.Jl i
; I I»':
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appea.-ed, al the l ine I explored that part of the country, to be quite as elevated as thofe
„ I r i c h border the glaeiers of Fofflguy in Savoy. If ü,en their height differ, but very ineonfiderably
from thofe of Foffigny (ofwhieh I am indeed ftdly perfuaded), tlre above
fuppofition mnl t be fallaeious; but it will at leaft ferve to eonreil: an error in lithology,
fince the diilanee from the glaeiers of Savoy to thofe of Tirol, or from Mont Elane to
Mont Brenner (whieh is the fame), is computed at about one hundred and Sxty-fi. e miles
i n a d i r e a line; which is at leaft as far again as from Mont Elane to the Col de Tende,
altliough its height does not reach the half of that tremendous mountain.
A fimüar objcaion, or refutation, may be eonf.dered as aflreaing the bypotheSs relaüve
t o the contraaion of the Alps, as they are farther diftant from Mo n t Blanc.
Having, in eonfequence of a careful invefligatton, obferved that the fame chain of
mountains does not in the Icafl contraa on the eaftern fide, but th.at from the High
Grifón, or Mont Salvret.-,, they form three diftina primordial branches which diverge
f r om that point, one of them extending m a north-weft dircftion, ftretehing towards
Bavaria, between the rivers Lech and Inn; the feeond towards the foulh, on the fide of
T r e n t ; and the third (which is the central branch, the true chain, and the moil elevated)
towards the uorfli, cxofimg the bilhoprie of Saltft.om-g and the principality of Coriuthia,
fo that what is termed the Ehiet ian Alps, meafnred from the root of Mont Baldo to the
mountains which command the city of Fuffen in Swabia (which point determines pretty
accurately the widt h of that chain), is nearly finfilar to that of the Pennine Alps. It is
therefore evident, that the north-eaft mountains do not fuffer any cont raaion whatever ¡
whereas, towards the fouth, the Alps lower in continual gradation from Mo n t Blaue to the
fea, with the exception of a few partial peaks, who niife above the reft of this primiü.e
chain their majeftic heads covered with fnoiv; amongft which the lofty Vifo, already
mentioned, is the moft confpieuous, confequently the glaciers are not numerous; and
t h e vaUeys, which are at their bafis, lower alfo continually as they approach nearer to
t h e fea.
T o this laft eaufe I attribute entirely the degree of cold and the violent hurricanes,
which are both tremendous and frequent on the whol e of the fouthern mountains, though
lefs elevated above the fea than thofe which tend more towards the north. The plains,
likewife, which are on the fummi t of the mountains, fout h of the grand paffage of Mont
St. Bernard, in the vicinity of Mont Blanc, contraa very eonfiderably as they approach
the fea i fo much fo, that from Mont Ccnis, north of the Col de Tende, whofe plain is
43
reckoned to be about fix miles in widtli, all tlie others arc abfolutely cols or mountains
without plains, as the Col already defcribcd; or fcarcely any, as Fineftrc, &c.} whereas not
a fingle Col is known to exiit north-caft of Mo n t Blanc.
Having likewife advanced, lliat the intenfe cold and frequent hurricanes experienced on
Cols in general, are to be attributed to the degree of lefs elevation in the valleys fituated at
the foot of the Mari t ime Alps, I ihall endeavour to prove my aiTertions, taking Mont Cenis
as a point of comparifon.
This mountain, which is n ine hundred and ninety-feven toifcs above the level of the
fea, is, neverthelcfs, much lefs dangerous to crofs than the Col de Tende, which is mor e to
t h e fouthward, and whofe elevation does not exceed nine hundred and forty-eight, making
a difFerence of forty-nine toifcs, or two hundred and ninety-four feet ; to which may be
added, that its latitude is rather more than one degree nearer to the fouth.
T h e valleys alfo experience a confiderable variation wit h regard to thei r elevation. For
inftance, the village of Novalefc, feated at the foot of M o n t Ccnis, as L imon at the foot of
t h e Col de Tende, on the fide of Italy, is thirty-one toifes, or one hundred and eighty-lix
feet, mor e elevated than Limon, whofe height above the fea does not exceed three hundred
and eighty-one toifes, whereas Novalefe extends to four hundred and twelve. An equal
difFerence may be faid to obtain between the villages on the other fide of the Alps; as
L'Annebourg at the bot tom of Mont Cenis, which is fix hundred and ninety-two toifes
above the fea, whl l f t the city of Tende, in a iimilar fituation at the foot of the Col, is only
five hundred and forty-two, being one hundred and forty-nine toifes, or eight hundred and
ninety-four feet, lefs than the firft, which is a confiderable difference, and in reality makes
t h e Col de Tende higher in proportion above the valleys than Mont Cenis, though the
latter is foi iy-nine toifes more elevated. Many more examples might be given, if they
were at all necefiaiy, which they are not, as the foregoing arc evident proofs of what I
have advanced, namely, that tlie height or degree of elevation of the mountains above tlie
level of the fea, have lefs influence than diat which they have above their valleys, in order
to the abfolute determination of the kind of climate which exiils on their fummit. This
obfervation cannot, however, in reality be abfolute, but only in relation to mountains
whofe height do not exceed one thoufand or t\velve hundred toifes, that being nearly the
zone in which the fnow is permanent . What is alfo remarkable in this long and wonderful
primordial chain is, that the wef tem valleys are vaftly more numerous than the eafliern,
or, to ufe a different expreflion, the width of the Alps from the fummi t of the primitive.
I