10 AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY. 



roads. Geologically the two ranges which ramify from the Ankogel (10,670 feet), 

 and enclose between them the valley of the Mur, are composed of the same 

 crystalline rocks as the Alpine masses to the west of them, but, owing to 

 their inferior height, the asj^ects they present are very different. The northern 

 of these two ranges, though the more elevated of the two, has no glaciers ; the 

 passes which lead across them do not take us beyond the region of forests ; and, 

 instead of inaccessible escarpments, we meet with charming valleys, woods, and 

 verdant pastures. Only in spring, when the snows melt, need avalanches be dreaded. 

 The southern range, which separates the valley of the Mur from that of the Drave, 

 is known as the Styrian Alps, but its height is even less than that of the northern. 

 To the north of Gratz, the river Mur, on its way to the Drave, has forced itself a 

 passage transversely through this range, which farther east gradually swerves 

 round to the northward. The Pass of Semmering, famous because of the railway 

 which now runs through it, has a height of 3,251 feet ; but beyond, between the 

 Leitha and the Lake of Neusiedl, the mountains gradually subside, and finally 

 die away in the plain of Hungary. With the humble range of hills seen to the 

 south of Presburg the Central Alps terminate. The Danube now separates them 

 from the Little Carpathians, on the northern bank of the river, but a geological 

 examination of the ground proves conclusively that at some former epoch Alps 

 and Carpathians formed a continuous range of mountains. 



The calcareous Alps occupy a far larger area than the central chain, and some 

 of their mountain masses do not yield in boldness of contour or beauty to those of 

 the Oetzthal or the Tauern. The Orteler itself belongs to the southern calcareous 

 Alps ; and all the summits to the east of it, from the Adige to the Drave, pierce 

 the snow-line, and are partly covered with glaciers. These Alps vary much in aspect, 

 for some are formed of porphyry, others of schists or limestone ; but the most 

 striking features are presented by the dolomitic mountains, with their precipitous 

 walls, jagged summits wreathed with clouds, and huge fissures filled with snow, 

 whose whiteness contrasts strangely with the sombre forests at- their foot. When 

 lighted up by the rising or setting sun they shine as if they reflected a vast confla- 

 gration. The mountains of Yal Fassa, to the north-east of Trent, are remarkable, 

 moreover, on. account of their complicated geological structure. Leopold von 

 Buch refers to them as a " Holy Land, to which all geologists ought to make a 

 pilgrimage, as the Mohammedans do to Mecca." The principal summits of these 

 mountains, the Marmolata (11,468 feet), the Marmarola (11,045 feet), and others 

 rise upon Italian soil. The}^ form the linguistic boundary between Germans and 

 Italians, and have yielded a retreat to the I^adins, and hence the geographical 

 nomenclature of the country is rather puzzling. Farther east the confusion is 

 even worse, for between Carinthia and Carniola we meet with Slav names in 

 addition to German and Italian ones. The mountain which is popularly, but 

 erroneously, supposed to mark the boundary between the three races, is the Terglou 

 (Triglav, Tricorne, or " three-horned mountain," 9,297 feet). Three is a number 

 equally attractive to the gods as to man ; and the natives of the country are fond 

 of stating that three rivers rise upon this mountain, of which one joins the Isonzo 



