Ai'K. 1899.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 203 



excursion to a close, and an unlooked-for dole to his 

 poor-box made clear that his English was limited to the 

 expressive " Thank you ! " We retraced our steps to 

 Steinach-that same evening. 



The two days following were spent on the road to 

 the Giudicaria Alps, farther to the south still. By train 

 from Steinach we went over and down the Brenner Pass, 

 through curved tunnels and along precipitous tracks, which 

 zigzagged hundreds of feet perpendicularly above the line 

 by which we were at last to come to the Brenner station 

 and cross the watershed between the Adriatic and the Black 

 Sea. Passing the commercial Botzen, we at length reached 

 Trent, which was to be our headquarters, not from its 

 ecclesiastical associations so liiuch as from its convenience 

 and accessibility to the A^al Daone. 



The heat was oppressive, and the shade of the Sumach, 

 Pavlownia imperialis, Catalpa hignonioides, and other graceful 

 trees which lined the principal streets, was very grateful. 

 Magnolias, palms, olives, etc., ornament the public gardens 

 all the year round. 



Prom Trent by carriage down the Val Sarca would have 

 been a most enjoyable drive with a milder sun and a less 

 dusty limestone in the air. Parched and baked as we 

 were, this drive was the finest of many splendid excursions. 

 The road shows marvellous engineering. By fatiguing 

 zigzags it is carried over steep hills and down profound 

 ravines, along tunnels and galleries overhanoing; the goroe 

 of the tumultuous Sarca. The rocks were clad with 

 DianfJius Carthiisicmorum, L., of vivid brilliance, which 

 admirably picked out the yellow of the Biscutdla larigata, 

 L., which grew in profusion there. 



At last the Lago di Toblino was reached, where the 

 darker olives imparted their tones to the pines and trees 

 of the woods overhanging the shores. The heat and the 

 dust contributed to our enjoyment of the Vino Santo of the 

 castellan of Count Walkenstein. Still en route for Creto, 

 for we were badly horsed, as the poor brutes had been 

 evidently tired out before we started, we had to spend the 

 night at Tione, the principal village in Upper Giudicaria. 

 It lies at the confluence of the Arno and the Sarca. 

 Bondo, Eoncone, Lardaro, and Strada — little villages 



