352 ON MOUNTAINS AND MANKIND. 



Gries were practically deserted for (H)mniercial i)urposes when Napo- 

 leon opened the Simplon. The roads over the Julier and Maloya 

 ruined the Septimer. Anotlier hint to those engaged in tracing 

 ancient lines of communication. In primitive times, in the Caucasus 

 to-day. the tendency of paths is to folloAv ridges not valleys. The mo- 

 tives are on the spot obvious — to avoid torrents, swamps, ravines, 

 earth falls, and to get out of the thickets and above the timber line. 

 The most striking example is the entrance to the great basin of Sua- 

 netia, which runs not up its river, the Ingur, but over a ridge of 

 nearly 9,000 feet, closed for eight months in the year to animals. 



From the military point of view, mountains are now receiving 

 great attention in Central Europe. Tlie French, the Italians, the 

 Swiss, the Austrians have extensive Alpine maneuvers every sum- 

 mer, in which men, mules, and light artillery are conveyed or car- 

 ried over rocks and snow. Officers are taught to use maps on the 

 spot, the defects in the official surveys being thus brought to light. 

 It is not likely, perhaps, except on the Indian frontier, that British 

 troops will have to fight among high snowy ranges. But I feel sure 

 that any intelligent officer who is allowed to attend such maneuvers 

 might pick up valuable hints as to the best equipment for use in 

 steep places. Probably the Japanese have already sent such an 

 envoy and profited by his experience. 



A word as to maps, in which I have taken great interest, may be 

 allowed me. The ordnance maps of Europe have been made by 

 soldiers, or under the supervision of soldiers. At home, when I was 

 3^oung, it was dangerous to hint at any defects in our ordnance 

 sheets, for surveyors in this country are a somewhat sensitive class. 

 Times have altered, and they are no longer averse from receiving 

 hints, and even help from unofficial quarters. Since the great sur- 

 veys of Europe were executed, knowledge has increased, so that every 

 country has had to revise or to do over again its surveys. In three 

 ])oints that (•oncern us there was great room for improvement — the 

 delineation of the upper region as a whole, llu> definition of snow 

 and glaciers in particular, and the selection of local names. In the 

 two former the federal staff at Bern has provided us with an incom- 

 parable model. The nnniber of local names known to each peasant 

 is small, his pronunciation is often obscure, and each valley is ai)t 

 to have its own set of names for the ridges and gaps that form its 

 skyline. Set a stranger, speaking another tongue than the local 

 patois, to question a herdsman, and the result is likely to be unsatis- 

 factory. It has often proved so. The Zardezan is an odd tran- 

 scription of the Cias del Cian of i)atois, the Gtte du Champ in 

 French. The Grand Paradis is llie last term an Aostan peasant 

 would have used foi' the (Jrauta Parci. the great screen of rock and 

 ice of the highest mountain in Italy. The Pointe de Rosablanche 



