Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/661

Rh ALPS 623 or ethnological grounds. Accurate knowledge of the Alps is so recent that few attempts have been made to establish, a general division of the entire region, and it cannot be said that any one arrangement lias obtained such general recognition as not to be open to future modification ; but there is a pretty general agreement as to the main features of that here proposed,, to which a few general remarks must be premised. Whatever may have been the original cause of those disturbances of the earth s crust to which great mountain chains owe their existence, it is generally, though not universally, true that the higher masses (formed of rocks geologically more ancient) are found towards the central part, and that these are flanked by lower ranges, composed of more recent rocks, which surround the central groups very much as an outer line of entrenchment may be seen to surround a fort. In most cases it is not possible to descend continuously in a nearly direct line from the crest of a great mountain chain to the plains on either side, for there are usually intermediate valleys, running more or less parallel to the central range, which separate this from outer secondary ranges. These, in their turn, are often accompanied by external ranges, intermediate between them and the plains, and related to thorn as they are to the central ranges. The type of arrangement here described is more or less traceable throughout the greater part of the Alps, but is most distinctly exhibited in the eastern por tion lying between the Adige and the frontier of Hungary. We have a central range, composed mainly of crystalline rock ; a northern range, formed of secondary rocks, sepa rated from the first by the great valleys of the Inn, the Salza, and the Enns ; a southern range, somewhat similar to the last in geological structure, divided from the central one by the Rienz, or east branch of the Adige, and the Drave. Flanking the whole, as an external entrenchment on the north side, are the outer ranges of the Bavarian Alps, of the Salzkammergut, and of Upper Austria, to which correspond on the south side the Monti Lessini, near Verona, the mountains of Recoaro, those of the Sette Comuni, and the considerable masses crowned by the summits of the Grappa, the Col Vicentino, the Monte Cavallo, the Monte Matajur, and Monte Nanos. Where, as in the cases above mentioned, the secondary ranges of the Alps rise to a greater altitude, and are completely separated from the neighbouring portions of the central chain, it is impossible not to distinguish them as distinct groups ; but the outermost ranges, which rarely rise above the forest zone, are in all cases regarded as appendages of the adjoining groups. These outer ranges are called in German Voralpen, and in Italian Prealpi, and it is to be desired that equivalents should be introduced in other European languages. A complete catalogue of the peaks and passes of the Alps would exceed the limits of this article, but it seems desirable to append to each of the main groups in the following arrangement the names of the more conspicuous summits, with the height of each above the sea-level in English feet. No limit of absolute height has been fixed in selecting the peaks here enume rated, as the highest summits of the less lofty groups would appear insignificant in those whose average elevation is much greater. The more important passes are also enu merated, distinguishing those traversed (1) by carriage road, (2) by bridle-path, practicable for beasts of burden, and (3) by footpath ; and (4) snow passes, involving the necessity of crossing snow-fields or glacier MAIN DIVISIONS OF THE ALPS. 1. Maritime Alps. On examining a map of the region where the chain of the Alps approaches the shores of the Mediterranean, it will be seen that, about 50 miles N.N.W. of Nice, and about 20 S.S.W. of the Monte Viso, several valleys diverge in various directions, disposed, roughly speaking, like the rays of a fan. These are formed by a number of ridges which converge towards, although they do not actually meet at, the Mont Enchastraye or Cima del Quattro Vescovadi. On the west side one of these ridges divides the upper valley of the Ubaye from that of the Verdon, and sends oi;t a branch which sepa rates the latter from the Bl^one. A third ridge divides the Verdon from the Var, and a fourth separates this from its main affluent, the Tine&quot;a. As already mentioned, the range extending S.E. from Mont Enchastraye is regarded as the main chain of the Maritime Alps, and extends, with numerous diverging secondary ridges, in a curved line, gradually approaching nearer to the coast till it is merged in the chain of the Apennines. To fix the limit between the Alps and the Apennines in this direction is necessarily a somewhat arbitrary process, and different criteria may be applied with different results ; but it seems most natural to fix on the depression west of Savona known as the Col d Altare or Col di Cadibona, over which the road is carried which leads in one direction to Alessandria, and in the other to Mondovi. This is by far the lowest depres sion in the barrier dividing the Adriatic from the Mediter ranean, the summit being only 1G08 feet above the sea- level; and during the Miocene epoch it formed a strait connecting those seas. In modern times the project of utilising the same pass for the construction of a canal to connect the Po with the Gulf of Genoa is an illustration of its geographical significance. On the north side of the Mont Enchastraye, a comparatively low pass, Col de VArgcntiere, divides that mountain from the adjoining portion of the main chain. This might properly be regarded as the northern limit of the Maritime Alps, but ancient usage has included in that group the ranges that enclose the Val Maira, and separate it on one side from the Stura di Demonte, and on the other from the Vraita. Conform ing to that practice, we fix the northern limit of the Maritime Alps at the Col de Longet, S.E. of the peak of Monte Viso, connecting the head of Val Vraita in Fied- raont with the sources of the Ubayc in France. Chiff Peaks of the Maritime Alps. (The heights are given in English feet.) Monte Gale 5,649 Monte Fronte 7,198 Monte Bertrand 8,209 Rocca dell Abisso 9,193 Cima del Gelas 10,433 Rocca dell Argentera 10,617 Monte Matto 10,230 Mont Tinibras 10,223 Mont Enchastraye 9,747 Grand Rioburent 11,142 Aiguille de Chambeyron 11,155 Pointe Haute de Mary 10,537 Chief Passes of the Maritime Alps. Col di San Bernardo (Albenga to Garessio), carriage road &quot;301 Col di Nava (Oneglia to Ormca), carriage road 150 Col di Tenda (Tenda to Cuneo), carriage road til 58 Col delle Finestre (S. Martino to Entracque), footpath S189 Col delle Cerese (S. Martino to Valdieri), footpath 8412 Col di Frema Morta (Val Tinea to Valdieri), bridle-path 8839 Col della Lombarda (Val Tinea to Vinadio), footpath 7858 Col di Sta. Anna (same), footpath S009 Col do Pouriac (San Stefano to Bersesio), footpath &360 Col de 1 Argentiere (Val. of the Stura to Barcelonnette), bridle-path 6545 Col de Sautron (Val Maira to Barcelonnette), footpath aboiit 8000 Col de Lauzanier (Val Tinea to the Ubaye), footpath about 8300 2. Cottian Atys. In the well-known panorama pre sented to an observer who takes his stand on the Superga, or some other eminence near Turin, the most distant objects are the peaks of the Maritime Alps south of Cuneo and, exactly in the opposite direction, the great mass of Monte Rosa. In the western horizon, subtended by this chord, about 120 miles in length, the eye follows the irregular curve traced out by the main peaks of the western Alps, that separate upper Italy from France. More than any other part of the Alpine chain, this is characterised by extreme irregularity in the disposition of the mountain masses and the chief valleys. On the west side the pro