The tent was safe, although snowed up; and I turned to contemplate the view, which, when seen alone and undisturbed, had all the strength and charm of complete novelty.[1] The highest peaks of the Pennine chain were in front—the Breithorn (13,685 feet), the Lyskamm (14,889), and Monte Rosa (15,217); then, turning to the right, the entire block of mountains which separated the Val Tournanche from the Val d'Ayas was seen at a glance, with its dominating summit the Grand Tournalin (11,155[2]). Behind were the ranges dividing the Val d'Ayas from the Valley of Gressoney, backed by higher summits. More still to the right, the eye wandered down the entire length of the Val Tournanche, and then rested upon the Graian Alps with their innumerable peaks, and upon the isolated pyramid of Monte Viso (12,643) in the extreme distance. Next, still turning to the right, came the mountains
- ↑ See the map of the valley of Zermatt, etc.; that of the Valpelline, etc.;and the general route map.
- ↑ On the authority of Canon Carrel.
glacialis, Armeria alpina, and Pyrethrum alpinum (on Monte Viso, from 10,000 to 10,500 feet); Thlaspi rotundifolium, and Saxifraga biflora (Monte Viso, about 9500 feet); and Campanula rotundifolia (?), Artemisia spicata (Wulf.), Aronicum Doronicum, and Petrocallis Pyrenaica (Col de Seylieres, 9247).
Mr. Packe obtained, on or close to the summit of the Pic de Mulhahacen, Sierra Nevada, of Granada (11,600 to 11,700 feet), Papaver alpinum (var. Pyrenaicum), Artemisia Nevadensis (used for giving the flavour to the Manzanilla sherry), Viola Nevadensis, Galium Pyrenaicum, Trisetum glaciale, Festuca Clementei, Saxifraga Groenlandica (var. Mista), Erigeron alpinum (var. glaciale) and Arenaria tetraquetra. On the Picacho de Veleta (11,440 feet), and on the Alcazaba (11,350), the same plants were obtained, with the exception of the first named. At a height of 11,150 feet on these mountains he also collected Ptilotrichum purpureum, Lepidium stylatum, and Biscutella saxatilis; and, at 10,000 feet, Alyssum spicatum and Sideritis scordiodes. Mr. Packe mentions the following plants as occurring at 9000 to 10,000 feet in the Pyrenees:—Cerastium latifolium, Draba Wahlenbergii, Hutchinsia alpina, Linaria alpina, Oxyria reniformis, Ranunculus glacialis, Saxifraga nervosa, S. oppositifolia, S. Groenlandica, Statice Armeria, Veronica alpina.
Information on the botany of the Val Tournanche is contained in the little pamphlet by the Canon G. Carrel, entitled La Vallée de Valtornenche en 1867; and a list of the plants which have hitherto been collected on the glacier-surrounded ridge (Furgen Grat) connecting the Matterhorn with the Col Theodule, will be found in Dollfus-Ausset's Matériaux pour l'étude des Glaciers, vol. viii. part first, 1868.
