At length we began to descend the north side of the mountain, and at the foot of it entered the town of Lanslebourg, where we had our regular breakfast. At this place our party were imposed upon by an old woman, who pretended to be a hundred and seven years of age, and which she professed to prove by a certificate of her grandmother’s baptism, which she passed off as her own; before we left, our landlady exposed the imposition, informing us, that she obtrudes this certificate upon all travellers who pass that way. The road, this afternoon, was hilly, narrow, and rough; we made, however, only a short stage, stopping to sleep at Modane. The inn at this place was full of Sardinian troops, on which account we took the precaution to have our baggage removed into our bed-rooms, for my friend C⸺ had the cord whipped from off his trunk before he could look around him. We found a peculiar difficulty in explaining our wishes to have this arrangement effected, to the female who waited upon us; my friend, who was a very superior linguist, essayed in vain to make her comprehend our intentions, until at length we discovered that she was both deaf and dumb; she possessed, however, extraordinary acuteness, and could be made to understand almost any thing by signs; she afterwards waited upon us well at supper, and in conveying our luggage to the coach on the following morning. We breakfasted the next day at St. Jean de Maurienne, a small town, with narrow streets, situated in the middle of the Alps. On our way from hence to Aigue Bella, where we rested for the night, we passed an unfinished fort, which his Sardinian majesty is by treaty compelled to erect at this spot. Wednesday the 18th was a fine warm day. We breakfasted at Montmelian, famous for its wines, both white and red, and particularly the latter. Since descending Mount Cenis, the roads have been very indifferent, but the country highly romantic; to-day we passed a number of waterfalls, and repeatedly crossed the river R⸺; at half after one we arrived at Chambery, the capital of Savoy, where we dined, and staid all night. This town is delightfully situated, and has many pleasant walks about it; the streets are, however, narrow, and the pavements bad. We were informed that it abounded with the necessaries of life, which were to be purchased at a reasonable rate. The whole of our journey from Mount Cenis had impressed us with the feeling of being in France, as we heard nothing but that language, and the patois of the country. Our companions from Turin all quitted us at Chambery; but in the morning we took up two young gentlemen from Lyons, who were going to the baths of Aix; one of them, however, when we had proceeded five miles, found out that he had left his portmanteau behind him at Chambery, and returned to look after it.