THE INN AT LA GRAVIJ 



It was a long, strong pull from St. Christophe, and this mule is evidently ready for dinner, 

 or majdoe he disapproves of the place 



from these deep, high valleys. All along 

 the mountain tops here there are forts, 

 but one seldom sees them, nor troops in 

 great number ; but the soldiers come into 

 the towns occasionally for supplies, and 

 the uncountable loaves of bread prove 

 that there are many mouths to feed. 



NEARING THE FRONTIER 



On the pass of Tre Croci is the Aus- 

 trian customs-house, for the boundary is 

 only a short distance beyond. A mile on 

 its other side is the Italian customs-house. 

 But neither pays much attention to the 

 tourists, who come and go unceasingly : 

 it is the natives and the stage-coach they 

 use that come in for suspicion. Smug- 

 gling is a favorite pastime on this border. 



Here our English and German com- 

 panions berated the road soundly. We, 



remembering others very close to home, 

 kept a discreet silence ; but Americans 

 have no need to hang their heads in 

 Tyrol. It has some fine, well-laid historic 

 highways, like the road through Ani- 

 pezzo-tal or the Brenner ; it has some 

 fine new roads, like the Dolomiten 

 Strasse, built with military forebodings 

 and about to prove their worth ; and it 

 still has some of its ancient native roads, 

 of which this over Tre Croci is perhaps 

 the best, while the worst is that from 

 Aleran up to Schloss Tyrol. 



THE SENTINELS OE FRONTIER 



Narrow, stony, dusty or muddy, steep 

 in gradient, going straight up where they 

 can, turning abruptly where they must, 

 they are everything that a road ought not 

 to be, yet they are glorified by the won- 



Ml 



