FRANCE High Alps Pallons !! BARTLETT Steel Engraving

Palons (Pallon)
Val Fressiniere, Hautes Alpes
Artist: Bartlett, Engraver: Wallis
Published by James S. Virtue Co., London
 

100+ years old art print ... in excellent condition ... reverse side is blank !

Size: Size of the image: 4 1/2 x 6 1/2, print size: 8 x 10 1/2 inches.
Condition: Excellent condition. Printed on heavier paper.
 

From the original description:
... and extends from the base of Monte Viso on the south, to Mont Dauphin on the north. It comprises the whole course of the river Guil, with the lateral glens which follow the course of the mountain torrents, and forms the eastern quarter of the section of Arvieux. The western quarter of the section consists of the Valley of Freissinieres, and its hamlets, Chancellas, Pallon, Violins, Minsas, and Dormeilleuse, or Dormilhouse, which occupy the banks of the Biaise, a tributary torrent of the Durance, and of the commune of Champsaur, separated from Freissinieres by a mountain and glacier.  But, between the valleys of Piedmont, already described, and those of Queyras and Freissinieres, there is this difference; the former, says Dr. Gilly, are for the most part smiling with verdure and foliage, the latter are dark and sterile. In each, alp rises above alp; and piles of rock, appalling in aspect, block up many of the defiles, and forbid any further advance to the boldest adventurer. The Piedmontese Valleys, on the other hand, form a garden, with deserts, as it were,  in view: some of  them, indeed, are barren and repulsive, but these are exceptions.  On the contrary, in the alpine retreats of the French Protestants, fertility is the exception, and barrenness the common aspect.   There, the tottering cliffs, the sombre and frowning rocks, which, from their fatiguing continuity, look like a mournful veil which is never to be raised; and the tremendous abysses, and the comfortless cottages, and the ever-present dangers from avalanches, and thick mists, and clouds—proclaim that this is a land which man never would have chosen, even for his hiding-place, unless from the direst necessity.

After passing through LA ROCHE, and crossing the Durance by a long timber bridge, the ascent to the Val-Freissinieres begins.  A steep acclivity rises so abruptly from the river, that, at first sight, there is no appearance of any practicable mode of advancing; but the eye presently discerns a shepherd's path, which creeps up the mountain in an oblique direction.  This leads over some rugged ground to a defile, through which a rocky torrent rushes with the noise of thunder.  On each side of these wild waters, which roar and fling their spray about in clouds, there are groups of cottages, and an alpine bridge, with a cascade above it.  These, with the back-ground of rocks, form as complete a picture of mountain life as the imagination can require.  This is Pallon—the village to be noticed hereafter—and the torrent called the Rimasse (Biaisse) is the guide to the valley.   The next village, at the distance of a league, is Freissinieres; and about another league farther up is Violins; two miles farther is Minsas; and then comes the toilsome, rough, and clambering route of three miles to Dormilhouse.   Between the two villages first named, " there is a lovely fertile vale,  enclosed on each side by steep mountains, and producing several kinds of grain and fruit-trees.  But this cheerful prospect soon changes. After passing through Minsas, the face of the country is perfectly savage and appalling.   Blocks of stone, detached from the overhanging recks, strew the ground, and threaten to impede all further progress.  The signs of productiveness are fewer and fewer.  Here and there some thin patches of rye, or oats, bespeak the poor resources of the inhabitants who have been driven up into this desert; and the occasional track of the wolf, and the heavy flap of the vulture's wing overhead, tell who are its proper natives." The Valley of Freissinieres begins at the col of the same name, and Joins the Valley of the Durance at a considerable elevation above the ancient town of Rama, already mentioned.  While the latter town existed, the Durance washed the base of the mountains opposite, as various circumstances still serve to prove. The valley consists of a sandy clay mixed with calcareous substance; a combination which, in some parts, favours the ordinary productions of an alpine climate.  It begins in a plain, continues for some time a gradual declivity, and then rapidly descends.  The chief village is Freissinieres, a place anciently frequented by the Saracens, and near which gold has been found.

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