352 ON MOUNTAINS AND MANKIND. 



Gries were practically deserted for commercial purposes when Napo- 

 leon opened the Simplon. The roads ov^er the flulier and Maloya 

 ruined the Septimer. Another hint to those engaged in tracing 

 ancient lines of comnnmication. In i)riniitive times, in the Caucasus 

 to-day. the tendency of ])aths is to follow 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 tiuiber line. 

 Tlie 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 !),()()() feet, closed for eight months in the A^ear to animals. 



From the military point of view, mountains are now receiving 

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

 Swiss, the Austrians have extensive Alpine maneuvers every sum- 

 mer, in which men, nudes, 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 l)i-()ught to light. 

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

 iroo])s 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 exjjerience. 



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

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

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

 young, it was dangerous to hint at any defects in our ordnance 

 sheets, for survej^ors in this country are a somewhat sensitive class. 

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

 hints, and even hel]) from unofficial quarters. Since the great sur- 

 veys of Eur<)j)e were executed, knowledge has increased, so that every 

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

 jjoints that concern us there Avas great room for imjjrovement — the 

 delineation of the ui)i)ei- region as a whole, the definition of snow 

 and glaciers in ])aiticu]ar, and the selection of local names. In the 

 two formei' the fed(M:il stall at BeiMi has provided us with an incom- 

 ])ai'al)l(' model. The niimher of local names k'liown to each peasant 

 is small, his pi'onunciation is often obscure, and each valley is apt 

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

 skyline. Set a stranger, sj)eaking anothei* tongue than the local 

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

 factoi'v. It has often proved so. The Zardezan is an odd tran- 

 scription of the Gias del Cian of patois, the (iite du Champ in 

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

 would ha\(' used for the (ii'anta Paivi, the great screen of rock and 

 ice of the highest mountain in Italv. The Pointe de Rosablanchc 



