258 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 
little desolate and severe, as, for instance, 
that of St. Gotthard (Fig. 24). The sides are 
clothed with rough pasture, which is flowery 
indeed, though of course the flowers are not 
visible at a distance, interspersed with live 
rock and fallen masses, while along the 
bottom rushes a white torrent. The snowy 
peaks are generally more or less hidden by 
the shoulders of the hills. 
The valleys further down widen and be- 
come more varied and picturesque. The 
snowy peaks and slopes are more often 
visible, the “ alps” or pastures to which the 
cows are taken in summer, are greener and 
dotted with the huts or chalets of the cow- 
herds, while the tinkling of the cowbells 
comes to one from time to time, softened by 
distance, and suggestive of mountain rambles. 
Below the alps there is generally a steeper 
part clothed with Firs or with Larches and 
Pines, some of which seem as if they were 
scaling the mountains in regiments, preceded 
by a certain number of skirmishers. Below 
the fir woods again are Beeches, Chestnuts, 
and other deciduous trees, while the central 
