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ALPINE PEAKS AND VALLEYS (FROM 
TYROL TO DAUPHINE). 
(Illustrated by the Lantern.) 
By Mr. J. WALTER ROBSON. November 23rd, 1909. 
The chain of The Alps — well called the “ Playground of 
Europe ” — comprises nearly 800 miles of peaks, passes, and 
glaciers, stretching from the Austrian Tyrol in the east, to 
the Dauphinc and Maritime Alps on the French shores of 
the Mediterranean. A lifetime of wandering will not exhaust 
nor can familiarity stale their charms ; for, added to the 
changes wrought by the seasons, the wanderer will find 
among them a wealth of enchanting scenery and an almost 
infinite variety of form and beauty. 
The dwellers in the recessses of the mountains differ widely ; 
the hardy and musical Tyrolese, the stolid German-Swiss, 
the romantic Italians, and the industrious French have all 
their patois-speaking countrymen in the upland valleys. 
The physical features of the country, and more especially 
the mountains themselves, vary in each district. The rock 
turrets and ice fortresses of the Dolomites merge into the 
glittering snow-clad domes of the Swiss Alps, which in turn 
give place to the cathedral spires of the Chamonix Aiguilles, 
and farther south to the rolling purple and less savage grandeur 
of the Graian and Cottian Alps. 
Zinal, in the Val d’Anniviers, about 17 miles from Sierre 
in the Rhone Valley, is a favourite starting point for the 
ascent of the Zinal Rothhorn, also for the Grand Cornier. 
Gabelhorn and Morning Pass. From the summit of the 
Rothhorn, to reach which presents innumerable difficulties 
to the climber, a view is obtained of the magnificent mass 
of the Dent Blanche like an immense perpendicular wall, 
the Matterhorn standing alone in grandeur, the Weisshorn 
and multitudes of other glistening and towering peaks 
stretching away to a distance on all sides of 60 or 70 miles 
in uninterrupted array. 
