446 OLD ALPINE JOTTINGS. 



the oatcake of our luncheon, we were sharers of a com- 

 mon joy. 



The gorges of the Alps interested me in 1864, as 

 the question of their origin was then under discussion. 

 Having heard much of the Via Mala as an example of 

 a crack produced by an earthquake, I went there, and 

 afterwards examined the gorge of Pfeffers, that of 

 Bergun, the Finsteraarschlucht, and several others of 

 minor note. In all cases I arrived at the same con- 

 clusion namely, that earthquakes had nothing to do 

 with the production of these wonderful chasms, but 

 that they had been one and all sawn through the rocks 

 by running water. From Tusis I crossed the beautiful 

 Schien Pass to Tiefenkasten, and went thence by dili- 

 gence over the Julier to Pontresina. 



The scenery of the Engadin stands both in character 

 and position between that of Switzerland and the Tyrol, 

 combining in a high degree the grandeur of the one 

 and the beauty of the other. Pontresina occupies a fine 

 situation on the Bernina road, at about 6,000 feet above 

 the sea. From the windows of the " Krone " you look 

 up the Rosegg valley. The pines are large and lux- 

 uriant below, but they dwindle in size as they struggle 

 up the heights, until they are cut off finally either by 

 the inclemency of the air or the scantiness of their proper 

 atmospheric food. From the earth itself these trees 

 derive but an infinitesimal portion of their supplies, as 

 may be seen by the barrenness of the rocks on which 

 they flourish, and which they use almost exclusively as 

 supports to lift their branches into the nutritive atmo- 

 sphere. The valley ends in the Rosegg glacier, which 

 is fed by the snows of a noble group of mountains. 



The baths of St. Moritz are about an hour distant 

 from Pontresina. Here every summer hundreds of 



