walker to make the tour of the three valleys; yet within these narrow limits the law confined the Vaudois until 1848; since then all Italy is theirs. The vale of Luserna is open and warm, that of San Martino cold and barren, whilst the valley of Perosa partakes of the nature of both.
The cultivation of the fields, including rye, barley, oats, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, French beans, and hemp, and also the care of cattle, is nearly all the occupation of the Vaudois in the mountain parishes; on the lower ground, where the vine, maize, and mulberry tree are found, wine and the cocoons of the silk- worm employ their chief labours. This applies, however, only to the summer; the winter, in proportion as one ascends, is of five, six, or even eight months duration, and during this time the women assemble to spin, but there is very little to be done out of doors. The manufactures are nothing; there are silk factories, indeed, but these do not employ the Waldenses so much as strangers who have been attracted to the valleys by them; there are many drawbacks in them, and they are not conducive to health or morals. A number of the young people quit the valleys, where there is not space enough to find employment for them, and go to various parts of the Continent, and to Great Britain, where the young women are valued in the nursery and the school-room.
Though there has been a great improvement in the out ward condition of the Vaudois during the last thirty years, their habitations are still miserable enough; and diseases consequent on imperfect nourishment are sometimes prevalent; while the visitor is often distressed by the frequent sight of goitre, even among young women whose appearance otherwise would be most pleasing.
The state of the Vaudois is not now so much like their
