26 2 
SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 
give therefore what has been happily called by Leslie 
Stephen a desk-like form (Fig. 84), presenting broad, 
gently inclining plateaux, ending suddenly in a steep, 
almost perpendicular, precipice, which towers like a 
wall over the valley, such as the Diablerets, Wild- 
strubel, Gadmerfluh, Claridenstock, Todi, Vorab, 
Balmhorn, Doldenhorn, Bltimlisalp, etc. 
In such districts still further denudation gives 
rise to ridges terminating in towers and teeth, some- 
times of terrific wildness, as in the Engelhorner, or 
in the chain of the Gspaltenhorn. The calcareous 
Alps are also characterised by the numerous terraces, 
bands, pillars, and cornices. The precipices, as for 
instance on the Jungfrau and the great Wall of the 
Bernese Oberland, sometimes reach 2000 metres. 
We might at first be disposed to anticipate that 
from their hardness and toughness the Crystalline 
rocks would be less liable to denudation than the 
calcareous. And in a sense this is true. In con- 
sequence however of these very qualities the drainage 
in Crystalline districts is mainly superficial, while in 
calcareous regions much of the rainfall sinks into the 
ground and is carried off by subterranean passages. 
In our own country we know that the chalk uplands, 
though cut into along the margins by deep combes, 
are seldom intersected by valleys, and almost all 
