The
Swallows That Were Flying Among Them Cannot Have To Hunt Them, They
Need Only Fly With Their Mouths Wide Open And They Must Run Against
As Many As Will Be Good For Them.
I saw this incredibly
multitudinous swarm extending to a great height, and am satisfied
that it was no more than what is always present during the summer
months, though it is only visible in certain lights.
To these
minute creatures the space between the mountains on the two sides
of the Ticino valley must be as great as that between England and
America to a codfish. Many, doubtless, live in the mid-air, and
never touch the bottom or sides of the valley, except at birth and
death, if then. No doubt some atmospheric effects of haze on a
summer's afternoon are due to nothing but these insects. What,
again, do the smaller of them live upon? On germs, which to them
are comfortable mouthfuls, though to us invisible even with a
microscope?
I find nothing more in my notes about Giornico except that the
people are very handsome, and, as I thought, of a Roman type. The
place was a Roman military station, but it does not follow that the
soldiers were Romans; nevertheless, there is a strain of bullet-
headed blood in the place. Also I remember being told in 1869 that
two bears had been killed in the mountains above Giornico the
preceding year. At Giornico the vine begins to grow lustily, and
wine is made. The vines are trellised, and looking down upon them
one would think one could walk upon them as upon a solid surface,
so closely and luxuriantly do they grow.
From Giornico I began to turn my steps homeward in company with an
engineer who was also about to walk back to Faido, but we resolved
to take Chironico on our way, and kept therefore to the right bank
of the river. After about three or four kilometres from Giornico
we reached Chironico, which is well placed upon a filled-up lake
and envied as a paese ricco, but is not so captivating as some
others. Hence we ascended till at last we reached Gribbio (3960
ft.), a collection of chalets inhabited only for a short time in
the year, but a nice place in summer, rich in gentians and sulphur-
coloured anemones. From Gribbio there is a path to Dalpe, offering
no difficulty whatever and perfect in its way. On this occasion,
however, we went straight back to Faido by a rather shorter way
than the ordinary path, and this certainly was a little difficult,
or as my companion called it, "un tantino difficoltoso," in one or
two places; I at least did not quite like them.
Another day I went to Lavorgo, below Calonico, and thence up to
Anzonico. The church and churchyard at Anzonico are very good;
from Anzonico there is a path to Cavagnago - which is also full of
good bits for sketching - and Sobrio.
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