Again I said how sorry I was, and added that perhaps
she ought to show it to a medical man. "But aren't you a medical
man?" said she in an alarmed manner. "Certainly not," replied I.
"Then why did you let me show you my leg?" said she indignantly,
and pulling her clothes down, the poor old woman began to hobble
off; presently two others joined her, and I heard hearty peals of
laughter as she recounted her story. A stranger visiting these
out-of-the-way villages is almost certain to be mistaken for a
doctor. What business, they say to themselves, can any one else
have there, and who in his senses would dream of visiting them for
pleasure? This old lady had rushed to the usual conclusion, and
had been trying to get a little advice gratis.
Above Dalpe there is a path through the upper valley of the
Piumogna, which leads to the glacier whence the river comes. The
highest peak above this upper valley just turns the 10,000 feet,
but I was never able to find out that it has a name, nor is there a
name marked in the Ordnance map of the Canton Ticino. The valley
promises well, but I have not been to its head, where at about 7400
feet there is a small lake. Great quantities of crystals are found
in the mountains above Dalpe. Some people make a living by
collecting these from the higher parts of the ranges where none but
born mountaineers and chamois can venture; many, again, emigrate to
Paris, London, America, or elsewhere, and return either for a month
or two, or sometimes for a permanency, having become rich.
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