I
observed a great many _cretins_ in this valley.
SUZA, 10th August.
On the morning of the 8th August two _vetturini_ passed by the inn at St
Jean de Maurienne, and I engaged a place in one of them, as far as Turin.
We arrived at the village of Modena in the evening. The landscape is much
the same as what we have hitherto passed, but the climate is considerably
colder, from the land being more elevated. Hitherto I had suffered much
inconvenience from the heat. The next morning we reached Lans-le-Bourg, the
last town of Savoy lying at the foot of Mount Cenis.
After breakfast we began the ascent of Mont Cenis, and I made the whole way
from Lans-le-Bourg to the _Hospice_ of Mont Cenis, that is, the whole
ascent, a distance of twenty-five Italian miles, on foot. This _chaussee_
is another wonderful piece of work of Napoleon; a broad carriage road, wide
enough for three carriages to go abreast, and cut zig-zag with so gentle a
slope as to allow a heavy French diligence to pass, with the utmost ease,
across a mountain where it was formerly thought impossible a wheel could
ever run. This _chaussee_ is passable at all seasons of the year; the
mountain is not so high as that of the Simplon and is less liable to
impediments from the snow; the obstacles from nature are less, and you can
descend in a sledge from the _Hospice_ by gliding down the side of the
cone, and thus descending in nine or ten minutes, whereas the ascent
requires four hours' time.
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