Reaching the spot where the monntain rises more abruptly, the 

 traveller must prepare himself for a rougher and more careful ascent ; 

 not unfrequently he will find himself compelled to climb up with 

 hand and foot the different steeps that present themselves. There is 

 much sameness and little interest in this occupation ; but it does not 

 last long before a low-roofed shed becomes visible, on the right of 

 the path, which is styled " The Refuge." This hovel, which is no- 

 thing more than four bare walls, with a roofing to them, and without 

 even a door to the entrance, was built for the temporary reception of 

 such travellers as are too late to reach the Hospice that day, or are 

 too fatigued to proceed farther j the building, such as it is, is also 

 useful in case of accidents : here the servants of the Hospice, accom- 

 panied by the dogs, lie in wait every day, when the season is unfa- 

 vourable, for the relief of travellers ; and should they not return at a 

 certain and fixed hour, it is concluded at the Hospice that something 

 is wrong, and the monks, one and all, go forth in a body, with food 

 and restoratives, to their assistance. 



About a stone's throw from the Refuge, but standing more off from 

 the path, is another lonely shed ; this is the bone-house ; as the dis- 

 tance from this spot to the Hospice is somewhat considerable, it was 

 found necessary to build here a receptacle for the bodies of those who 

 had unhappily fallen asleep in the snow, or had been killed by ava- 

 lanches. 



The first view of the Hospice breaks suddenly upon the eye, 

 when but a stone's throw from its bleak-looking walls ; it seems to 

 start up suddenly as it were from the elevation on which it stands, 

 having about it a comfortless naked look, and unrelieved of course 

 by a single tree or even shrub. The materials of which it is com- 

 posed are from the rock on which it has been built, and the only 

 natural advantage it possesses is the neighbourhood of a lake, which 

 is ice more than three-fourths of the year : it is the highest habita- 

 tion of the known world, and said to be upwards of eight thousand 

 feet above the level of the sea. The pass by it into Italy is a saving 

 of two days. On the steps of the door generally may be seen lying 

 one of the celebrated dogs ; the moment you are in view, you are 

 welcomed with the deep and peculiar bark of these animals, and 

 having once noticed him and thus introduced yourself you are 

 friends forthwith ; it is even prudent to do this, for I was afterwards 

 told that in the event of neglecting it you are sure to be watched by 

 the animnl during your stay, and perhaps suspected to be what you 

 ought not to be. As I approached the building, my attention was par- 

 ticularly attracted to three or four Italian boys, who were gazing about 

 the premises with intense curiosity, though they were but lightly clad, 

 and stood shivering in the pityless blast of these mountains, with 

 their arms folded over their breasts ; they seemed to be feeling for the 

 first time the immense difference between the atmosphere they were 

 in and that of their own sunny Italy ; one of them had a monkey for 

 a companion, another a cage of white mice, and a third music ; they 

 informed me in the house that these boys came across the mountain in 



