258 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



little desolate and severe, as, for instance, 

 that of St. Grotthard (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 tp 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 



