 CROSSING MONT CENIS (1861). |
CHAPTER III.
THE MONT CENIS—THE FELL RAILWAY—THE GREAT TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS.
Guide-books say that the pass of the Mont Cenis[1] is dull. It is long, certainly, but it has a fair proportion of picturesque points, and it is not easy to see how it can be dull to those who have eyes. In the days when it was a rude mountain-track, crossed by trains of mules, and when it was better known to smugglers than to tourists, it may have been dull; but when Napoleon's road changed the rough path into one of the finest highways in Europe, mounting in grand curves and by uniform grades, and rendered the trot possible throughout its entire distance, the Mont Cenis became one of the most interesting passes in the Alps. The diligence service which was established was excellent, and there was little or nothing
- ↑ See the general map.
