160 TIIK KNIOIMtH.OClsr's liKCOIII). 



(Icscriptioii is luM-c ciinioti tm llic licnd nnd hiicUs ol' portors, and toiTlble 

 work it siriMs, ("sptH-ially as oiic Iri-ls tliiil, with a littli> cxpondituro lu>ro 

 and tluM'(\ tlu' iiswiit luii^lit lu' uuulo (piit(> possibU^ for luf^i^iiiio niul(>s. 

 Hut tlu> end of l.lu> I'Kdds is fcho real C()imm>n('(Miu>nt of alpiiio lifo. 

 Ti'iio. miiiilicrs of the lower spooios persist., ri-^iit up to the lop of the 

 Col a,t about OOOO fc>et. Such ar(> Hiriit/n's auutthusia found in every 

 sunny opiMiin,";' in the pin(> fort>st, whieh, iirst in serried ranks, and 

 later tiiinly t>xt(>nd(>d, reaches up even above the (^ol that leads to 

 Lake Ivitoni and Piora,. Aniifuuis niohr iind var. <')/,s are both more 

 abundant tluui ./. (iiilaid, but th(> everj^'rowinj^' presence of Krebias is 

 tht> nu>st nuirk(>d feature. First Mcliiiiiiiios nirlaiiii>iix, then I'.irhia 

 tiindiints joined /■.'. (jooutv, llyinj*' up and down th(> stee}) ilower-covered 

 slopes, over which the zigzaf^s ovor-ascended, and walkinj^' up which 

 was much like clinibini^- up-stairs, but now on steej) shar])ed,y:ed rocks, 

 tluMi (Ml soft earth that crumbled under on(>'s foot iit. t very step, owing 

 to the last two or three days of heavy rain. On one such slope 

 I'di'itoni/iiiiiliii (hinriiiiaiKi still occurred in some number.^--, whilst Utiiileti 

 riiii(Uirt(U\ hsoria hitltotiiti, llrrntliis (unat/nisi<( and Ai/riadi'x cori/ilun 

 occupied every suitabli^ spot. To the right, as one ascends, is the 

 ceascdess hum of tlu' b'ossbach, falling in a. series of cascades from its 

 outlet from the lake above. Hut the climl) became too fatiguing for 

 collecting, too exhausting almost to think, and 1 toiUul up the steep 

 zigzags between the t>dge of the pine- forest and rocks on one side, and 

 the loNcly l"\>ssbach on the other, up through the deserted village 

 of \'allt', lip past the liiglier cowslieds, and at last reached one of 

 those wild rough places, laid out by a. mountain torrent, and then 

 overgrown with plants and flanked by stee|> llowery banks that are the 

 gUiry of the entomologist in the high alps. Here Ihriithis /'H Irs was 

 alnmdant. the 9 s dark, but the species sonunvhnt woiii, and here at 

 almost (5000 feet elevation was a splendid mixture of alpine and low- 

 land t\unis. for, with I'inhia rrta and !•!. tinirstni, I-!, i'ltrifalr, /'.'. tifiulants, 

 Mfloinpios (•j'i/'/intn, anil .1/. inelaininin, there were Hi'odrs vinfdiirrdi', 

 liti'iitliix (initit/niaia, Aiitlirncra i)iiri>iiralis, and A. trainfolpina, whilst 

 MilitiUd tlhtjiiuia and lirnit/iisfiiplirosi/iif st\\\ held theirown. Twomore 

 Adsritit (irriinn occiu'red on these slopes, and, as one finished the slippery 

 ascent aiul reached the path again, tme was glad to sit down and r(>st 

 on a point of vantage where one saw the full beauty of the waterfall 

 beforeime. The Fossbach pmu'cd over the rocks, and then spiead itself as 

 the lower rocks terraced themselves beneath. Back again the i)a.th turned, 

 but always up, up, and then one suddenly found oneself on level ground, 

 and for a long long distance the upland valley was filled with the 

 beautiful Lake Hitom. The mountain peaks now ap]ieared as small hills 

 of a. few hundred feet all round the lake. Here and there footpaths led to 

 the sun\nuts of i he heights around, and one felt that one was at last ipiite 

 among the ti^pmost peaks of the mountains that one sees on the horizon 

 to the l(>ft as the train glides snake-like down the Ticino valley, or to 

 the right as it groans and pants upwards in its ascent. A well-beaten 

 path nms round the lake, on and on. It was still a half-hour from 

 noon aiul the h(»t sun beat on the moist earth that had been for the 

 last two days soaked in the icy cold of the rain-clouds. The walk 

 nnind the edge of the lake is the memory of a life-time. We have 

 already described {Xat. Hint, lirit. Iii(tts., [[., pp. ,H'27-S) the 

 countless swarms of iM-ebias, blues and fritillaries that were at 



