he half of his
first demand, and I found it is often the practice to ask of the English
at least double of what is charged to travellers of any other nation.
Appearances were so much against our landlord, that one might say to him
in the words of the epigram, _"If thou art honest thou'rt a wondrous
cheat."_

The carriage road ends at Salenche; and we, therefore, made the
necessary arrangements to proceed on mules, and sent back our carriage
to Geneva. It was the first time I had travelled in a country only
_accessible on foot or by mules_, and I cannot but add my testimony to
that of all those who have ever made excursions into these mountains,
respecting the very extraordinary and almost incredible safety with
which the mule conveys his rider over tracks, which were any one to see
suddenly, coming out of a civilized country, he would think it the
height of folly to attempt to pass even on foot. There are, however,
places where it is expedient to climb for one's self, but as long as one
remains on the back of the mule, it is advisable not to attempt to
direct his course, but to submit one's reason for the time to the
instinct of the animal. Our guides assured me that they had never known
a single instance of any one's having had reason to regret having placed
this confidence in them; and, indeed, it is by having the command of his
head that the mule is enabled to carry his rider in safety over passes,
which one is often afraid to recall to one's memory. Several of the
mules in Savoy are handsome, but one of our party, who had crossed the
Fyrenean mountains, thought the Spanish mules were much more so; the
ordinary price of a mule here, is from fourteen to twenty Louis d'Ors.

The distance between St. Martin and Chamouny, is little more than six
leagues, but from the extreme inequality of the ground and the
intricacy of the paths, occupied a very long space of time in passing.
We still continued to follow the course of the Arve, which, according to
the opinions of some writers, is believed to have, at one period, formed
a lake between the mountains which encompass this valley; a conjecture
which the marshy appearance of the ground seems to render probable.

These mountains abound with an animal which is mostly an inhabitant of
the Alps, the marmot, and there are a vast abundance of wild
strawberries. The river is most considerable at this season of the year,
being supplied with the meltings of the snow and ice. About t