At the top of this mountain is situated a plain termed San Nicolo, a stone terminus placed on which, by its inscription, informs the traveller that he is now quitting Italy, and entering Savoy. Then farewell Italy! we exclaimed;—but I shall leave to the reader’s imagination, the feelings with which we quitted this highly favoured country; nor shall I, for good reasons, attempt to depict the magnificent scene which is to be witnessed from this commanding elevation of six thousand feet above the level of the sea, over the beautiful plains of Piedmont in the distance, with the sublime Alpine features, which were extended around us, and beneath our feet; but in lieu of this, I shall beg leave to introduce the spirited description of Lord Byron, in his translation of Dante’s prophecy.
“Thou, Italy! so fair, that Paradise,
Revived in thee, blooms forth to man restored;
Ah! must the sons of Adam lose it twice?
Thou, Italy I whose ever-golden fields,
Plough’d by the sunbeams solely, would suffice
For the world’s granary; thou, whose sky heaven gilds
With brighter stars, and robes with deeper blue;
Thou, in whose pleasant places summer builds
Her palace, in whose cradle empire grew,