b MY FIRST VISIT TO THE ENGADINE. 



glacier. Looking out, therefore, for a bridge over the Flatz- 

 bach, we turned off the main road and found a pleasant 

 little green road amongst larch and arolla trees on the western 

 side of the valley. Many of the larch trees appeared almost 

 dead, the leaves being all brown, because eaten and dis- 

 coloured by one of the Torlrix larva, which thus by its 

 multitudes is able to effect the colouring of the landscape. 

 I believe it is the larva of Pcecilochroma occultana which 

 does this mischief; the arolla trees are much infested with 

 the Ocnerostoma discovered in the Engadine by my excel- 

 lent friend Senator von Heyden, and which he aptly named, 

 on account of its extreme abundance, Copiosella. From this 

 side of the valley we had a fine view of a little stream which 

 dashed down the face of a nearly perpendicular rock on the 

 eastern side of the valley. After walking for nearly half 

 an hour along the undulating track, whence we only occa- 

 sionally obtained glimpses of the Morteratsch glacier, we 

 found that its distance from us had scarcely sensibly de- 

 creased, and thus were led to realize the deceptiveness of 

 distance in Alpine districts, of which we had frequently read, 

 but had not previously experienced. We now reached a plot 

 of the " rose of the Alps," Rhododendron fej^rugineum^ and 

 had the pleasure of plucking it for the first time ; we also 

 met with several Alpine species of Saxifraga and Sedu7n, 

 and on the Vaccmium Vitis IdcBU I found a few mines of 

 Lithocolletis Vaccinwda. 



At length we reached the foot of the Morteratsch glacier, 

 but were disappointed from the surface being so covered 

 with the detritus of rocks, that it was difficult to conceive 

 we were looking at a solid lump of pure ice ; the perpendi- 

 cular face of it did look rather cleaner, and showed here and 

 there a delicate blueish tinge. The archway through which 

 the stream found its way from the foot of the glacier had 



