Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/317

 B. iv. c. vi. o, 6. THE ALPS. 303 5. After the Vocontii, are the Iconii, the Tricorii, and the Medulli ; .who inhabit the loftiesFridges of the mountains, foTlhey say that some of them have on almost perpendicular ascent of 100 stadia, and a similar descent to the frontiers of Italy. In these high-lands there is a grat_lake; there are also two springs not far distant from each other ; one of these gives rise to the Durance, which flows like a torrent into the Rhone, and to the Durias, 1 which flows in an opposite direction ; for it mingles with the, Fo after having pursued its course through the country of the Sa- lassi 2 into Cisalpine Keltica. From the other source, but much lower down, rises the __{L_itgelf, large and rapid, which as it advances becomes still vaster, and at the same time more gentle. As it reaches the plains it increases in breadth, being augmented by numerous [other rivers], and thus it becomes less impetuous in its course, and its current is weakened. Haying become the largest river in Europe. with the exception ot 'the i)anube,^it discharges itself into the Adriatic Sea. The Medullilire situated considerably above the confluence of the Isere and the Rhone. 6. On the opposite_side of the mountains, sloping towards JItaly, dwell the Jaurini, 4 a Liguriah nation, together with certain other Ligurians. What is called the land of Ideon- nus 5 and Cottius belongs to these Ligurians. Beyond them and the Po are the Salassi ; above whom in the summits [of the Alps] are the Kentrones, the Catoriges, the Veragri, the Nantuatse, 6 Lake Leman, 7 traversed by the Rhone, and the 1 There are two rivers of this name which descend from the Alps and discharge themselves into the Po. The Durias which rises near the Durance is the Durias minor of the ancients, and the Doria Riparia of the moderns ; this river falls into the Po at Turin. 2 Gosselin observes : The Salassi occupied the country about Aouste, or Aoste. The name of this city is a corruption of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum, which it received in the time of Augustus. The Durias which passes by Aouste is the Durias major, the modern Doria Baltea. Its sources are between the Great Saint Bernard and Mont Blanc. 3 The Ister of the classics. 4 Augusta Taurinorum, hodie Turin, was the capital of these people. 5 Various conjectures have been hazarded concerning this name, of which there appears to be no other mention. 6 The Kentrones occupied la Tarentaise ; the Catoriges, the territories of Chorges and Embrun ; the Veragri, a part of the Valais south of the Rhone ; and the Nantuatse, Le Chablais. 7 The Lake of Geneva.