ALPS. On taking a general view of the continent of Europe, we can distinguish two great mountain masses, from which proceed the various chains of mountain groups that characterize it. The first of these is the mountain mass of St Gothard, in Switzerland, between the sources of the Rhine, the Rhone, the Etch, and the Aar: the second is the Wolchonshy-wald, in Russia, between the Wolga and the sources of the Don, Dnieper, and Dwina.

The mountains connected with St Gothard are the Alps, which in their full extent reach from long. 4° 20 ’ to 19° E. from Paris, and from lat. 44° to 47° N. The central point of the Alps is in Switzerland, the numerous branches of it extending through Savoy, France, Italy, Germany, Croatia, and Sclavonia. They are bounded on the south-west by the Rhone, in southern France; on the north-east by the Danube, in Hungary; on the south and south-east by the Mediterranean Şea, and the rivers Kulpa and Sau; on the north and north-west by the Danube, in Germany; by the Rhine on the northern boundary of Switzerland; and by the Doubs on the Jura. Hence it appears that this great high land passes through France, Savoy, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Croatia, and Sclavonia. The southern part of the chain in Croatia, in long. 35°, does not reach its extremity, but continues onwards to the left bank of the Sau and Danube, fully ten degrees of longitude farther.

In the Celtic language, the word alb, alp according to some authors, signifies white. As the highest peaks of this Alpine land are perpetually covered with snow, they were by the ancient inhabitants named Alps; by the Greeks Αλτε/¢, who, however, knew only the Maritime Alps; by the Romans Alpes, and by modern writers Alps.^[1. Some authors derive Alp from αZδ, a verdant height. ]

The Romans, although they knew well that the Gauls under Bellovesus (620 years before Christ) made an irruption into Upper Italy across the Alps, were entirely ignorant of the route he followed. It was not until Hannibal had crossed the Alps (300 years after Bello-vesus) that the Romans thought of examining this grand barrier. Polybius described the Alpine country traversed by the military host under Hannibal, fifty years after that remarkable event; and Cincius Alimentus heard Hannibal himself detail his passage of the Alps. Livy, and other writers, both Latin and Greek, also speak of the Alps. Fifty-two years after Hannibal’s irruption into Italy (in the year of Rome 587, before Christ 178), the Romans, under the consuls Claudius and Marcellus, conquered the Cisalpine Gauls, who inhabited the country between the Po and the Alps; and seven years afterwards, under Fulvius Nobilis, they for the first time crossed the Alps to Nice and Antibes, in order to aid the Marsilians against the Ligurians. For one hundred and fifty years from this period, the Romans frequently traversed this chain, partly with the view of subjugating the various tribes inhabiting it, and partly in extending their conquests into Spain, Gaul, and Germany. After the death of Caesar, the whole Alpine population threw off the Roman yoke. The emperor Augustus sent against them (in the year of Rome 747, before Christ 18) his legions, under Drusus, Tiberius, Terentius Varro, and Lucius Silus. This long-continued warfare terminated in the conquest of forty-six Alpine tribes or nations, whose names were inscribed on the celebrated triumphal arch of Augustus, erected near Nice. From this period until the fifth century after Christ, the Romans continued in complete possession of the north and south sides of the Alps.

During the long domination of the Romans, the Alps received the following names, which are still retained by geographers, viz. Maritime, Cottian, Grecian, Pennine, Leopontine, Rhaetian, Noric, Carnic, Julian, and Dinarian.

DIVISIONS OF THE ALPS.

1. Maritime Alps (Alpes Maritimae).—These extend from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, between Oneglia' and Toulon, across the Cols Ardente and Tende, to Mont Viso (Vesulus), separating Piedmont from Provence and the Mediterranean Sea.

2. Cottian Alps (Alpes Cottiae) extend from Mont Viso by Mont Genevre to Mont Cenis, a distance of twenty-five leagues, thus separating Piedmont from Dau-phiny. It is in this range that we first meet with heights analogous to those of the central chains of the Alps. The Po and the Durance rivers have their sources here. The name is derived from Cottius, who, in the time of Caesar and Augustus, had his chief place of residence at Seguvium, the present Susa, and ruled as king or chief of this part of the Alps.

3. Grecian or Grey Alps (Alpes Graiae) extend from Mont Cenis, across the Ieran and the Little St Bernard, to the Col de Bonhomme, separating Piedmont from Savoy. They were named Grey Alps from their grey colour, owing to the partial cover of snow. The Little St Bernard is considered as the Alpis Graia of the ancients.

4. Pennine Alps (Alpes Penninae), also named by Caesar Alpes Summae, extend from the Bonhomme across Mont Blanc, the Great St Bernard, Combon, onwards to Mont Cervin and Mont Rosa, separating Piedmont from Savoy and the Lower Vallais. The Celts named every high mountain a Penn; hence the loftiest summits and the most exalted of their deities were named Penn. In the time of the Romans, in one of the valleys, a temple was built, and a statue erected in it, to one of their gods, named Penn, by the Romans Deus Penninus, and afterwards Jupiter Penninus. Hence these Alps were named Alpes Penninae. In this part of the great Alpine range there occur Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe, and Mont Rosa, the next in elevation to that monarch of European mountains.

5. Leopontine Alps, also named Alps of Switzerland, or Aulae. They extend from Mont Rosa on both sides of the Rhone, or valley of the Vallais, across St Gothard, the Moschelhorn, and Bernardino in the Grisons, thus separating Lombardy from Switzerland. The distance from St Gothard to Bernardino is 15 leagues. They were named Leopontine after a people, the Leopontii, who formerly inhabited the confines of Rhaetia, Helvetia, and Italy.
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6. Rh(etiun Alps (Alpes Rhaeticae) extend from Bernardino through the whole of the Grisons and the Tyrol, to the Dreiherrn peak, on the borders of Saltzburg and Carinthia, and more southerly to Mont Pelegrino; thus separating Lombardy and a great part of the Venetian terra firma from Northern Rhaetia and Germany.

7. Noric Alps (Alpes Noricae) extend from the Dreiherrn peak through the whole of Carinthia, on the left bank of the Drau, through Saltzburg, Austria, and Styria, to the Oedenburg plain in Hungary. They have their name from the Roman town Noricum.

8. Comic Alps (Alpes Carniae) extend from Pelegrino, between the rivers Drau and Śau, to Terglou, at the source of the Sau.

9. Julian Alps (Alpes Juliae) extend from Terglou, between the right bank of the Sau, the Kulpa, and the Adriatic Sea, to the rock Kleck, near Zenk in Dalmatia; thus separating the Friaul from Idrìa, and in general the whole of Upper Italy from Carinthia, Carniola, Croatia, and Servia. The present Civita di Friuli occupies the site where formerly stood the Forum Julii, which gave name to this division of the Alps.

10. Dinarian Alps·, so named from Mons Adrius, extend from Kleck to Sophia, ranging along the right bank of the Sau and Danube, and join the Haemus or Balkan, on the Black Sea.

The general direction of the Alps, excluding the Maritime Alps, which range nearly from south to north, is from west-south-west to east-north-east. The most considerable valleys, those named longitudinal., run parallel with the direction of the chain; and others, named transverse, run from south and south-east to north and northwest, or from north and north-west to south and southeast.

The great crest of the Alps, the watershed (divortia aquarum) of this vast high land has declining from it two acclivities, one towards the north, the other towards the south. The north acclivity declines towards the ocean, the North Sea, and the Baltic; the south acclivity towards the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. The northern acclivity has a gentle inclination, and is much more extensive than the southern, which is comparatively abrupt and steep. From the nature of these two acclivities or inclined plains, we naturally expect to find the principal and most numerous secondary chains on the northern, and this is actually the case. Mont St Gothard, in some degree the central point of the whole chain, is distant in a straight line from the Mediterranean about 52 leagues, from the Adriatic 75 leagues, from the ocean 175 leagues, from the North Sea 168 leagues, from the Baltic 185 leagues.
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The cold of the atmosphere continually increases with the elevation; and at a certain height, depending on climate or latitude, perpetual frost prevails. Where the earth’s surface attains this height, it is, with the exception of mural precipices, continually covered with snow. The snow increases from season to season; for though it may melt slowly from the heat of the ground on which it rests, yet it suffers little loss externally in the way of melting, except what the air carries off by evaporation. If in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh we had mountains 6000 feet high, their summits would be always covered with snow, and consequently we should here have perpetual snow within a few hours’ walk. But in Great Britain none of the mountains reach to the snow line of the latitude,—an arrangement very different from what prevails in the Alps, where whole ranges are covered with eternal snow. When mountains are covered with perpetual snow, its lower limit, or the snow line, descends in winter and rises again in summer; so that in the Alps in winter the snow line reaches the low country, while in summer it ascends, and in the autumn, when the heat is greatest, it attains its maximum of height.

The lower edge of the snow line differs much from that above it, and might more properly be called the ice line, because the snow, owing to the influence of rain, the heat of the sun, and the heat of the earth, is there partially melted every summer, and frozen again in the winter, forming an icy boundary. This ice is named glacier ice, or simply glacier. Above this zone, the region of the glaciers, the snow is seldom moistened by rain or softened by the rays of the sun. These glaciers or vast accumulations of ice have received particular names in different parts of the Alps. Those in Dauphiny and Savoy are named glacier; in Switzerland, gletcher ; in the Grisons, wader ; in the Tyrol, ferner; in Salzburg and Carinthia, has; and by the Italians who inhabit the Alps, vedretto. They fill all the upper, and principally the transverse valleys, from Dauphiny to the frontier of Salzburg: few of them are less than three' miles, many 18 or 20 miles in length, from one to two miles broad, and from 100 to 600 feet thick. They frequently run into each other, and thus surround the peaks on all sides, in such a manner that they appear rising like islands through a sea of ice. Where the glaciers are largest, they send down great arms or branches into the cultivated country, and into the fruitful valleys, 3000 feet above the sea. The chain of Mont Blanc affords a striking example of these descending arms; for there are twenty-five glaciers, descending from it into the valleys of Chamouny, Entreves, and Bionnay. The glaciers are frequently traversed by rents, often of great width and depth; so that when hid by a thin covering of snow or ice they become extremely dangerous to travellers. It is therefore proper to have experienced guides when visiting the dreary and desolate scenes where they occur. The unfortunate Mr Escher, mentioned by Μ. de Luc, was cautioned by his guide not to separate from his companions when they arrived at the glacier. Hurried on, however, by that indescribable sensation which people sometimes experience when they reach lofty summits, and observing at the top of the glacier, a little distance before him, two chamois hunters, who were resting themselves, he hastened to join them; but he disappeared in a moment, and was precipitated to the bottom of a frightful fissure. He met with an instantaneous death, which was caused by the compression of his body in the narrow part of the rent. Bodies of those destroyed in fissures are sometimes brought to light by the glacier streams. Other adventurers have been even less fortunate than Escher; for there are instances in the melancholy records of these dreary regions, of bodies having been found uninjured, lying on projecting ledges in the fissures, and even sometimes suspended in narrow parts of these horribly dark gulfs; thus showing that the wretched sufferers had had a slow and awful death. All around the lower edges of the glaciers there are vast heaps of stones: these are partly masses which have fallen from the mountains, on their surface, or which have been thrown from under the glacier in its progress downwards. The collection of earth and stones is termed by the inhabitants of Switzerland, moraine.

The glaciers are not stationary, but occasionally move downward, and with a motion more or less quick. The movement of the glacier sometimes takes place unexpectedly, as was experienced by the priest of the Grindenwald, who, along with a chamois hunter, felt the glacier over which they were travelling moving under them. The travellers were resting themselves, and had lighted their pipes, when suddenly a frightful noise resembling thunder was heard. Every thing around them began to move: their fowling-pieces, which they had laid on the ice, moved about. Masses of rock, which a few moments before lay quietly on the surface of the glacier, bounded about in all directions; fissures closed with a loud noise, like that of cannon, and forced the water contained in them several fathoms upwards. New rents, from 10 to 12 feet, burst open with indescribably disagreeable noises. The whole mass of the glacier moved forward several yards: a dreadful convulsion appeared approaching; but in a few seconds all was still again, and the dead silence was interrupted only by the call of the marmot. The total number of glaciers in the whole range of the Alps may be between 500 and 600, which together form an icy sea of enormous extent.

These are masses of snow separated from the general snowy cover, which in their course downwards carry [7:2:561]ing along with them fragments of rock, and branches and trunks of trees, rapidly increase in size, and sometimes, before reaching the bottom of the valleys, have accumulated to an enormous magnitude. They destroy houses and villages, break down whole forests, and sometimes even interrupt the course of rivers. Those who are unfortunately enveloped in these avalanches have little chance of escape. In 1478 sixty soldiers in the district of St Gothard were destroyed by an avalanche. One hundred men were enveloped in an avalanche in the Great St Bernard, in the year 1500. In 1595 the course of the Rhine was so much interrupted by the fall of a great avalanche across it, that the water rose and drowned many men and cattle. In 1624 three hundred soldiers were enveloped in an avalanche in Italian Switzerland, but the greater number were dug out alive. Many other details of a similar description are to be found in the records of modern travellers.

The snows and glaciers of the Alps aIready described are the never-failing sources of water for the great rivers which rise from them, as the Rhine, Po, Danube, and Rhone.

The inhabitants, as is well known, are in many respects highly interesting, more especially those inhabiting the more remote and magnificent districts. The population of the whole range may be between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000. Of these, from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 belong to the Celto-Gallic stem, from 800,000 to 900,000 to the Italian, about 1,000,000 to the Sclavonian, and nearly 5,000,000 to the German states. Among these there may be at least 1,500,000 who lead a pastoral life, and who occupy themselves exclusively with Alpine economy and the rearing of cattle.

In the Alps the upper limit of vegetation ascends above the snow line; for we observe plants growing on mountains situated above that line, but which are so steep that snow will not lie on their sides. Thus, an androsacea and a silene were found growing at a height of 1590 toises, on the mountains around Mont Blanc. At an elevation of 1728 toiscs, on the same group of mountains, there were found, growing and in a healthy state, a cardamine, a draba, a gentian, and other plants that do not fear the glacier zone. At elevations between 1282 and 1180 toises, where the snow and glaciers cease, we find growing, not upon rock, but on a fertile soil watered by the snow-water, dwarf willows in the midst of Alpine herbaceous plants. This region presents here and there islands or patches of snow, in places screened from the sun’s rays. In the bare patches of ground among these islands, excellent clover grows, which, however, can only be reached by traversing these snowy patches. Lower down we reach that Alpine region so celebrated for the magnificent pasturages it contains; and still lower, between 1180 and 770 toises, new plants make their appearance; viz. the rhododendron ferrugineum, the rhododendron hirsutum, and ericaea or heaths. We find the alder at 1000 toises; and here we enter into the region of trees. The pinus mughus appears at 870 toises; the pinus picea, or pitch pine, at 750; the birch at 750 and 700; the yew at 700. The region of great trees does not ascend higher than 680 toises; beech stops here. Oaks do not pass beyond 550 toises. At this height the cerealia cannot be advantageously cultivated. The cherry ranges upwards as high as 500 toises; nut-tree and chestnut to 400 toises. The vine is planted as high as 280. The olive is cultivated at the foot of the Alps, and on the coast of Italy; and there also we find the orange, the citron, and other trees. Local circumstances occasion changes in the limits of these vegetables: barley, oats, and wheat range to 700, and even to 900 toises.

The animal world exhibits similar distributions with the vegetable. Thus, the ibex and the chamois occur among the most elevated summits, amidst snow and ice; but of these two quadrupeds, the chamois in general occupies a lower situation than the ibex. Lower down we meet with the marmot and the white hare, the bear and the mole; still nearer the low country, wolves, foxes, the lynx and the wild cat.

Among the feathered creation the feathered vulture or lammergeyer is the species which is observed at the greatest heights, being seen soaring above very lofty snow-covered pinnacles. The ptarmigan wanders along the edge of the snowline; the heath-cock frequents pine forests; the grey partridge and other birds occur in still lower regions. Various aquatic birds frequent the lakes and rivers, and have also their appropriate distribution. The distribution of fishes is also interesting, as they occur at different heights, whether in lakes or rivers. Where the water is abundantly supplied from the glaciers, fishes do not thrive, and are rarely to be found. Insects, too, as we shall partially explain in our article on the geography of the animal world, are met with in the Alps, from spots amidst the snows of the loftiest peaks to the deepest valleys, increasing in number, variety, and beauty, as we approach the lower country. Even the testaceous molluseae, and creatures lower in the animal scale, exhibit on the great acclivities of the Alps a similar mode of distribution.

In this vast high land there are examples of all the different rock formations of which the crust of the earth is composed, from the deepest-seated primitive rock to the most superficial and newest alluvial deposite. The higher and also many of the deeper ranges and valleys are composed of primitive rocks, viz. granite, gneiss, mica slate, clay slate, limestone, trap, porphyry, syenite, serpentine, and quartz rock. Resting upon these, and frequently at a great height, rocks of the transition class appear, as grey wacke, clay slate, quartz rock, granite, gneiss, mica slate, limestone, syenite, trap and serpentine. The secondary rocks, or those of the third class, although frequently occurring at a great height, yet more generally occupy lower situations than the primitive and transition rocks. The following secondary deposites are enumerated by authors as occurring in the Alps. We enumerate them in their order of deposition, beginning with the first or oldest.

1. First secondary sandstone, or coal formation.

2. First secondary limestone, or magnesian limestone.

3. Second secondary sandstone, or new red sandstone.

4. Second secondary limestone, or shell limestone.

5. Third secondary sandstone, or keuper sandstone and marl.

6. Third secondary limestone, or Jura, and Lias, and Oolite limestones.

7. Fourth secondary sandstone, or green and iron sand, and quader-sandstone formation.

8. Fourth secondary limestone, the chalk deposite of geologists.

Resting upon these secondary deposites, we find in many parts vast accumulations of strata of newer rocks belonging to the fourth or tertiary class. These tertiary deposites consist of sand, sandstone, and conglomerate; of clays, marls, and coals, and of various limestones; all more or less abounding in fossil organic remains. The bottoms of the valleys, even their sides to a considerable height, are more or less covered with clays, sands, rolled masses, &c., belonging to the diluvium of authors. And we find in every situation, from the lofty peak to the bottom of the deep valley, spread over the other deposites already enumerated, a more or less deep cover of that alluvial detritus[7:2:562] which is daily forming, and which consists of broken masses more or less angular, gravel, sand, clay, loam-clay, shell-marl, peat, &c. The common vegetable soil rests upon this alluvium, in beds varying in thickness from a few inches to several feet.

These secondary and tertiary rocks are variously inter· mingled with trap and old volcanic rocks, and the diluvial and alluvial deposites with newer igneous or volcanic rocks.

No fossil organic remains occur in the primitive rocks; few appear in those of the transition class; whereas in the various members of the secondary and tertiary classes fossil plants and animals are abundant, and so disposed as to assist in characterizing the different deposites or formations. The diluvial and alluvial deposites also abound in fossil organic remains; but for details we refer to the article Geology.

Varieties of almost every species of the European simple minerals are met with in the Alps or their connecting chains; and in the long range of this high land we find gold, and many different and valuable ores of silver, lead, copper, iron, bismuth, nickel, cobalt, zinc, manganese, mercury, antimony, arsenic, molybdena, uranium, titanium, and tungsten. These ores occur in veins, beds, imbedded masses, or are disseminated in rocks of various descriptions, particularly those of the primitive and transition classes.

The loftiest and most interesting mountains are Mont Blanc, Mont Rosa, the Great Glockner, and the Ortler. ’ The ascent to the summits of these cold⅜εal masses exhibits all those varied displays of scenery, of ch∙⅛ιate, and of distribution of animal, vegetable, and mineral production which so much excite the curiosity of the traveller and the naturalist. The ascent to the summit of the Great Glockner and the Order Spitze is described by Schultes and other travellers; that of Mont Rosa by Saussure, but more particularly by Von Welden, in his account of that mountain. Mont Blanc being more in the track of travellers, has excited greater attention than any of the other great Alpine mountains. To reach the summit of the highest mountain in Europe has always been an object of desire with adventurous travellers; hence repeated attempts have been made to reach the top of Mont Blanc. Some of these have been successful, others have been the contrary. The first attempt to reach the summit was made in the year 1762, by Pierre Simon of Chamouny, who endeavoured to accomplish it by the Glacier du Buissons, and again from the French side; but failed in both. Another unsuccessful attempt was made by some villagers in 1773; and again in 1783 by Μ. Bourrit of Geneva. Bourrit made a second attempt in 1784, which was also unsuccessful. In

1785 Μ. de Saussure, Μ. Bourrit, and Μ. Bourrit junior, with fifteen guides, left Bionassy in the beginning of September, and ascended the glacier of the same name. They slept near the base of the Arguille du Gouté, and next day climbed to the summit of it; but the snow was so soft that they could proceed no farther. They returned to the ,placé where they had slept the night before, and next day descended into the valley. In June

1786 six Chamouny guides next attempted it, but gave it up through fatigue and fear: they were alarmed by the black appearance of the sky. Jacques Balma, as they were returning, strayed from the party, and lost his way among the hills and blocks of ice on the glacier, and was unable to regain his party. He remained all night in some hole or cave which he found in the ice. Next morning he wandered about, and discovered a route by which he thought he could reach the summit, and then returned to Chamouny with a determination to keep it a secret. Dr Pachard, a native of Chamouny, had some suspicion that Balma knew an accessible track leading to the summit, and tried in vain to get this information from him; but they agreed at last to go together and make the attempt. Therefore, on the 7th of August 1786, they left the Priory, and slept on the summit of the mountain of La Cote. Thence they started next morning at four o’clock; and after surmounting many difficulties, they attained the summit at half-past six in the evening. They left it at seven, and about midnight arrived at the spot where they had slept the night before; and at eight o’clock on the morning of the 9th returned to Chamouny. Μ. de Saussure having heard of the success of this journey, hastened to the valley, and, with seventeen guides, immediately attempted to follow the route of Jacques Balma; but from the bad state of the weather he did not succeed. In July 1787 Saussure sent Balma to reconnoitre the glacier, who reported that it was not in a fit state; but on the lst of August this illustrious philosopher and indefatigable traveller left Chamouny at seven A. μ., with a servant and eighteen guides. At two o’clock they arrived on the summit of the mountain of La Cote. Next day they crossed the glacier, and halted on the. second plateau at four. Here they passed the night, and next day gained the summit at eleven in the forenoon. They remained on it for nearly four hours, leaving it at about three o'clock, and descended to about 1100 yards below the summit, slept there, and next day reached the Priory. Μ. Bourrit set out on the enterprise on the day of their return, but bad weather drove him back. On the 9th August of the same year, Colonel Beaufoy, with ten guides, attained the summit, having left Chamouny the day before, and returned to it on the 10th. He was enabled to ascertain that the latitude of the summit of Mont Blanc is 45° 49' 59" N. At twelve o’clock the mercury in the thermometer stood at 38° in the shade. At the same hour, in Chamouny, and in the shade, it stood at 78°. In 1788 Μ. Bourrit, his son, Mr Woodley, and Mr Camper, set out together; but when at a great height, a severe storm separated the party, of whom Mr Woodley was the only one who reached the summit, which was on the 5th of August. He and his guides suffered severely. Μ. Bourrit never attempted the ascent again. In 1791 four Englishmen made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the summit. On the 10th of August 1802 a native of Lausanne and a German, with seven guides, reached the summit. They remained on it twenty minutes, and then descended part of the way, performing the remainder and arriving at Chamouny on the llth, having taken three days to accomplish it. On the 10th of September 1812 Μ. Rodalz of Hamburg got to the summit.' On the 4th of August 1818 a Russian gentleman reached the summit. On 12th July 1819 Dr∙ Van Ranselaer and Mr Howard, Americans, ascended the mountain and reached the summit; and on the 13th of August of the same year Captain Undrell, R. N. made a successful attempt. On the 19th August 1820 Dr Hamel, a Moscovite, with three gentlemen and twelve guides, ascended to the great plateau. In climbing from it up the side of Mont Blanc, an avalanche swept away the whole party· Some of them extricated themselves; but three guides were driven into a crevice and perished. On the 22d August 1822 Mr Clissold, who has published an account of his journey, reached the summit. On the 4th September 1823 Mr Jackson arrived on the summit and descended the same day to Chamouny, being, it is understood, the first who ever accomplished this arduous task m so short a time, having been absent only thirty-six hours and a half from Chamouny; but he remained on the summit only [7:2:563]three or four minutes. On the 26th August 1825 Dr E. Clarke and Captain M. Sherwill made the ascent, employing three days, in the expedition. On the 25th July 1827 Μ. C. Fcllowes and Μ. H. Hawes gained the summit, having discovered a new route. Their journey occupied nearly three days. On the 9th of August the summit was attained by Mr Auldjo of Cambridge, who has published a highly interesting account of his journey. He says, “My ascent to the Grand Mulets was on the 8th, and thence to the summit on the following day, pursuing the route discovered in July. I remained on the summit one hour, and descended to Chamounythe same day, being absent thirty-seven hours.” There have, therefore, been fourteen successful ascents, says Mr Auldjo; and, not including guides, eighteen persons have gained this great height. The majority of these are Englishmen, ten being their number. Of the rest, two are Americans, two Swiss, one Russian, one German, and one Savoyard. It is remarkable that no Frenchman has ever been on the summit. Some years ago a party of guides made the ascent for pleasure, and Maria de Mont Blanc, a high-spirited girl, accompanied them, being the only female who has ever reached the summit. Napoleon also ordered a party of guides to ascend, and plant a cross on the summit, which was done; but it was blown down in a day or two afterwards.

The most interesting accounts of the Alps are contained in the following works :—Saussure, Voyages dans les Alpes, 4 vols. 4to; 2. Ebel über den Pau der Erde in dem Alpin-Gebirge, 2 vols. 1808; 3. Schultes, Reise durch Salzburg, &c. 4 vols. 1804; 4. Alpina, 4 vols. 1806-9. (o.)

Alps, besides its proper signification, by which it denotes a certain chain of mountains which separate Italy from France and Germany, is frequently used as an appellative to denote any mountains of extraordinary height or extensive range. In this sense, Ausonius and others call the Pyrenean Mountains Alps, and Gellius the Spanish Alps, Alpini Hispam. Hence also we say, the British Alps, meaning the Grampians, &c.; the Asiatic Alps, meaning the Altaic chain, &c.; the American Alps, meaning the Andes, &c.

Alps, Lower, Department of, in France. This department is bounded on the north by the department of the Upper Alps, on the cast by Piedmont and the department of the Maritime Alps, on the south by the department of the Var and the north-east extremity of that of the Mouths of the Rhone, and on the west by the departments of Vaucluse and the Drome. Its superficies is about 1,459,699 square acres, and its population about 149,500. It is divided into five communal districts. The chief town is Digne.

Alps, Higher, Department of. This department makes a part of Dauphiné. It is bounded on the north by the departments of Mont Blanc and Iscre, on the east by Piedmont, on the south by the department of the Lower Alps, and on the west by that of the Drome and part of that of Isere. The soil consists of enormous mountains and narrow valleys. Two thirds of the surface are useless for agricultural purposes. The north wind, which generally prevails, renders the climate cold; and the snow remains in some of the valleys eight months of the year. The principal river is the Durance, which is extremely rapid, and commits great ravages by its inundations. The superficies of this department is about 1,084,614 square acres, and its population 121,500. It is divided into three communal districts. Embrun is the principal town.

Alps, Maritime, a department of France, formed of the county of Nice and part of High Provence, and of which Nice is the principal city. The chief products of this mountainous country are wine and oil, and its population is about 131,000.