BRIEFER MENTION

Komm mit mir ins Wallis, by Walter Schmid. 4to., 248 pp., 112 illustrations from photographs by the author. Bern, 1947: Verlag Hallwag. Price, 12 frs. (Swiss).

This book, deservedly in its third edition, has only recently become available in this country. It is the finest publication dealing with the Rhone Valley and its lateral tributaries between its glacial source and the Lake of Geneva. The text treats of the land and its people, the fruitful earth and the struggle for water. The higher levels are given due attention: Zermatt, Saas Fee, the Aletsch Glacier, Zinal, Evolena and Arolla. Pedestrian routes mentioned include the Gemmi, the Bella Tola, glacial throughfares from Saas Fee to Zermatt; ascents of Monte Rosa and Matterhorn are described. Historical chapters cover the thirteenth-century emigration from the Valais, the fate which eventually brought all districts under single jurisdiction, and finally the story of the Napoleonic regime. But one would want this book for the pictures alone, for as a collection they yield to no other in depicting the fascination of this splendid country.