A. V. Jennings — The Landicasser and Landquart^- 263 



itself, to the removal of the barrier ridge, and cannot therefore 

 be regarded as the cause of that removal. There were doubtless 

 small streams at work on the east side of the ridge (as suggested by 

 the dotted lines in Fig, 1), but it is difficult to understand how there 

 could have been any river describable as the former ' Landquart ' 

 engaged in its destruction. 



The conditions which then existed may be paralleled at the 

 present day by the source of the Plessur, a short distance to the 

 south. This river is an important one in the Schanfigg valley 

 after the lateral influx of the Fondeier and the Arosa-wasser : 

 its upper waters are insignificant, and. originate in a rivulet 

 between the Weissfluh and the Schiahorn. The limestone ridge of 

 the Schiahorn and Kupfenfluh here occupies just the same position 

 in relation to the Davos and Plessur valleys that the ancient ridge 

 at Klosters did to the Landwasser and Pratigau. Between the two 

 mountains the ridge is lowered where it is traversed by the Strela 

 Pass, but there is practically no running water at work on the 

 western face at this point, and no evidence of denudation except 

 that of atmospheric agents and the cutting of the Schiabach on the 

 east. Sir John Lubbock,^ it is true, suggests that " It is possible 

 that in the distant future the Landwasser may be still further 

 robbed of its territory. The waters of the Davos Lake, the Fluela, 

 the Dischma, and the Kuhalpthal now take a very circuitous route 

 to Chur, and it is not impossible that they may be captured and 

 carried off by the Plessur." 



Such a change may appear conceivable when considered only with 

 the aid of sketch-maps, but I venture to think that anyone who 

 carefully observes the contours or studies the locality in person, 

 will find it very difficult to imagine its possibility. At its lowest 

 the limestone ridge is 2,000 feet above the Landwasser at Davos, 

 and, as pointed out above, is suffering no specially rapid denudation. 

 On the other hand, the Landwasser is a considerable current which 

 under normal conditions would be constantly lowering its level and 

 so relatively adding to the height of the divide between it and the 

 Plessur basin. It seems to me that a similar condition of things 

 would have existed in the Klosters neighbourhood according to. 

 Professor Heim's theory. 



It may be argued that some geological peculiarity of the district 

 may have contributed to a rapid destruction of the ridge. It is 

 true that the neighbourhood is one of complex structure — of the 

 rapid thinning of some strata, and of folds and faults, torsion and 

 overthrust. The hypothetical ancient ' Landwasser,' however, seems 

 to have followed its own course independent of the disturbed 

 strike of the strata and uninfluenced by the variety of rocks 

 through which it cut, and we have no reason for supposing any 

 special conditions that would have assisted its rival. Had there 

 been any important line of weakness running east and west, the 

 northrand-south course of the Landwasser would scarcely have 

 been in the first instance established. 



1 " Scenery of Switzerland," p. 192. 



