ALPS, in Geography, a range of high mountains, separating Italy from Gaul and Germany, in the form of a crescent. They take their rise from the Vada Sabatia, or Savona; and reach to the Sinus Flanaticus (now Golfo di Carnaro of the Adriatic), and the springs of the river Colapis (now the Kulpe); extending, according to Livy, 2000 stadia in length, or 250 miles: they are divided into several parts, and accordingly have different names. From Savona to the springs of the Varus, where the Alps lie against the sea of Genoa, they are called Maritime, now le Montagne di Tenda. These extend from south to north, between Gaul to the west, and Genoa to the east, beginning at Monaco on the Mediterranean; then running out through the east of the county of Nice, and between that and the marquisate of Saluzzo, terminate at length at Mount Vifo, between Dauphiné and Piedmont. Hence to Susa run the Alpes Cottiae (Sueton.) Cottana (Tacitus); mountains extremely high, separating Dauphiné from Piedmont, and extending from Mount Vifo to Mount Cenis, between the Alpes Maritimeæ to the south, and the Graia to the north. The Alpes Graia (Pliny), so called from the passage of Hercules, begin from Mount Cenis, where the Cottiae terminate; and run out between Savoy and the Tarentese to the
west, and Piedmont and the duché d'Aouſte to the east, quite to the Great St Bernard, where the Alpes Penninae begin. They are also called by some Graia Alpes, and Graius Mons (Tacitus); which extend from west to east, between St Bernard and the Adula, or St Gothard; and thus they run out between the Valais to the north, and the Milanese to the south. With these are continued the Alpes Rheticae, to the head of the river Piave; a part of which are the Alpes Tridentinae, to the north of Trent. To these join the Alpes Noricae, reaching to Doblach in Tyrol, to the north of the river Tajamento: thence begin the Alpes Carnicae, or of Carniola, extending to the springs of the Save: and the last, called Alpes Pannonicae, and Juliae, extent to the springs of the Kulpe. Some, however, extend the Alps to the north of Dalmatia; others, again, to Thrace and the Euxine. But their termination at the Kulpe, as above, is more generally received. They were formerly called Albia, and Alpionia (Strabo.) Through these mountains Hannibal forced his passage into Italy, by pouring vinegar on the rocks, heated by burning large piles of wood on them, by which means they became crumbled, (Livy). They are covered with perpetual snow.
The Alps are the highest mountains in Europe; being, according to some geometers, about two miles in perpendicular height. They begin at the Mediterranean; and stretching northward, separate Piedmont and Savoy from the adjacent countries; whence directing their course to the east, they form the boundary between Switzerland and Italy, and terminate near the extremity of the Adriatic sea, north-east of Venice. It was over the western part of those mountains, towards Piedmont, that Hannibal forced his passage into Italy.
The prospect from many parts of this enormous range of mountains is extremely romantic, especially towards the north-west. One of the most celebrated is the Grande Chartreuse, where is a monastery founded by St Bruno about the year 1084. From Echelles, a little village in the mountains of Savoy, to the top of the Chartreuse, the distance is six miles. Along this course, the road runs winding up, for the most part not six feet broad. On one hand is the rock, with woods of pine trees hanging over head; on the other a prodigious precipice almost perpendicular; at the bottom of which rolls a torrent, that, sometimes tumbling among the fragments of stone which have fallen from on high, and sometimes precipitating itself down vast descents with a noise like thunder, rendered yet more tremendous by the echo from the mountains on each side, concurs to form one of the most solemn, the most romantic, and most astonishing scenes in nature. To this description may be added the strange views made by the crags and cliffs, and the numerous cascades which throw themselves from the very summit down into the vale. On the top of the mountain is the convent of St Bruno, which is the superior of the whole order. The inhabitants consist of 100 fathers, with 300 servants, who grind their corn, press their wine, and perform every domestic office, even to the making of their clothes. In the Album of the fathers is an admired alcaic ode, written by the late ingenious Mr Gray when he visited the Chartreuse, and which has since been published among his works.
The glaciers of Savoy are also justly reckoned among the
Alps. the most stupendous works of nature. These are immense masses of ice, lodged upon the gentler declivities amidst the Alps, and exhibiting representations beyond conception fantastic and picturesque. In the extraordinary narrative of M. Bourrit's journey hither, we meet with the following account of the Prieuré, in the valley of Chamouni. "We had (says he) the magnificent prospect of a chain of mountains, equally inaccessible, and covered with ice: and above the rest that of Mont Blanc, whose top seemed to reach, and even pierce, the highest region of the clouds. The chain upon which this mountain looks down like a giant, is composed of masses of rock which terminate in pikes or spires, called the Needles, and which are ranged like tents in a camp. Their sides appear lighter and more airy, from the ornament of several hollow breaks and furrows fretted in the rock itself, as well as from the different streaks and panes of ice and snow, which, without changing the general character of their form, or the majesty of their appearance, give them a picturesque variety. Lower down, the eye surveys with ravishment, the hills of ice, and the several glaciers, extending almost into the plain, whilst this appears like an artificial garden, embellished with the mixture of a variety of colours. We have a picturesque opposition to this chain, which is formed by innumerable mountains at the distance of near 50 leagues, between whose tops we have a glimpse of those several plains which they environ."
M. de Saussure, who had visited those mountains about two months before M. Bourrit, felt himself naturally electrified in this place. This extraordinary phenomenon seems not to have been experienced by the latter or his company; but they heard a long continued rumbling noise like that of thunder, which was rendered more awful by the silence of the place where they stood. This noise proceeded from the subsequent causes, viz. the avalanches of snow, which separated from the tops of the mountains, and rolled down to the bottom; considerable fragments of the rocks which followed them, overturning others in their fall; and massy blocks of ice, which precipitated from the summits.
The valley of Montanvert appears to be peculiarly romantic. "Here (says M. Bourrit) we beheld a spacious icy plain entirely level. Upon this there rose a mountain all of ice, with steps ascending to the top, which seemed the throne of some divinity. It likewise took the form of a grand cascade, whose figure was beyond conception beautiful; and the sun, which shone upon it, gave a sparkling brilliance to the whole. The valley on our right hand was ornamented with prodigious glaciers, that, shooting up to an immeasurable height between the mountains, blend their colours with the skies, which they appear to reach."