CHAP. I.

STORM ON THE COL DE LAUTARET.

11

not a particle of mist, and the violent wind coming from thatdirection blew one hack staggering. But on the side of Italy, thevalleys were completely filled with dense masses of cloud to acertain level; and there—where they felt the influence of thewind—they were cut off as level as the top of a table, the ridgesappearing above them.

I raced down to Abides, and went on through the gorge of theGuil to Mont Dauphin. The next day found me at La Lessee, atthe junction of the Yal Louise witli the valley of the Durance, infull view of Mont Pelvoux; and by chance I walked into a cabaretwhere a Frenchman was breakfasting, who, a few days before, hadmade an unsuccessful attempt to ascend that mountain with threoEnglishmen and the guide Michel Croz of Chamounix ;* a rightgood fellow, by name Jean Beynaud.

The same night I slept at Brianfon, intending to take thecourier on the following day to Grenoble; but all places had beensecured several days beforehand, so I set out at two p.ji. on thenext day for a seventy-mile walk. The weather was again bad ;and on the summit of the Col de Lautaret I was forced to seekshelter in the wretched little hospice. It was filled with work-men who were employed on the road, and with noxious vapourswhich proceeded from them. The inclemency of the weather waspreferable to the inliospitality of the interior. Outside, it wasdisagreeable, but grand ; inside, it was disagreeable and mean.tThe walk was continued under a deluge of rain, and I felt theway down—so intense was the darkness—to the village of LaGrave, where the people of the inn detained me forcibly. It wasperhaps fortunate that they did so; for, during that night, blocksof rock fell at several places from the cliffs on to the road withsuch force that they made large pits in the macadam. I resumed

* 1 had been sent to the Yal Louise to illustrate this ascent.

f Since that time a decent house has been built on the summit of this pass. Theold vaulted hospice was erected for the benefit of the pilgrims who formerly crossedthe pass cn route for Rome.—Joanne’s Itincrairc du Dauphine.