246 E N C A M P M E N T OF
H A N N I B A L . 247
this ravine to the summit, and does not
appear to present any difficulty.
The white rock is a mountain mass of
granular crystalline gypsum, as white as the
purest snow, reposing immediately on dark
bituminous schist, which dips easterly, and
the gypsum appears to lie conformably on
it, but the stratification seems broken and
confused by subsequent disturbances. I
broke off specimens, where the gypsum and
schist were in junction. The rocks on the
other side the bridge are coated with dark
brown calcareous tuffa. One of these rocks
is nearly black, and is a singular intermixture
of limestone and gypsum. As the
gypsum rock in the upper part was covered
with soil or vegetation, I could not ascertain
whether any other species of rock was
reposing on it, or whether it formed the
entire mass of the mountain above the
schist. Admitting this to be the route that
Hannibal took, there can be no doubt that
the rock of gypsum, near the present
bridge, is the same mentioned by Polybius,
as there is no other white rock on the road
to the Little St. Bernard, and this agrees in
every respect with the description; but
though the mass of gypsum is of vast magnitude,
it does not present any considerable
white surface to the view, as the soil
is washed over it, and has concealed it, except
in parts recently fallen down. At the
time when Hannibal passed however, it
was probably far more conspicuous, as the
softness of the gypsum rock, and the steepness
of its escarpements, must have subjected
it to considerable eboulements in the
course of so many centuries. On leaving
the valley of the Isere, before arriving at
the rock of gypsum, there is an elevated
plain, declining towards the valley, sufficiently
spacious for the encampment of a
large army, and too far removed from the
mountains, to admit of any attack from
above, with stones or missiles. It is here
that Hannibal, in all probability, formed
his encampment and halted, before ascending
the mountain. This plain, and the path
up the Little St. Bernard, may be seen on
the road from Moutiers to Bourg St. Maurice,
about a mile from the latter place,
and a more distinct view of the physical
geography of this passage is presented,
than when you are nearer to it. I was examining
it with my telescope from thence,
when our voiturier surprised me by the fol-
B 4
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