Leaving Geneva the road skirts the northern shore of the beautiful and extensive lake of that name, passing through the picturesque town of Lausanne. At the head of the lake lies the village of Vevay. Here I met with two Irish gentlemen of most agreeable manners, and highly intelligent; and their plans being very similar to my own, we agreed to travel together. It may be here remarked, that not until the end of two months afterwards was it discovered, from a casual observation, that all three had been school-fellows. Proceeding up the valley of the Rhone the celebrated Pass of the Simplon across the Alps, between Switzerland and Italy, is reached. After his great campaign in Italy, Napoleon I. ordered this fine road to be made. The gradients are so easy that a carriage may be trotted up nearly to the summit—above 8,000 feet over the sea level—passing through a few short tunnels, where rocky spurs of the mountain intervene. Here a monastery is situated, where the noble dogs are trained to search for lost travellers in the snow. No description is capable of conveying to the mind the magnificent scenery of the Alps, which is ever varying. At one point the road passes close to a perpendicular cleft in the mountain, said to be 1,000 feet deep, and only forty or fifty yards wide at the top. A rushing torrent can be heard from the bottom, but in total darkness. After crossing the Simplon the first Italian town is Duomo Dossola; after which the road passes along the shore of Lake Maggiore—the scenery still being beautiful. The small island of Isola Bella is situated in this lake, and is quite unique. On its summit stands a palazzo, of Italian architecture, surrounded by three broad terraces, below each other, down to the water’s edge, and planted in a most tasteful and ornamental manner. Under the palace there is an extensive natural cave, in which is a spring of running water. This cave is formed into a grotto, embellished with coral and shell work, and must be a delightful retreat during the heat of summer. On the shore opposite Isola Bella is situated the colossal bronze statue of Prince Carlo Borromeo, a Bishop or Cardinal. The pedestal is thirty-six feet high, and the statue seventy-two feet, in all 108 feet. The figure appears in Roman costume, with a Bible in the left hand. The interior is ascended by ladders, and it is said that eight persons could sit within the head. This statue was erected by the inhabitants of Milan in gratitude for the devoted labours of the Prince during the great plague which visited that city three or four centuries back.