appearance is dull, although it
is the chief place of one of the three divisions which are formed of
Savoy. Here is a bridge of stone (which is not usual in this country,
where timber abounds, and where many of the rivers are so rapid, as to
oblige the inhabitants to remove the bridges, at the commencement of
autumn) over the river Arve, the course of which we followed for several
leagues through the valley of Cluse, so called from the little town of
that name. This long and narrow district is surrounded by lofty
mountains, and the traveller is often at a loss to guess which way he
can proceed, until some sudden turning discovers an outlet, barely
sufficient to admit the passage of a carriage, and by various windings
he arrives in the valley of Magi an, which presents a still more
interesting variety of objects, amongst others the cascade of Nant
d'Arpennas and many other inferior ones, which tumble from the
mountains, and increase the rapidity of the Arve. About a league beyond
the fall d'Arpennas is an excellent view of _Mont Blanc_, which crowned
with all the horrors of a perpetual winter, presents one of the most
sublime, and majestic spectacles, which it is possible to conceive. To
describe the contrast between its snowy summit, and the cultivated
valley beneath, so as to convey any just idea of the scene, to those who
have not themselves seen it, would require all the descriptive powers of
a _Radcliffe_. We arrived to a late dinner at the hotel de Mont Blanc,
at St Martin, which is a large single house situated about a quarter of
a league from the little town of Salenche, of which I do not recollect
having heard any thing remarkable, except that the right of burgership
may be purchased for forty-five livres. The windows of our hotel
commanded a most astonishing extent of mountain scenery diversified by
the windings of the Arve through a well cultivated valley. The hotel was
sufficiently comfortable, but the bill was extravagant beyond any
precedent in the annals of extortion. We had occasion to remonstrate
with our host on the subject, and our French companion exerted himself
so much on the occasion, that at last we succeeded in persuading the
landlord to make a considerable reduction in his charges, which were out
of all reason, making every allowance that his house was so situated, as
not to be accessible during the whole year. We were afterwards told that
he would have considered himself amply paid by receiving t