REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT AT BRIANÇON. 277

surprised by seeing that the estimate of the expenses of the army for this year (1850) is 327,000,000 francs, or, in round numbers, £13,000,000.

After satisfying our curiosity by visiting the fortress of Les Trois Têtes, we went round the walls of the city, in search of a good locality to sketch the fortifications, which may be drawn from without, though not from within. Above the gates of the Porte d'Embrun, we were amused by seeing a display of the revolutionary spirit, whose waves had rolled from Paris even to this distant and unfrequented locality. In 1815, when Briançon was threatened by the allied forces, the garrison then defending it, though weak in numbers, gallantly refused to surrender the city, though ordered to do so by the préfet. In commemoration of this event, Louis Philippe caused the following inscription to be emblazoned in gold letters above the principal entrance to the city:

AUX BRAVES BRIANÇONNOIS, POUR LA CONSERVATION DE CETTE VILLE, LOUIS PHILIPPE RECONNAISSANT. When the news arrived that Paris had declared France to be a republic, and Louis Philippe a ' vieux coquin,' the braves Briançonnois' rushed to the above inscription and consigned their late monarch's name to oblivion by the point of the bayonet. A scratched blank exists, which I dare say will ere long bear the name of an Empereur.'

The immediate environs of Briançon abound with picturesque scenes. At the risk of breaking our necks, we scrambled to the summit of a semi-detached

rock, which commands a grand view of the upper part of the gorge, bestrided by the bold bridge, backed by the Genèvre mountain, on the sides of which the road into Italy may be traced, like a narrow ribbon, winding upwards. This scene-as well as another, looking down the defile, and on the range of the snowy Alps-we transferred to our portfolios, and I strongly recommend them to the artist's notice.

The Val Louise, which stretches from the base of the town to the Alps, is a lovely pastoral garden. It is inhabited during the summer by many thousand sheep, who migrate from the Camargue, or delta of the Rhone, about May, and return in October and November. These animals travel in flocks of 8000 to 40,000, and are from twenty to forty days on the journey. One of the shepherds is chosen chief. Three shepherds and three dogs are appointed to every thousand sheep. Goats form part of the marching establishment of these fleecy troops, and supply the shepherds with milk.

The sheep cover the bases of many of the mountains in Provence and Dauphiné. It is the business of the chief to examine into the damage done by the flocks in their passage through the country, and remunerate the communes accordingly.

Within the walls of Briançon there is little to interest. Some of the houses, as I have stated, are picturesque, but there is not that air of antiquity about the place which one expects, considering its great age. It is mentioned by Strabo under the

FILTHY CONDITION OF FRENCH INNS. 279

name of Brigantium,-by Ptolemy, and Pliny,-the last of whom attributes its origin to the traditionary legend of some fugitive Greeks, who were chased from the borders of Lake Como.

Unfortunately, the town was destroyed by fire, during the attack of the Piedmontese, in 1692, when all its archives perished. Situated in the heart of a wild and inaccessible country, it is regarded as a metropolis of the Hautes Alpes, and sends annually a number of schoolmasters into the surrounding districts. These teach reading and writing, arithmetic, and sometimes Latin. The kitchens of the Romancatholic priests generally serve as school-rooms.

I think that we should have made a longer sojourn at Briançon than two days, for there were many scenes of great beauty in the neighbourhood which we wished to sketch, but we were fairly put to flight by the villanous odours in our hotel. The filthy contrivance, or rather want of contrivance, which is the plague-spot in all French inns, and particularly in those removed from the great thoroughfares, was here surpassingly disgusting. With such exhalations in our nostrils, we ate our food with loathing, and sighed for the clean parlour of an English inn. Wonderful, most wonderful it is that the French, who take such delight in sweet perfumes, should be utterly indifferent to nasty smells; but this may be explained by the fact that they do not appreciate the meaning of the word nasty.

On remonstrating with the landlady on the dirty

state of her house, she opened her eyes wide with astonishment, and boldly asserted that her establishment was particularly remarkable for its cleanliness. This antipodal difference of opinion rendered it so extremely improbable that we should ever agree, that I judged it better to drop the subject, and get rid of the cause of complaint by removing from it as soon as possible.

CHAPTER XV.

S I entered the salon on the morning of our departure from Briançon, I was accosted by a police functionary, who demanded my passport; the first time that it had been asked for since we entered France-a remarkable fact when we remember the recent troubled state of the country, and more particularly of that part of it abutting on the Piedmont frontier.

Fortune favoured us in the weather, which continued lovely, and highly favourable for mountain travelling. We were fortunate, too, in procuring seats in the coupé of the diligence journeying to Susa. The carriage was a great improvement on that in which we had entered Briançon, being more commodious and comfortable. We had taken our places, and imagined that the third seat would be unoccupied, when a slim figure appeared at the door. It was that of a very youthful and pretty maiden. Her attire more befitted a ball than a journey. On her head was a tiny gauze cap, adorned by a single blush rose. Her dress was muslin, showing her neck and arms, and her feet were covered with thin shoes. As soon as the conducteur saw her, he opened the door of the coupé, and assisted her to ascend the