io Rambles with a Fishing-Rod. 



selves, and imagine that they have found a 

 panacea for their complaints in the very pleas- 

 ant "grape cure" about as harmless a system, 

 if moderately indulged in, as the " whey cure," 

 and if anything more agreeable. From Meran 

 through the Vintsgau and valley of the Upper 

 Adige, or Etsch, runs one of the trunk-roads 

 which connect Italy and Germany. Thirty- 

 five miles from Meran comes the small town 

 of Mais. Here the Trafoi Thai branches off 

 to the west, and the traveller passes through 

 it over the Stelvio Pass to the Baths of Bormio, 

 and on to the Lake of Como. Still another 

 seven miles, and the highest part of this long 

 valley is attained, and here is the little village 

 of St Valentin auf der Haid, or, more properly, 

 der Heide the village on the heath. 



A stage further is the village of Nauders, on 

 the river Inn ; one road proceeds up the valley 

 to the Engadine, another down the valley to 

 Innsbruck, which again "bifurcates," as the 

 French say, at Landeck, and forms one route 

 to the Lake of Constance. At the top of this 

 valley lie three small lakes ; that nearest Mais 

 is known as the Haid See. On its banks is St 

 Valentin, then comes the smaller Mitter See, 



