We arrived at night at the village of Brieg at the foot of the Simplon and put up at a very comfortable inn.  Brieg and Glisse are two small villages lying within a quarter of a mile distance from each other.  The direct road runs thro’ Brieg and is a great advantage to this town; while Glisse lost this benefit from the opposition shewn by its inhabitants to the annexation of the Valais to the French Empire.  They now deeply regret this refusal as few travellers chuse to stop at Glisse.

Passage of the Simplon.

  Chi mi dara la voce e le parole
  Convenienti a si nobil soggetto?[52]

  Who will vouchsafe me voice that shall ascend
  As high as I would raise my noble theme?

  —­Trans.  W.S.  ROSE.

How shall I describe the Simplon and the impressions that magnificent piece of work, the chaussee across it, made on my mind?  On arrival at the village of the Simplon, which lies at nearly the greatest elevation off the road and is more than half-way across, I wrote in my enthusiasm for the author of this gigantic work, the following lines: 

  O viaggiator, se avessi tu veduto
  Quel monte, pria che fosse il cammin fatto,
  Leveresti le mani, e stupefatto
  Diresti, “chi l’avrebbe mai creduto? 
  Son come quel d’Alcide i tuoi miracoli! 
  Vincesti, Napoleon’, piu grandi ostacoli!”

Imagine a fine road or causeway broad enough for three carriages to go abreast, cut in the flanks of the mountains, winding along their contours, sometimes zigzag on the flank of one ravine, and sometimes turning off nearly at right angles to the flank of another; separated from each other by precipices of tremendous depth, and communicating by one-arched bridges of surprising boldness; besides stone bridges at each re-entering angle, to let pass off the water which flows from the innumerable cascades, which fall from the summits of the mountains.  Ice and snow eternal on the various pics or aiguilles (as the summits are here called) which tower above your head, and yet in the midst of these belles horreurs the road is so well constructed, so smooth, and the slope so gentle that when there are fogs, which often happen here and prevent you from beholding the surrounding scenery, you would suppose you were travelling on a plain the whole time.  Balustrades are affixed on the sides of the most abrupt precipices and buttresses also in order to secure the exterior part of the chaussee.  On the whole length of the chaussee on the exterior side are conical stones of four feet in height at ten paces distant from each other, in order to mark the road in case of its being covered with snow.  There are besides maisons de refuge or cottages, at a distance of one league from each other, wherein are stationed persons to give assistance and food to travellers, or passengers who may be detained by the snow storms.  There is always in these cabins