158 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



every here and there little rocky hillocks, covered with branching 

 larches, suggest a sacred grove, in the middle of which one looks for 

 an altar or a statue.' 



From Crodo in Val Formazza, de Saussure made in 1775 a 

 plunge across the mountains by an unfrequented track to the 

 head of Lago Maggiore. His route lay over a rough pass known 

 as the Furca del Bosco, and down Val di Bosco, a side glen of Val 

 Maggia. At Cerentino, its principal village, he passed the night, 

 and met with quarters characteristic of this region. The house 

 externally was uninviting, but within he found to his surprise the 

 table laid with silver and his bed provided with damask sheets. 

 The peasants of this region frequently emigrate, make small 

 fortunes abroad, chiefly in South America, and return to live in 

 their native villages, where they build large houses their neigh- 

 bours call palazzi, and find it a pleasant variety to take in the 

 rare passing traveller. 



At Cevio, where de Saussure entered the main valley, he records 

 an amusing encounter. 



While taking an observation to ascertain the height of the 

 place above the sea, he was greeted and invited to enter by the 

 bailli or chief magistrate of Val Maggia. He gives the following 

 account of the interview which followed : 



' It being some time,' writes de Saussure, ' since I had had any 

 news from the civilised world, I accepted the invitation, hoping to 

 learn some. What was my surprise when the bailli told me that 

 though it was long since he had a letter from the other side of the 

 Alps, he should be happy to give an answer to any inquiry I might 

 wish to make. At the same time he showed me an old black seal, 

 and this was the oracle which answered all his questions. He held in 

 his hand a string, to the end of which the seal was attached, and he 

 dangled the seal thus fastened in the centre of a drinking-glass. Little 

 by little the trembling of the hand communicated to the thread and 

 seal a motion which made the latter strike against the sides of the 

 glass. The number of the blows indicated the answer to the question 

 which the person who held the string had in his mind. He assured 

 me, with the seriousness of profound conviction, that he knew by this 

 means not only everything that was going on at home, but also the 

 elections for the Council of Basle, and the number of votes each 

 candidate had obtained. He questioned me on the object of my travels, 

 and after having learnt it, showed me in his almanac the age which 



