We walked in the direction of this valley, descending gradually from the door of the convent, some thirty feet to the level of the lake.  This we skirted by the regular path, rock smoothed by the hoof of horse and foot of man, until we came near the last curve of the oval formation.  Here was the site of a temple erected by the Romans in honour of Jupiter of the Snows, this passage of the Alps having been frequented from the most remote antiquity.  We looked at the spot with blind reverence, for the remains might pass for these of a salad-bed of the monks, of which there was one enshrined among the rocks hard by, and which was about as large, and, I fancy, about as productive, as those that are sometimes seen on the quarter-galleries of ships.  At this point we entered Italy!

Passing from the frontier, we still followed the margin of the lake, until we reached a spot where its waters trickled, by a low passage, southward.  The path took the same direction, pierced the barrier of low rocks, and came out on the verge of the southern declivity, which was still more precipitous than that on the other side.  For a short distance the path ran en corniche along the margin of the descent, until it reached the remotest point of what might be called the col, whose southern edge is irregular, and then it plunged, by the most practicable descent which could be found, towards its Italian destination.  When at this precise point our distance from the convent may have been half a mile, which, of course, is the breadth of the col.  We could see more than half a league down the brown gulf below, but no sign of vegetation was visible.  Above, around, beneath, wherever the eye rested—­the void of the heavens, the distant peaks of snow, the lake, the convent and its accessories excepted—­was dark, frowning rock, of the colour of iron rust.  As all the buildings, even to the roofs, were composed of this material, they produced little to relieve the dreary monotony.

The view from the col is in admirable keeping with its desolation.  One is cut off completely from the lower world, and, beyond its own immediate scene, nothing is visible but the impending arch of heaven, and heaving mountain tops.  The water did little to change this character of general and savage desolation, for it has the chill and wintry air of all the little mountain reservoirs that are so common in the Alps.  If anything, it rather added to the intensity of the feeling to which the other parts of the scenery gave rise.

Returning from our walk, the convent and its long existence, the nature of the institution, its present situation, and all that poetical feeling could do for both, were permitted to resume their influence; but, alas! the monks were common-place, their movements and utterance wanted the calm dignity of age and chastened habits, the building had too much of the machinery, smell, and smoke of the kitchen; and, altogether, we thought that the celebrated convent of St. Bernard was more picturesque on paper than in fact.  Even the buildings were utterly tasteless, resembling a barnish-looking manufactory, and would be quite abominable, but for the delightfully dreary appearance of their material.