. Alps and sanctuaries of Piedmont and the Canton Ticino (Op. 6.) . little food, anda pot or pan or two to cook with. Many of themlooked very tired, and had evidently tramped fromlong distances—indeed, we saw costumes belongingto valleys which could not be less than two or threedays distant. They were almost invariably quiet,respectable, and decently clad, sometimes a littlemerry, but never noisy, and none of them we travelled along the road, we must have fallenin with several hundreds of these pilgrims comingand going; nor is this likely to be an extravagantestimate, seeing that the
. Alps and sanctuaries of Piedmont and the Canton Ticino (Op. 6.) . little food, anda pot or pan or two to cook with. Many of themlooked very tired, and had evidently tramped fromlong distances—indeed, we saw costumes belongingto valleys which could not be less than two or threedays distant. They were almost invariably quiet,respectable, and decently clad, sometimes a littlemerry, but never noisy, and none of them we travelled along the road, we must have fallenin with several hundreds of these pilgrims comingand going; nor is this likely to be an extravagantestimate, seeing that the hospice can make up morethan five thousand beds. By eleven we were at thesanctuary itself. Fancy a quiet upland valley, the floor of which SANCTUARY OF OROPA. 225 is about the same height as the top of Snowdon,shut in by lofty mountains upon three sides, whileon the fourth the eye wanders at will over theplains below. Fancy finding a level space in sucha valley watered by a beautiful mountain stream, andnearly filled by a pile of collegiate buildings, not less. important than those, we will say, of Trinity College,Cambridge. True, Oropa is not in the least likeTrinity, except that one of its courts is large, grassy,has a chapel and a fountain in it, and rooms all roundit; but I do not know how better to give a rough 226 ALPS AND SANCTUARIES. description of Oropa than by comparing it with oneof our largest English colleges. The buildings consist of two main courts. Thefirst comprises a couple of modern wings, connectedby the magnificent facade of what is now the secondor inner court. This facade dates from about themiddle of the seventeenth century; its lowest storeyis formed by an open colonnade, and the whole standsupon a raised terrace from which a noble flight ofsteps descends into the outer court. Ascending the steps and passing under the colon-nade, we found ourselves in the second or inner court,which is a complete quadrangle, and is, we were told,of rather older date t
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