ascending, the yellow anemones were in the greatest profusion, and even on the top of the Pass where a cross is erected, I gathered beneath the sacred emblem the purple anemone, but of that mossy description so favourable to resist the cold, and so admirably provided by Providence for its protection, in its furry coat."
After a brief stay at Baveno on the Lago Maggiore, we drove to Milan. We had been assured that it was too early in the year to pass the Stelvio, and that we must tarry in Lombardy till a way had been cut through the snow at the summit of the Pass. Accordingly we started for Milan, where we tarried till such time as we deemed sufficient for the opening of traffic across the Stelvio.
From Varenna we drove to the Baths of Bormio at the foot of the Stelvio, and next day proceeded to cross the Pass; at some hundreds of feet before we reached the summit we were between walls of snow considerably higher than the top of our carriage. An obelisk marks the division between Tyrol and Lombardy, 9272 ft. above the sea-level, and 800 ft. above the line of perpetual snow. In crossing I suffered acutely from the rarity of the air. I could breathe with difficulty, and had to lie in the bottom of the carriage gasping for breath, and with flaming cheeks. This discomfort abated as we descended, but I had in consequence an attack of congestion of the lungs. Mustard poultices were applied to my chest, and kept on till the skin came off. After that, for some days I was supplied with lettuce leaves to lay on my raw chest. These I received gratefully, little aware that they were applied with set purpose to keep the raw open, and so draw out the inflammation.
We crossed on June 1st, and ours was the first carriage that had made the venture that year. Next day we reached Meran. Above Meran is Schloss Tyrol, the earliest residence of the princes of this country, to which it gives its name, until it was united to the house of Austria by the marriage of Margaret Maultasch (Pocket-mouthed Meg), the last of the line, to Louis the Brandenburger. At that time Tyrol consisted of little more than the valley of the Vintschgau from Botzen to the Inn, and part of the Engadine.
Thence we went to Klausen, a small village situated in the midst of charming scenery, and a centre for excursions. Above
