¬The¬ Cornice, the Grimsel and the Gries, the Bernardin and the Splugen, the Brenner, the Tende and the Argentière, and the Simplon.- (Illustrations of the passes of the Alps ; Vol. 2)
Eisach, the Adige, and the Adriatic; the other reaching the Black Sea; by the Sill, the Inn, and the Danube. From the summit of the passage, the road, for about a mile, declines very little: afterwards it rapidly descends, on the-banks of the Eisach, through a ravine, into which numerous tributary streams flow, and the Eisach soon becomes a brawling and violent torrent. At Sterzing§ the country opens, and the products of the soil already mark the southern side of the Alps. * Anciently the city
of Matreiura, destroyed by the Bavarians in the ninth century. *f- This little lake, whence the Sill flows, is frozen over eight or nine months in the year; yet it is celebrated for the delicacy of the trout with which it abounds: these are kept at the inns on the Brenner in troughs, through which a stream passes, and form a never-failing dish at the traveller’s repast. £ Plate the second. § When the author first visited the Tyrol, in the year 1822, he witnessed a curious scene at Sterzing. While waiting
at the inn, the .sound of drum and fife, and a bustle in the street, announced a procession of the successful marksman of the day. The Tyrolese practise, every Sunday afternoon, and all holydays, the use of the rifle ; and there are few houses in the Tyrol which are not ornamented with targets, the trophies of success, which are suspended beneath the overhanging roofs, in front of the residences of the victors. The target of the day is the prize of the best shot; and that which was won at Sterzing
day was overtaken by the author’s party near Sterzing, and offered a ride on his way home, which he accepted; he complained bitterly of his ill-luck, and attributed his failure to the weather, which had been hazy; but to shew that he had some claim to distinction as a marksmau, he pointed out a young tree on the side of the road, at a considerable distance, levelled his rifle at it, and drove a ball through the trunk, though he fired from the char in which he was riding. u 2
