MONTE ROSA 265 



This comparison, coming from de Saussure, is in itself the highest 

 praise, but he goes on : 



' Monte Rosa has even the advantage of appearing framed in the 

 verdant slopes of the deep and narrow Val Anzasca, which enhance 

 marvellously the effect of its ice and snow. The valley is remarkable 

 for the beauty and, I venture the phrase, the magnificence of its 

 vegetation ; everywhere except in its highest and coldest portion the 

 paths are shaded by vine -trellises that cover them entirely like the 

 pergolas which sheltered the walks of our fathers' gardens. Other 

 trellises in steps, supported by walls, climb the mountain slopes, for 

 in all this district the vines are only grown in this manner. But 

 wherever the hillsides, seamed by torrents, afford retreating angles 

 capable of irrigation, one meets with meadows shaded by chestnut 

 trees of a size and beauty that are really admirable, while the torrent 

 often forms a cascade which adds to the charm of these magnificent 

 groves. Another remarkable feature of this valley is that it has no 

 level bottom: the two opposite slopes join at their base and form 

 an acute angle in which the Anza flows, so that the numerous villages 

 are almost all perched on the steep slopes, or on narrow shelves that 

 interrupt them.' [Voyages, 2130.] 



The travellers reached Macugnaga that is, the cluster of houses 

 known as Staffa on the edge of the meadows below the old church 

 at noon. 1 Their first impression was one of enchantment with 

 the situation of the village. Different in character as the land- 

 scape here is to those of the lower valley, it retains gentle 

 features which are relatively rare at a similar altitude (4350 

 feet). 



' The houses, built of mixed wood and stone, but well and solidly 

 constructed, are scattered about in meadows diversified by clumps of 

 larch and ash. These meadows rise in a gentle slope towards the 

 base of the towering crags of Monte Rosa, which form the boundary 

 of this pleasant platform.' [Voyages, 2131.] 



The travellers' first difficulty was to get housed. De Saussure 

 writes to his wife : 



' We were more than five hours trying to find a lodging. Strangers 

 being so rare, there is no proper inn, and quite recently a well-dressed 

 individual, who had been hospitably entertained, had made off without 

 paying his bill and after robbing his host. Consequently, on our 

 arrival, the villagers locked their doors and fled to the mountains. 



1 ' Macugnaga ' comprehends several hamlets some distance apart. 



