wo hours
after our departure from St. Martin we passed over the `_Pont des
Chevres_, which, from the extreme slightness of its construction, seems
hardly secure enough to permit the passage of a goat; and it is rendered
more formidable to the nervous traveller by its vast height from the bed
of the rocky torrent over which it passes.

We went a little way out of the regular track to see the beautiful
cascade of Chede, which is by M. Bourritt ascertained to be sixty-seven
feet in height. A number of peasants attended us from a cottage, where
we left our mules, and one of them carried a plank to serve as a bridge
over a neighbouring stream, and levied toll on us for permission to pass
over it. We returned in about a quarter of an hour to the cottage, and
paid, as we thought, very liberally for the trouble the peasants had in
holding the mules during that short time; but where expectations are
unreasonable it is impossible to satisfy them; and that was the case
here. One old woman, in particular, exclaimed against us. She said, "_We
were English, and ought to give gold._" Such is the idea entertained,
even in these secluded mountains, of the riches of the English, that a
sum, which would be received with thanks from the travellers of almost
any other country, would be considered as an object of complaint if
given by an Englishman; and the thoughtless profusion of some English
travellers is a subject of regret to many persons, who, although less
opulent, are still desirous of visiting foreign countries, as the
inhabitants of the Continent, in general, receive from some of our
fellow-subjects such an idea of the opulence of their country, that they
think it impossible to charge all who come from thence too
extravagantly. We next proceeded to the lake of Chede, which is not far
distant. It was first discovered by M. Bourritt, when hunting a wolf
amongst these mountains, as he mentions in his Itinerary, which contains
much useful information, and is a necessary appendage to the traveller
in these wild districts. This lake, considering its limited extent, is a
handsome object. Here is a curious species of moss which gives the banks
a singular appearance. We stopped to breakfast, as well as to refresh
our mules, at a little cottage-inn near the village of Servoy, in the
neighbourhood of which are mines of lead and copper, together with many
large buildings and furnaces for the preparation of the ore. We here met
another party al