320 KANTTAL FOR NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 



Compare on the map the valleys V and the ridges R. The 

 bend of the contour round the head of the valley is much 

 sharper than the bend of the contour round the nose of the 

 ridge. This is a general truth, not only in regard to maps, 

 but also in regard to ground forms. Study any piece of open 

 ground and note how much wider are the ridges than the val- 

 leys. Where you find a " hog back " or " devil's backbone," 

 you have an exception to the rule, but the exceptions are not 

 frequent enough to worry over. 



To tell whether a given point is on a ridge or in a valley, 

 start from the nearest stream shown on the map and work 

 across the map to the undertermined point, keeping in mind 

 that in a real trip across the country you start from the 

 stream, go up the hill to the top of a ridge, 4own the other 

 side of the hill to a watercourse, then up a hill to the top of a 

 ridge, down again, up again, etc. That is all traveling is — 

 valley, hill, valley, hill, valley, etc., though you wander till 

 the crack o' doom. And so your map travels must go — valley, 

 hill, valley, hill — till you run off the map or come back to the 

 starting point. 



On the map, follow the R-V line, V indicating valley and R 

 ridge or hill. Note first the difference in sharpness in the 

 contour bends; also how the valley contours point to the 

 highland and the ridge contours to the lowland. 



The contours go thus : 



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The streams flow down the valleys, and the sharp angle of 

 the contour points always up stream. Note also how the junc- 

 tion of a stream and its tributary usually makes an angle 

 that points down stream. 



