MOUNTAIN PEOPLES 



433 



Maine on the heights of Mt. Katahdin ; the deer which 

 once roamed widely over New York State now are re- 

 stricted to the Adiron- , 



dack Mountains. In 

 these mountainous re- 

 treats pursuit is diffi- 

 cult, and they can per- 

 sist for a long time after 

 being exterminated else- 

 where. 



Some animals, such as 



the Chamois of the Alps ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 



and the mountain goat 



of the Rockies, are particularly adapted to mountain life 



and find a congenial habitat nowhere else. 



207. Mountain Peoples. Mountains offer a retreat to 

 persecuted people as well as to animals. Here are often 

 found the races which once inhabited the surrounding 

 plains, but which have been driven from them by conquer- 

 ors. The people of Wales and the Scotch highlanders 

 are probably descendants from more ancient inhabitants 

 of the island than those in control to-day. The Pyrenees, 

 the Caucasus and the Himalaya Mountains each contain 

 tribes which were driven from the lower plains, but have 

 been able in these retreats to withstand invaders who 

 were too powerful for them in their former homes. 



Flocks and herds frequently make up the greatest 

 wealth of mountain peoples. Indeed in these regions it is 

 common to reckon a man's wealth by the number of cows 

 he can keep. In summer the cattle are driven to the 

 higher slopes- of the mountains, called alps in Switzerland 

 and saeters in Norway. In winter they are brought down 

 to the valleys, where the little villages are, and where 

 every available foot of land has been utilized to produce 



