In My Vicarage Garden 



necessary to walk three or four miles before you 

 come to the object of your walk. The lake is 

 surrounded by fine mountain peaks, each of which 

 will give a good walk. The ascent of Taneda 

 (8760 ft.) will require the best part of a whole 

 day, especially if, as it generally is early in July, 

 the route is blocked in many places by deep 

 snow ; and there are many other good points 

 which will require all the time between breakfast 

 and dinner. But for those who do not wish for, 

 or cannot take, such long walks, there are many 

 delightful excursions close at hand. The Fongio 

 rises from the very walls of the hotel, and you 

 may do as much or as little of it as you like ; 

 each step is varied both in flowers and view. 

 Within a hundred yards of the hotel door you may 

 be among alpines that will delight any lover of 

 such plants ; and you may with ease go on to the 

 top (7257 ft), and at each turning in the path the 

 view and the plants will change ; or you may come 

 down after having made half of the ascent well- 

 satisfied with your walk. I think one of the 

 pleasantest walks I took was all round the lake, 

 making a walk little over three miles. As you 

 look on the lake from the hotel windows, you 

 see, as it is usual in most Alpine lakes, that 

 the south side with a northern aspect is well 

 clothed with trees and bushes, while the north side 

 with a southern aspect is apparently bare and 

 barren but it is only apparently so ; both sides 

 are well supplied with flowers, but of a different 



194 



