LIFE IX THE ALPS. 313 



dwellings. The possessors of such huts descend by suc- 

 cessive step to the valley. 



Snow falls, of course, for the most part, in winter; 

 but the exact period at which it falls is not to be pre- 

 dicted. A winter may pass with scarcely any snow, 

 while in early spring it may fall in immense quantities. 

 Then follows a time of avalanches, when the snow, de- 

 taching itself from the steep mountain-sides, shoots 

 downwards with destructive energy. 



I have seen here, in midsummer, snow so heavy that 

 the herds had to be driven a long way down to get a 

 little pasture. Three or four years ago, a fall of un- 

 equalled severity began on the night of September 12. 

 There was a brief respite of sunshine, during which the 

 peasants, had they been wise, might have brought down 

 their flocks. But they failed to do so. Snowing re- 

 commenced, the sheep were caught upon the mountains, 

 and for a long time they could not be reached by their 

 owners. Parties of men, fourteen or fifteen in number, 

 at length ascended in search of the sheep. My wife and 

 I trudged after one party, and extremely hard work 

 we found it to do so. The leader first broke ground, 

 floundering and ploughing a deep channel in the snow. 

 He was soon exhausted, and fell back, while a fresh man 

 came to the front. Each of them thus took the post 

 of leader in his turn. 



At a considerable elevation we parted company 

 with the men. It was a sombre, sunless afternoon, and 

 the scene was desolate in the extreme. Here and there 

 we could discern groups of men, two or three in number, 

 engaged in skinning the dead sheep they had discovered. 

 A joint of meat would have remained sweet for any 

 length of time in the snow, but the warmth preserved 

 by the fleece caused the flesh of the sheep to putrefy. 



For thirteen days the chief portion of the flock 



