Alpine Sentence Examples

The Alpine flora is very beautiful.

The Trias does not belong, as might have been expected, to the Alpine or Mediterranean type; but resembles that of Germany and northern Europe.

But there are no perpetual snow-fields, no glaciers creep down these valleys, and no alpine hamlets ever appear to break the monotony.

Gruyre, extensively manufactured in Switzerland and France, is also produced in Italy in the Alpine regions and in Sicily.

He traces the original home of the bulk of existing alpine plants to northern Asia.

On the mountains of Java there appears to be no truly alpine flora; Saxifrage is not found.

Forests and alpine meadows cover their northern slopes.

The two mused over capturing a free half-day to hike the alpine meadows.

On the outbreak of war in 1859 he was placed in command of the Alpine infantry, defeating the Austrians at Casale on the 8th of May, crossing the Ticino on the 23rd of May, and, after a series of victorious fights, liberating Alpine territory as far as the frontier of Tirol.

At the close of the glacial period the alpine floras retreated to the mountains accompanied by an arctic contingent, though doubtless many species of the latter, such as Salix polaris, failed to establish themselves.

Some species, such as Anemone alpine, which are wanting in the Arctic flora of the Old World, he thinks must have reached Europe by way of Greenland from north-east America.

This peak is situated on the threefold boundary of Carinthia, Carniola and Styria, and affords a magnificent view of the whole Alpine neighbouring region.

The area between the southern border of Siberia and the margin of the temperate alpine zone of the Himalaya and north China, comprising what are commonly called central Asia, Turkestan, Mongolia and western Manchuria, is an almost rainless region, having winters of extreme severity and summers of intense heat.

The vegetation of the higher and therefore cooler and less rainy ranges of the Himalaya has greater uniformity of character along the whole chain, and a closer general approach to European forms is maintained; an increased number of species is actually identical, among these being found, at the greatest elevations, many alpine plants believed to be identical with species of the north Arctic regions.

In short, we have a somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of tropical, temperate and alpine plants, as has been already briefly indicated, of which, however, the tropical are so far dominant as to give their character to the flora viewed as a whole.

Its southern extremity penetrates into the high plateau of Asia, and the lake lies entirely in the Alpine zone which fringes that plateau on the north-west.

Outside of these alpine regions comes a broad belt of elevated plains, ranging between 1200 and 1700 ft.

To the north of these mountains, stretching towards the Danube, is the Alpine foothill region, composed partly of terraces and partly of swelling undulations, of which the most important is the Hausruckwald.

Upper Austria has the largest proportion of meadows in all Austria, 18.54%, while 2.49% is lowland and Alpine pasturage.

The orography of this alpine region is very imperfectly known; but the chains have a predominant direction from south-west to north-east.

In the region between Viluisk (on the Vilui) and Yeniseisk a broad belt of alpine tracts, reaching their greatest elevation in the northern Yeniseisk taiga (between the Upper Tunguzka and the Podkamennaya Tunguzka) and continued to the south-west in lower upheavals, separates the elevated plains from the lowlands which extend towards the Arctic Ocean.

Two such folds maybe distinguished, corresponding on a smaller scale to the belt of alpine tracts which fringe the plateau on the north-west.

Formerly filled with alpine lakes, these valleys are now sheeted with flat alluvial soil and occupied by human settlements, and are drained by rivers which flow along them before they make their way to the north through narrow gorges pierced in the mountain-walls.

Gold-dust is found in almost all the alpine regions fringing the great plateau.

Iron-ores are known;at several places on the outskirts of the alpine tracts (as about Irkutsk), as well as in the Selenginsk region and in the Altai.

The three principal rivers - the Ob, the Yenisei, and the Lena - take their rise on the high plateau or in the alpine regions fringing it, and, after descending from the plateau and piercing the alpine regions, flow for many hundreds of miles across the high plains and lowlands before they reach the Arctic, Ocean.

Several alpine lakes, of which the picturesque Teletskoye may be specially mentioned, occupy the deeper parts of the valleys of the Altai.

Although very heavy falls of snow take place in the alpine tracts - especially about Lake Baikal - on the other side, in the steppe regions of the Altai and Transbaikalia and in the neighbourhood of Krasnoyarsk, the amount of snow is so small that travellers use wheeled vehicles, and cattle are able to find food in the steppe.

The alpine rose (Rhododendron dauricum) clusters in masses on the higher mountains; juniper, spiraea, sorbus, the pseudo-acacia (Caragana sibirica and C. arborescens, C. jubata in some of the higher tracts), various Rosaceae - Potentilla fruticosa and Cotoneaster uniflora - the wild cherry (Prunus Padus), and many other shrubs occupy the spaces between the trees.

The Siberian larch predominates also in the alpine tracts fringing the plateau on the north, intermingled with the fir, stone-pine, aspen and birch.

In the alpine tracts of the north the narrowness of the valleys and the steep stony slopes strewn with debris, on which only lichens and mosses are able to grow, make every plot of green grass (even if it be only of Carex) valuable.

The offshoots of the Alpine group are formed by the Wiener Wald, which attains an altitude of 2929 ft.

Amongst the small Alpine lakes, the Erlaufsee and the Lunzer See are worth mentioning.

Mining is only of slight importance, small quantities of coal and iron-ore being extracted in the Alpine foothill region; graphite is found near Miihldorf.

Tofieldia, an arctic and alpine genus of small herbs with a slender scape springing from a tuft of narrow ensiform leaves and bearing a raceme of small green flowers; Narthecium (bog-asphodel), herbs with a habit similar to Tofieldia, but with larger golden-yellow flowers; and Colchicum, a genus with about 30 species including b the meadow saffron or autumn crocus (C. autumnale).

Veratrum is an alpine genus of the north temperate zone.

This same character is also exhibited by the bottoms of the broad valleys, while the more elevated and hilly portions of the territory, especially on their northern slopes, are covered with larch, cedar, pine and deciduous trees belonging to the Siberian flora; where the forests fail they are marshy or assume the character of Alpine meadows - e.g.

The portion of Hungary situated on the right bank of the Danube is filled by the Alpine system, namely, the eastern outlying groups of the Alps.

The tropical vegetation extends to an altitude of about 1300 ft., above which it may be classed as semi-tropical up to about 3500 ft., and temperate up to 7200 ft., above which the vegetation is Alpine.

He appears to have had no great sense of natural beauty, in which point he resembled his generation (though one remarkable story is told of his being deeply affected by Alpine scenery); and, except in his passion for the stage, he does not seem to have cared much for any of the arts, Conversation and literature were, again as in Johnson's case, the sole gods of his idolatry.

It is also included in the Paropamisus, though the latter term embraces more, Caucasus being apparently used only when the alpine barrier is in question.

It was no doubt regarded (and perhaps not altogether untruly) as a part of a great alpine zone believed to traverse Asia from west to east, whether called Taurus, Caucasus or Imaus.

Greeks, White Huns, Samanidae of Bokhara, Ghaznevides, Mongols, Timur and Timuridae, down to Saddozais and Barakzais, have ruled both sides of this great alpine chain.

The narrow space between them is for the most part, but not always, a cold and lofty region known as the Puna containing alpine lakes - the sources of the coast-rivers.

The smaller alpine lakes, often forming the sources of rivers, are numerous.

On the lakes there is a very handsome goose, with white body and dark-green wings shading into violet, called huachua, two kinds of ibis, a large gull (Larus serranus) frequenting the alpine lakes in flocks, flamingoes called parihuana, ducks and water-hens.

The environs abound in numerous charming Alpine excursions.

There is entire absence of the Alpine plants found abundantly on the summits of other high mountains in Japan, a fact due, doubtless, to the comparatively recent activity of the volcano.

In Europe the same physical traitsrelative length of head and shortness of legsdistinguish the central race (Alpine) from the Teutonic, and seem to indicate an affinity between the former and the Mongols.

Styria has numerous small Alpine lakes of which the most important are the Grundel-see, the TOplitz-see, and the Leopoldsteiner-see.

Cattle-rearing has taken a great development and also dairyfarming in the Alpine fashion.

The alpine flora of Lebanon thus connects itself directly with the Oriental flora of lower altitudes, and is unrelated to the glacial flora of Europe and northern Asia.

Throughout the whole of the Carpathian system there are numerous mountain lakes, but they cannot compare with the Alpine lakes either in extension or beauty.

It presents a characteristic feature in its mollusc fauna, which contains many species not found in the neighbouring regions, and only found in the Alpine region.

With these territories Umberto commanded three of the great Alpine passes, viz.

Its silk industry and its position at the entrance to the Alpine passes gave it some importance even then.

This alpine region sends out numerous rivers in a southerly direction, which, forcing their passage through narrow defiles, and precipitated in cataracts over the precipices, eventually pour themselves into the Brahmaputra.

The majority of the population is devoted to pastoral, and in some degree to agricultural pursuits, the cattle, as in other Alpine lands, being the mainstay of the peasants.

Seen from the Adriatic, Monte Corno, as it is someti, mes called, from its resemblance to a horn, affords a magnificent spectacle; the Alpine region beneath its summit is still the home of the wild boar, and here and there are dense woods of beech and pine.

The Italian Alpine Club has erected a hut S.W.

The alpine vegetation on all these lofty mountains is of a mixed Cape and Abyssinian character - witch-hazels, senecios, lobelias, kniphofias, everlasting flowers, tree heaths and hypericums. The really tropical vegetation of Buganda is nearly identical with that of West Africa, but there is no oil-palm.

The alpine flora, beginning at 6000 ft., is specially characterized by its rhododendrons, pines (Araucaria and Libocedrus), and palms, by numerous superb species of Agapetes (Ericaceae), and on the summits by an extraordinary association of species characteristically European (Rubus, Ranunculus, Leontodon, Aspidium), Himalayan, New Zealandian (Veronica), Antarctic and South American (Drymus, Libocedrus).

They contain a rich abundance of fruit trees, especially vines, oranges, lemons and figs, and in some parts present scenes of almost Alpine grandeur.

The 18th century, however, was a time of religious decadence even among the Alpine valleys, and the outbreak of the French Revolution saw the Vaudois made subjects of France.

On the summits of the Adirondacks are a few alpine species, such as reindeer moss and other lichens; on the shores of Long Island, Staten Island and Westchester county are a number of maritime species; and on Long Island are several species especially characteristic of the pine barrens of New Jersey.

Other species include - western red cedar, Engelmann spruce, alpine fir, whitebark pine, limber pine, alpine larch and occassionally western white pine.

The Germans of the Alpine lands were less ready to carry out the same principle in Tirol and the regions leading down to the Adriatic. The divided policy of the Germans led on all sides to their failure.

After the Tauern railway had been built for the Alpine countries - without, it is true, any particular pecuniary help from the Polish part of the empire, which was known to be only passively interested - the Poles demanded a complete carrying into effect and extension of the waterways law, with a larger State subsidy.

Since 1910 a meat shortage in Austria had made itself more and more felt, especially in the towns, owing to their rapid growth, the decrease of cattle-raising in the Alpine lands, and the reduction in the imports of Serbian meat through the antiSerbian agrarian policy of Hungary.

The rocks of Secondary and Tertiary ages have been profoundly affected by the Alpine movements, and are thrown into a series of complex folds, so that in numerous instances their stratigraphy is imperfectly understood.

The climate is so dry, and the rains are so scarce, that an absence of forests and Alpine meadows is characteristic of the ridge; but when heavy rain falls simultaneously with the melting of the snows in the mountains, the watercourses become filled with furious torrents, which create great havoc. The main glaciers (12) are on the north slope, but none creeps below io,000 to 12,000 ft.

They are almost exclusively of German stock and are Roman Catholics, Elementary education is much more advanced here than in any other Alpine province.

Of its total area, 28.9% consists of Alpine pastures available during the summer months, 4.95% of lowland pasturages and 8.3% of meadows, while only 9.2% is arable.

The Cordilleran system on the western side of the continent is lofty, broad and complicated, with heavy forests near the north-west coast, but elsewhere with trees only on the higher ranges below the Alpine region, and with treeless or desert intermont valleys, plateaus and basins, very arid in the south-west.

Farther north in Montana, in spite of a decrease of height, there are to-day a few small glaciers with snowfields of good size; and, here the effects of sculpture by the much larger Pleistocene glaciers are seen in forms of almost alpine strength.

Glacial erosion has been potent in excavating great cirques and small rock-basins, especially among the higher southern surmounting summits, many of which have been thus somewhat reduced in, height while gaining an Alpine sharpness of form; some of the short and steep canyons in the eastern slope have been converted into typical glacial troughs, and huge moraines have been laid on the desert floor below them.

The Hudsonian zone covers the upper slopes of the higher mountains of New England, New York and North Carolina and larger areas on the elevated slopes of the Rocky and Cascade Mountains; and on the western mountains it is the home of the mountain goat, mountain sheep, Alpine flying-squirrel, nutcracker, evening grosbeak and Townsends solitaire.

Flora.The Alpine flora, which is found in the United States only on the tops of those mountains which rise above the limit of trees, consists principally of a variety of plants which bloom as soon as the snow melts and for a short season make a brilliant display of colors.

When springing up among rocks or on ledges, the stem sometimes becomes much curved, and, with its spreading boughs and pendent branchlets, often forms a striking and picturesque object in alpine passes and steep ravines.

The best variety for culture in Britain is that with red female flowers; the light-flowered kinds are said to produce inferior wood, and the Siberian larch does not grow in Scotland nearly as fast as the Alpine tree.

The application of electricity is widely developed on account of the proximity of Alpine valleys rich in torrents.

But the most noteworthy characteristics of the province are, perhaps, the brilliancy of its climate, the beauty of its scenery (which ranges in character from the alpine to the tropical), and the interest of its art and antiquities.

If Spain could gain this Alpine valley her territories would touch those of Austria, so that the Habsburgs north of the Alps could send troops to the aid of their Spanish cousins against Venice, and Spain in turn could help to subdue the Protestant princes of Germany in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).

In the mountainous region dairy-farming is carried on after the Alpine fashion and the breeding of sheep is improving.

Those species which are distinctive of the eastern border ridges are found to reach the plateau, but do not spread westwards, so that a botanic separation or distinction is found to exist between the true plateau of Tibet in the west and the alpine tracts of the east.

But if we confine the meaning of the term Alps to those parts of the chain that are what is commonly called " Alpine," where the height is sufficient to support a considerable mass of perpetual snow, our boundaries to the west and to the east must be placed at spots other than those mentioned above.

Throughout the Teutonic region of the Alps the word Alp is used specifically for the upper pastures where cattle are fed in summer, but this region is held to include the whole space between the uppermost limit of trees and the first Alpine p pp appearance of permanent masses of snow.

There is reason to think, however, that it is the want of soil rather than climatal conditions that checks the upward extension of the alpine flora.

The break in the continuity of the Alpine chain marked by the deep valley, the Vintschgau, of the upper Adige (Etsch) is one of the most remarkable features in the orography of the Alps.

The eastward direction is maintained and the watershed (though not the chief Alpine watershed) continues through the Greater Tauern Alps, culminating in the Gross Venediger (12,008 ft.), for the Gross Glockner (12,461 ft.) rises to the south.

The so-called alpine lakes are the sheets of water found at the foot of the Alps, on either slope, just where the rivers that form them issue into the plains.

The native inhabitants of the Alps were naturally the first to use the alpine passes.

As time went on the travellers (with whatever object) who used the great alpine passes could not put up any longer with the bad old mule paths.

Most of the carriage roads across the great alpine passes were thus constructed in the 19th century (particularly its first half), largely owing to the impetus given by Napoleon.

A few details have come down to us of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, though not much more than their names.

The successive emigrations and occupation of the Alpine region by divers Teutonic tribes from the 5th to the 6th centuries are, too, known to us only in outline, while to them, as to the Frankish kings and emperors, the Alps offered a route from one place to another rather than a permanent residence.

In the case of the Western Alps (minus the bit from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for the Alpine region took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphine and Provence.

Thus the Alpine states (Italy, Switzerland and Austria), other than France and Bavaria, hold bits of territory on the slope of the Alps where one would not expect to find them.

Roughly speaking, in each of these five lands the Alpine population speaks the tongue of the country, though in Italy there are a few French-speaking districts (the Waldensian valleys as well as the Aosta and Oulx valleys) as well as some German-speaking and Ladin-speaking settlements.

A great stimulus was given to it by the foundation of the various Alpine clubs, each of which drew together the climbers who dwelt in the same country.

The first was the English Alpine Club (founded in the winter of 1857-1858), followed in 1862 by the Austrian Alpine Club (which in 1873 was fused, under the name of the German and Austrian Alpine Club, with the German Alpine Club, founded in 1869), in 1863 by the Italian and Swiss Alpine Clubs, and in 1874 by the French Alpine Club, not to mention numerous minor societies of more local character.

Zingerle, Sagen aus Tirol (1859); and as to Alpine poetry-J.

All the countries which include Alpine districts have now issued official Government maps.

Beyond the depression also, excepting in the Jura Mountains, there is no sign of the folding which has raised the Alpine chain.

But between the Trias of the Eastern Alps and the Trias of the region beyond the Alpine folds there is a striking contrast.

From the above account it will at once appear that between the convex and the concave margins of the Alpine chain there is a striking difference.

The stronghold of this last, the distinctively " Alpine " flora, is the region above the tree-limit.

Its closest relationship is with the flora of the Pyrenees; but an alpine flora is characteristic of all the lofty mountains of central Europe.

If now we confine our attention to the alpine and higher regions of the Alps and exclude from our list all those plants which, however abundant in these regions, are not less so in the adjacent lowlands, we have left some 700 species (693, according to Dr Christ).

We must observe, as regards the plants of the lower alpine region, that it is the actual presence of a forest vegetation, rather than the theoretical treelimit, which affects their vertical distribution; so that, e.g.

Indeed, an analysis of the composition of the alpine flora as a whole leads to the conclusion that the chief bond of union between its members consists in the treeless character of their habitat.

We may broadly distinguish two main geographical elements in the alpine flora, namely, the northern element and the endemic element.

This relation of the arctic to the alpine flora is all the more remarkable in view of the very important differences between the arctic and alpine climates.

For example, in the genus Primula, a highly characteristic genus of the alpine flora, whose members are among the most striking ornaments of the rocks, the single northern species, P. farinosa, grows only in marshy meadows.

As for the explanation of the community between the alpine and arctic floras, all authorities are agreed that the key to the problem is furnished by the occurrence of the glacial period.

With the return of a milder climate, the so-called northern forms of the present alpine flora were split in two, one portion following close on the northern ice in its gradual retreat to the Arctic, the other following the shrinking glaciers till the plants were able to establish (or re-establish) themselves on the slopes of the Alps.

In any case, however, the migration of these plants to the Alps must for the most part have taken place via the Arctic. The possibility of any extensive east to west migration having taken place direct from the Altai to the Alps seems excluded by the fact that 50 o ho of the arctico-altaic alpine plants are absent from the Caucasus.

On the whole, a common origin in the north for at least the arcticoaltaic group of alpine plants seems to be the most reasonable hypothesis.

The presence of these plants among the alpine flora is traceable to the steppe-like conditions which prevailed in central Europe both during the warmer inter-glacial periods and (probably) for a time after the close of the ice-age.

Here, in the intenser insolation which they enjoy on the alpine slopes, they seem to find a compensation for the drawbacks incidental to the altitude of their present station.

About 40% of the endemic element in the alpine flora are endemic also in the narrower sense, i.e.

The snow-mouse (Arvicola nivalis) is confined to the alpine and snow regions, and is abundant at these levels throughout the whole chain of the Alps.

Among the Insectivora, the alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus) is restricted to the Alps.

Of the Cheiroptera (bats) only Vesperugo maurus is characteristically alpine.

Some of the smaller birds of prey are not uncommon, but there is none that can be regarded as specially characteristic either of the Alps as a whole or of the alpine region.

As characteristic birds of the snow-region may be mentioned the alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax alpinus), which is frequently seen at the summits even of the loftiest mountains, the alpine swift (Cypselus melba), the wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), snow-finch (Montifringilla nivalis) and ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus); the geographical distribution of this last being similar to that of the mountain hare.

The raven (Corvus corax) is fairly common in the alpine and sub-alpine regions.

On the highest pastures we find, further, the alpine accentor (Accentor collaris) and the alpine pipit (Anthus spipoletta).

The crag-martin (Cotyle rupestris) haunts lofty cliffs in the alpine region.

On the upper verge of the pine forests, or in the scrubby vegetation just beyond, the following are not uncommon - black woodpecker (Picus martius), ring-ousel (Turdus torquatus), Bonelli's warbler (Phylloscopus Bonellii), crested tit (Parus cristatus), citril finch (Citrinella alpina), siskin (Chrysomitris spinus), crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), blackcock (Tetrao tetrix), and the alpine varieties of the marsh-tit (Parus palustris, borealis) and tree-creeper (Certhia familiaris, costae).

In fact, among the remaining land vertebrates, only the black salamander (Salamandra atra) is exclusively alpine.

The former connexion between the Arctic and the Alps, which has left such unmistakable traces in the present alpine flora, affords, as regards the fauna also, the only possible explanation of the present geographical distribution of many alpine forms; but it is chiefly among the Invertebrata that we find this collateral testimony to the influence of the glacial period.

Among the remaining divisions of Invertebrata special mention may be made of the air-breathing Arthropoda - on the whole the most important and interesting group. About one-third of the animals belonging thereto that occur in the higher regions are exclusively alpine (or alpine and northern); these characteristically alpine forms being furnished chiefly by the spiders, beetles and butterflies.

As for the butterflies, not more than one-third of the species found in the alpine region occur in the neighbouring lowlands.

It should be noted that butterflies are the chief agents in securing the continued existence of such alpine flowers as depend on insect fertilization, the other insect fertilizers being mostly wanting at great heights.

Zschokke (1900) is an important treatise on an interesting department of alpine natural history.

In the cavities between the stones, filled with earth, alpine or trailing plants are inserted,.

His position as possessor of the Alpine passes, as an ally of the Avars, and as son-in-law of the Lombard king Desiderius, was so serious a menace to the Frankish kingdom that Charlemagne determined to crush him.

In the Alpine portions of the canton the breeding of cattle (those of the Simme valley are particularly famous) is the chief industry; next come the elaborate arrangements for summer travellers (the Fremdenindustrie).

Other industries in the Alpine region are wood-carving (at Brienz) and wine manufacture (on the shores, of the lakes of Bienne and of Thun).

In the third and highest zone the vegetation is stunted, and there is a narrow zone of sub-Alpine shrubs, but no Alpine flora.

Some lines of the Roman poet inform us that he heard a voice proceeding from a sacred grove, "Break off all delays, Alaric. This very year thou shalt force the Alpine barrier of Italy; thou shalt penetrate to the city."

Apart from black and white face-markings, and the black tail and dorsal stripe, the prevailing colour of the Alpine chamois is chestnut brown in summer, but lighter and greyer in winter.

From its source to the lake the Rhone is a purely Alpine river, flowing through the great trench which it has cut for itself between two of the loftiest Alpine ranges, and which (save a bit at its north-west end) forms the Canton of the Valais.

The country forms a section of the central European zone, and its flora is largely under the influence of the Baltic and Alpine elements, which to a great degree here coalesce.

The Alpine frontiers, especially those in Tirol, have numerous fortifications, whose centre is formed by Trent and Franzensfeste; while all the military roads leading into Carinthia have been provided with strong defensive works, as at Malborgeth, Predil Pass, &c. The two capitals, Vienna and Budapest, are not fortified.

In addition to the canals, the cabinet proposed and the Chamber sanctioned the construction of a " second railway route to Trieste " designed to shorten the distance between South Germany, Salzburg and the Adriatic, by means of a line passing under the Alpine ranges of central and southern Austria.

Above this belt the firs gradually disappear and are succeeded by the shortleaved Pinus montezumae, or Mexican " ocote " - one of the largest species of pine in the republic. These continue to the upper tree-line, accompanied by red and purple Pentstemon and light blue lupins in the open spaces, some ferns, and occasional masses of alpine flowers.

The analogy possibly may be extended to such cases as the occurrence of flora or fauna with alpine characters on the summits of mountains separated by broad zones of tropical climate.

Those on the Alpine passes are common knowledge.

It played a considerable part in the early history of Lombardy, being a key to several Alpine passes.

The climate of eastern Bokhara and Darwaz is delightful in summer, and Dr Regel writes of its Alpine scenery and flora in terms of enthusiastic admiration.

In fact such pastures are essential to the inhabitants of pastoral alpine districts, for the fodder to be obtained in the valley itself would not suffice to support the number of cattle which are required to afford sustenance to the inhabitants.

Such mountain pastures, made use of only during the summer months, are of almost immemorial antiquity, cases occurring in 739, 868 and 999, while they are found in all parts of the Alpine chain.

On the paramos of Chimborazo, Pichincha, Iliniza, &c., the relation of characteristic genera to those identical with genera in the Alpine flora of Europe is as 5 to 4; and the botanist might almost suppose himself in the Upper Engadine.

In America marmots are known as "wood-chucks" The Alpine Marmot (Arctomys marmotta).

It is cosmopolitan in distribution, but the majority of the species are confined to the temperate and colder parts of the northern hemisphere and many are arctic or alpine.

It is an alpine region, particularly in its south portion, where rises the Alpstein limestone range (culminating in the Santis, 8216 ft.), though towards the north the surface is composed rather of green hills, separating green hollows in which nestle neat villages and small towns.

On the alpine range itself and its immediate branches, at a height of 6000 to 10,000 ft., we have abundant growth of large forest trees, among which conifers are the most noble and prominent, such as Cedrus Deodara, Abies excelsa, Pinuslongifolia, P. Pinaster,P. Pinea (the edible pine) and the larch.

In reply Cadorna detached two more divisions, the 9th and loth, from the general reserve in Friuli, to be held in reserve at Schio and Bassano, and gave an additional group of Alpine battalions to the I.

The Roma Bde., or rather what was left of it, was coming back in the Vallarsa, and Col Santo had been evacuated by the territorials, while the command of the sector had lost touch with the Alpine battalions.

Owing to an error in the transmission of an order the Alpine troops who were holding the positions of Cima Undici and Cima Dodici retired before the Austrians attacked, and uncovered the flank of the division, while on the same day (May 25) the attacking forces succeeded in occupying the important position of Corno di Campo Verde (6,815 ft.).

The Alpine troops on the right of the Corps pushed forward quickly and occupied various important heights on the northern rim of the Asiago plateau.

Although Alpine troops gained a footing north of the summit they were subsequently blown off by a mine, and Monte Cimone, which rises sheer-sided, like a vast battleship, between the Astico and the Rio Freddo, completely dominating the Arsiero basin, remained in Austrian hands.

With their help he set himself to win the confidence of a public still inclined to distrust the author of the proscriptions of 43 B.C. Brigandage was suppressed in Italy, and the safety of the Italian frontiers secured against the raids of Alpine tribes on the northwest and of Illyrians on the east, while Rome was purified and beautified, largely with the help of Agrippa (aedile in 33 B.C.).

Much of the ruggedness and beauty of the mountains is due to the erosive action of many alpine glaciers that once existed on the higher summits, and which have left behind their evidences in valleys and amphitheatres with towering walls, polished rock-expanses, glacial lakes and meadows and tumbling waterfalls.

Above the firs come the tamarack, constituting the bulk of the lower Alpine forest; the hardy long-lived mountain pine; the red cedar or juniper, growing even on the baldest rocks; the beautiful hemlock spruce; the still higher white pine, nut pine, needle pine; and finally, at io,000 to 12,000 ft., the dwarf pine, which grows in a tangle on the earth over which one walks, and may not show for a century's growth more than a foot of height or an inch of girth.

There are a number of museums; the historical (archaeological and medieval), the natural history (in which the skin of Barry, the famous St Bernard dog, is preserved), the art (mainly modern Swiss pictures), and the Alpine (in which are collections of all kinds relating to the Swiss Alps).

In 1859 he organized the Alpine Brigade, fought at Palestro at the head of the 4th Division, and in the following year invaded the Marches, won the battle of Castelfidardo, took Ancona, and subsequently directed the siege of Gaeta.

Local glaciation has modified the higher levels of the Bighorn Mountains, giving glacial cirques, alpine peaks and many mountain lakes and waterfalls.

At high altitudes the mountain plover is found; the dusky grouse haunts the forests above 8000 ft.; the white-tailed ptarmigan is resident in the alpine regions; and on the plains are found the prairie sharp-tailed grouse and the sage-hen.

The right wing of the 19th was still holding on Globocak and had been reinforced by the ist Bersaglieri Brigade; Alpine troops still held a line down to the river, though they had been driven off their original positions on Krad Vrh, and troops of the 64th were being brought back from the left bank to strengthen this line.

Two Alpine groups were already on the way to this critical point, having been dispatched the day before, but it was clear that Krauss would try to push through by this route, the shortest way to the Tagliamento.

The chivalry of Germany pouring through Alpine passes for an Italian campaign, or a coronation, left little trace in history except the lesson of their futility.

Cirques, valley troughs, numberless beautiful cascades, sharpened alpine peaks and ridges, glacial lakes, and valley moraines offer everywhere abundant evidence of glacial action, which has modified profoundly practically all the ranges.

Perhaps finer than these for their wide-horizoned outlooks and grand surroundings are the Alpine Tunnel under the continental divide of the Lower Sawatch chain, the scenery of the tortuous line along the southern boundary in the Conejos and San Juan mountains, which are crossed at Cumbres (10,003 ft.), and the magnificent scenery about Ouray and on the Silverton railway over the shoulder of Red Mountain (attaining 11,235 ft.).

Alpine plants are not met with in Finland proper, but are represented by from 32 to 64 species in the Kola peninsula.

Jakova is the chief town of the Alpine region which extends from the Montenegrin frontier to the Drin and White Drin.

In the western and northern alpine part of Sweden, near the boundaries of Norway, the Silurian strata are covered by crystalline rocks, mica schists, quartzites, &c., of an enormous thickness, which have been brought into their present positions upon a thrust-plane.

With the melting of the great ice-sheet the climate became milder, and the southern part of Sweden was covered with shrubs and plants now found only in the northern and alpine parts of the country (Salix polaris, Dryas octopetala, Betula nana, &c.).

The alpine treeless region occupies only the upper flanks of the spinal mountain-range above an elevation varying from 1800 ft.

Of these most are common to arctic lands, or occur as alpine plants in lower latitudes.

The principal breeds of cattle are the alpine in Norrland, and Ayrshire, short-horn, and red-and-white Swedish in the midlands and south.

Of his entomological collection in Tierra del Fuego, which was not large, the majority were of Alpine species.

Closely allied to the Scotch pine, and perhaps to be regarded as a mere alpine form of that species, is the dwarf P. montana (or P. Pumilio), the " kummholz " or " knieholz " of the Germans - a recumbent bush, generally only a few feet high, but with long zigzag stems, that root occasionally at the knee-like bends where they rest upon the ground.

The whey is drunk warm, and for this cure it is usual to go to some Alpine resort where pasturage is abundant and fresh milk can be had at all times of the day.

The best-known Alpine health resorts are St Moritz and Davos, to which lately Grindelwald has been added.

North of the railway line, hedged in between Afghanistan and the plains of the Indus, stretch the long ridges of rough but picturesque highlands, which embrace the central ranges of the Suliman system (the prehistoric home of the Pathan highlander), where vegetation is often alpine, and the climate clear and bracing and subject to no great extremes of temperature.

The dimensions of the glaciers on the outer Himalaya, where, as before remarked, the valleys descend rapidly to lower levels, are fairly comparable with those of Alpine glaciers, though frequently much exceeding them in length8 or io m.

At the greater elevations the species identical with those of Europe become more frequent, and in the alpine regions many plants are found identical with species of the Arctic zone.

The alpine flora is slower in changing its character as we pass from east to west, but in Kashmir the vegetation of the higher mountains hardly differs from that of the mountains of Afghanistan, Persia and Siberia, even in species.

The total number of flowering plants inhabiting the range amounts probably to 5000 or 6000 species, among which may be reckoned several hundred common English plants chiefly from the temperate and alpine regions; and the characteristic of the flora as a whole is that it contains a general and tolerably complete illustration of almost all the chief natural families of all parts of the world, and has comparatively few distinctive features of its own.

It is not in comparison with the picturesque beauty of European Alpine scenery that the Himalaya appeals to the imagination, for amongst the hills of the outer Himalaya - the hills which are known to the majority of European residents and visitors - there is often a striking absence of those varied incidents and sharp contrasts which are essential to picturesqueness in mountain landscape.

The bleak and desolate heights of the Serra da Estrella and the ranges of the northern frontier are almost alpine in character, although they nowhere reach the limit of perpetual snow.

The Serra da Estrella has a rich alpine flora, and the lagoon of Aveiro contains a great number of aquatic plants.

This race is often termed `` Celtic " or " Alpine " from the fact of its occurrence all along the great mountain chain from south-west France, in Savoy, in Switzerland, the Po valley and Tirol, as well as in Auvergne, Brittany, Normandy, Burgundy, the Ardennes and the Vosges.

The " Alpine race " is commonly supposed to be Mongoloid in origin and to have come from Asia, the home of round-skulled races.

Thus the " Celtic " ox (Bos longifrons), from remote ages the common type in the Alpine regions, is characterized by the height of its forehead above the orbits, by its highly-developed occipital region, and its small horns.

In its turn the Alpine race has pressed down upon their darker and less warlike kindred of the south, either driven down before the tall sons of the north or swelling the hosts of the latter as they swept down south.

The Umbrians, who were part of the Alpine Celts, had been pressing down into Italy from the Bronze Age, though checked completely by the rise of the Etruscan power in the ioth century B.C. The invention of iron weapons made the Celts henceforth irresistible.

From the Mongolian plateau the ascent is on the whole gentle, but from the plains of Siberia it is much steeper, despite the fact that the range is masked by a broad belt of subsidiary ranges of an Alpine character, e.g.

The region is made up in general of high ranges deeply glaciated, preserving some remnants of ancient glaciers, and having fine " Alpine " scenery, with many sharp peaks and ridges, U-shaped valleys, cirques, lakes and waterfalls.

The lower part of the first, like the lower valley of the Charysh, is thickly populated; in the valley of the Ulba is the Riddersk mine, at the foot of the Ivanovsk peak (6770 ft.), clothed with beautiful alpine meadows.

The steppe flora penetrates into the mountains, ascending some 1100-1200 ft., and in sheltered valleys even up to 5500 ft., when it of course comes into contact with the purely alpine flora.

The alpine meadows, which have many species in common with the European Alps, have also a number of their own peculiar Altaian species.

The other strange feature is that from near Isola in the upper Tinee valley southwards the political frontier does not coincide with the physical frontier, or the main watershed of the Alpine chain; the reason (it is said) is that in 1860 all the higher valleys of the Maritime Alps (on both sides of the watershed) were expressly excepted from the treaty of cession, in order that Victor Emmanuel II.

Thousands of Alpine glaciers from one to fifteen miles long fill the upper valleys and canyons of the mountains.

It is fed by Alpine glaciers, among them one of the grandest in Alaska, the Seward, which descends from Mt.

Far the most abundant are coast and Alpine hemlocks and the tide-land or Sitka spruce.

Scattered notices may be found in the edition (London, 1899) of the "General Introduction" (entitled "Hints and Notes for Travellers in the Alps") to John Ball's Alpine Guide.

A peculiar method of distribution occurs in some alpine and arctic grasses, which grow under conditions where ripening of the fruit is often uncertain.

Festuceae (about 83 genera, including tropical, temperate, arctic and alpine forms) many are important meadow-grasses; 15 are British.

On the higher mountains the climate is Alpine in character.

As in a day's journey the traveller may pass from tropical to almost Alpine conditions of climate, so great also is the range of the flora and fauna.

Local glaciation has carved the higher levels of this range into a maze of amphitheatres containing lakes, separated from each other by aretes and alpine peaks.

Sinaia resembles a large model village, widely scattered among the pine forests of the lower Carpathians, and along the banks of the Prahova, a swift alpine stream.

The Biblioteca Communale, and the rich collection of seismic and vulcanological books made by the Italian Alpine Club, are both in charge of the Societa di Storia Patria.

He early recognized the value of palaeontology in stratigraphical work; and he made important researches in the Rhenish mountains, in the Harz and Alpine districts.

In this connexion we may note the striking resemblance between some of the New Zealand Alpine Veronicas, e.g.

This is altogether an alpine region with numerous snow-clad summits and glaciers descending down to the sea.

It is divided into three zones - steppe, forest and alpine.

The birch and larch woods of this zone give way to pine forests as the altitude increases; and the pines to mosses, lichens and alpine plants, just below the jagged iron-grey peaks, many of which attain altitudes of 6000 to 8000 ft.

It ranges from the purely tropical types of the lowlands to the Alpine species of the more elevated paramos.

Colombia is also the home of the American "Alpine rose" (Befaria), which is to be found between 9000 and 11,000 ft.

This Alpine pass is in some sort the pendant of the Brenner Pass, but leads from the upper valley of the Inn or Engadine to the upper valley of the Adige.

Between the forests of these stretch numerous peat-mosses, which contain in their spongy reservoirs the sources of many small streams. On the Brocken are found one or two arctic and several alpine, plants.

In the alpine tracts of the Tian-shan, on the borders of the Pamir, their horns and skulls are frequently met with, but there the place of the species is now taken by Ovis karelini.

Antelopes, Lepus lehmanni, Lagomys rutilus, various species of Arvicolae, and the Himalayan long-tailed marmot (Arctomys caudatus), the most characteristic inhabitant of the alpine meadows, are the only mammals of the Pamir proper.

In the alpine region are found the badger (Meles taxes), the ermine (Putorius ermineus) and six other Mustelidae, the wild dog (Canis alpinus), the common and the black-eared fox (C. melanotis), while the corsac fox (C. corsac) is met with only on the plains.

The tiger is met with only on the lower Amu-darya, except when it wanders to the alpine region in pursuit of the maral deer (Cervus maral).

Grum-Grshimailo found on the Pamir the butterfly Colias nastes, a species characteristic of Labrador and Lapland; like the alpine plants which bear witness to a Glacial period flora in the Himalayas, this butterfly is a survival of the Glacial period fauna of the Pamir.

The Kokshal-tau, which consists of several parallel ranges, is truly alpine in character and bears large glaciers, which send out polyp-like arms into U-shaped valleys, behind which the mountain peaks tower up into sharp-cut, angular " matterhorns."

The critical time had arrived when the sea was to be driven away eastward, while the immense ridges due to the " Alpine " movements were about to emerge as the backbones of new continental lands.

As the Atlantic spread into the valleys on the west of Ireland, forming the well-known marine inlets, Europe grew, under the influence of the " Alpine " movements, upon the east; and Ireland was caught in, as it were, on the western edge of the new continent.

They comprise the Uskoken Gebirge, or Uskoks Mountains, named after the piratical Uskoks of Zengg, who were deported hither after the fall of their stronghold in 1617; the Warasdin Mountains, with the peak of Ivanscica (3478 ft.); the Agram Mountains, culminating in Sljeme or Slema (3396 ft.), and including the beautiful stretches of Alpine pasture known as the Zagorje, or "land beyond the hills"; the Bilo Gebirge, or White Mountains, a low range of chalk, and, farther to the south, several groups of mountains, among which Psunj (3228 ft.), Papuk (3217 ft.) Crni Vrh (2833 ft.), and the Ravna Gora (2808 ft.) are the chief summits.

The Danube, which is the principal river of Austria, divides the Alpine region, which occupies the whole country lying at its south, from the Bohemian-Moravian Mountains and their offshoots lying at its north; while the valleys of the March and the Oder separate the last-named mountains from the Carpathians.

Austria does not possess any great lakes; but has numerous small mountain lakes situated in the Alpine region, the most renowned for the beauty of their situation being found in Salzburg, Salzkammergut, Tirol and Carinthia.

These hills are largely formed of volcanic rocks of late Tertiary age; but near the Platten See Triassic beds of Alpine type are well developed.

It has floras of the plains, the hills and the mountains; an alpine flora, and an arctic flora; a flora of marshes, and a flora of steppes; floras peculiar to the clay, the chalk, the sandstone and the slate formations.

The most thickly populated province is Lower Austria; the Alpine provinces are sparsely populated, while Salzburg is the most thinly populated crown land of Austria.

In its passage through Bavaria it receives several important affluents on both banks, notably on the right the Alpine rivers Lech, Isar and Inn, the last of which at the junction near Passau exceeds in volume the waters of the Danube.

Snow falls on all the higher mountain ranges, and on the highest the climate is thoroughly Alpine.

The fact that the French Protestants in the Cvennes were again in arms enabled the Habsburgs and the Spaniards to make a fresh attack upon the Alpine passes; but after the peace of Alais Richelieu placed himself at the head of forty thousand men, and stirred up enemies everywhere against the emperor, victorious now over the king of Denmark as in 1621 over the elector palatine.

The careful examination of the chain by members of the English and French Alpine Clubs has since 1880 considerably modified the views held with respect to its general character; the southern versant, formerly regarded as inferior in, area, has been proved to be the more important of the two.

There are mountains rising with alpine grandeur above the snow-line, but often sheltering rich and magnificent valleys at their Surface.

Small alpine and other lakes are numerous, and small salt lakes are to be found in every steppe region.

In the south-east, however, and at the mouth of the Ebro, linsestones are found containing a fauna similar to that of the alpine Trias.

On the lofty parameras of Soria and other parts of Old Castile the vegetation has an almost alpine character.

Ibex live habitually at a greater height than chamois or any other Alpine mammals, their vertical limit being the line of perpetual snow.

He was a keen sportsman and would spend many days at a time pursuing chamois or steinbock in the Alpine fastnesses of Piedmont with nothing but bread and cheese to eat.

Here it zig-zags upwards in a way that feels more Alpine than Scottish.

Alpine bistort and goldenrod, dwarfed by the conditions, and mountain everlasting, sensibly covered in dense white hairs.

The scenery was very Alpine with wildflower meadows between naturally forested areas.

Entering almost Alpine vegetation the weather can change quite dramatically in just a few hundred meters.

As there were no facilities for ice sport, only Alpine and nordic events were held.

Traditionally Alpine in style with picturesque chalets and a lively village center, people are drawn back to Meribel year after year.

Alpine in nature (just missing permanent snow) and have some magnificent climbing arenas, notably Coire Lagan.

Crowley was a leading alpinist of the day but was shunned by the Alpine club and took a positive delight in the bizarre.

What we had originally believed to be a high ' alpine ' meadow was an expanse of dwarf bamboo turned white by the cold.

Nearby, en route for Meallan nan Eun, was Alpine bearberry, while small cranberry was fairly abundant on Brown Cow Hill.

Turkey is thoroughly located in the Mediterranean sector of the Alpine orogenic belt.

We also saw Alpine bistort and goldenrod, dwarfed by the conditions, and mountain everlasting, sensibly covered in dense white hairs.

The vacation island offers a snowy alpine setting, a boardwalk boasting beach resort and a forest campground.

Buttermere Fells is also a locality for the rare Alpine catchfly Lychnis alpina.

Accommodation Traditional wooden Alpine chalet sleeping 10 - 12 guests.

This CD changer interface adaptor together with your Alpine CD changer interface adaptor together with your Alpine CD changer will produce superior sounding results.

A flock of 100+ choughs and Alpine choughs was something I hadn't appreciated last time.

High up in Wharfedale the scars and screes support a range of plants including the nationally scarce alpine cinquefoil and hoary whitlowgrass.

The moderate steep climb up to valley to the top of Glen Coe goes through the most dramatic alpine scenery in Scotland.

In the lower lying alpine most of the caves have been scoured away or filled in with glacial erratics.

The associated habitat is mainly 6430 Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels.

American frits are kept under the staging of the alpine house whilst those from Central Asia are allowed to become dry.

On the southern slopes are Alpine gentians, which need a full sun to display their flowers.

Cross the Continental Divide and behold incomparable vistas of lush meadows, Alpine glaciers, and thundering waterfalls.

There are widespread transitions to wet heath, woodland, juniper scrub and 4060 Alpine and boreal heaths.

Well spend the majority of our time trekking between Alpine huts, enjoying some of the Balkans best mountain scenery.

He has led jagged Globe expeditions to Aconcagua and Everest and is a key Guide on our Alpine Courses.

The meadows are home to some beautiful flora and fauna such as the bearded rhododendron, dwarf juniper and other rare alpine flowers.

Association of moonmilk with Alpine karst is well known.

Val Cenis is a traditional resort comprising two truly lovely alpine villages.

Lower down, the trek leads through verdant alpine valleys with cascading streams, pretty hamlets and flower-strewn meadows.

Scarcer plants that occasionally occur throughout include Alpine saw-wort Saussurea alpina, alpine meadow rue Thalictrum alpinum.

East and south Ben Vrackie has many plants concentrated round one fairly small crag - purple oxytropis, Alpine milk vetch and scottish asphodel.

This state has so much to offer the sightseer with everything from majestic mountains to huge canyons and breathtaking alpine lakes.

To take in an Alpine summit on skis, in the winter or spring, is to become a complete mountaineer.

Over Hadrian's Wall An ascent from Ullswater to Little Mell Fell passes alpine enchanters nightshade.

Having digested and admired the views some more, we headed back down toward St Agatha across more Alpine pastures.

Every cranny was filled with rare and delicate Ferns and all shade-loving Alpine plants, while double white and blue periwinkles streamed down everywhere.

On the higher slopes, giant alpine plants sprout from an almost perpetual fog.

Tho dry alpine, we did note singing American pipits.

While the plant in Spain was completely prostrate in my alpine house it became bushier.

St Anton is one of the finest alpine ski resorts in the world.

Remove dead leaves from around the basal rosettes of alpine plants to prevent rotting.

Flowers could not hide tho and we saw many Black Vanilla Orchids, Alpine Asters and more Pyrenean saxifrage, which was abundant.

Rarer arctic-Alpines on the site include alpine saw-wort Saussurea alpina, alpine saxifrage Saxifraga nivalis and holly-fern Polystichum lonchitis.

Well spend the majority of our time trekking between alpine huts, enjoying some of the Balkans best mountain scenery.

An exhilarating Alpine experience where you can ski, snowboard, or try tobogganing or tubing for a great adrenalin rush!

Their extensive snowfields produce meltwaters that supply a network of alpine rivers, lakes and wetlands that are a source of the River Nile.

The owner had a beautiful alpine garden growing on the top of an old pig sty.

With several grunts he was up and we were left with the proposition of emulating this apparently supernatural feat from our alpine mentor.

Composed of about 95% singletrack our rides vary from fast technical switchbacks through rock gardens to high alpine 5-hour long descents.

A slow moving sea of ice, they can provide a relatively tranquil way to walk through the jagged chaos of alpine scenery.

Thyme Walk and Alpine trough Garden The thyme gives a fragrance as you step on it to pass by the alpine troughs.

You explore alpine valleys and the snow-covered tundra in the company of Russian scientists charged with protecting the island.

The High and Middle mountains contain fragments of mountain tundra, as well as alpine meadows.

Cross the Continental Divide and behold incomparable vistas of lush meadows, alpine glaciers, and thundering waterfalls.

Alpine and oblong woodsia are small tufted montane ferns found in open rocky habitats, mainly on cliffs and scree slopes.

Alpine pastures on the high ranges of the snow-capped Great Himalayas are used for grazing yaks in the summer months.

During his consulship he celebrated a triumph for his victory over certain Alpine tribes.

Next comes the Stura, which rises in the glaciers of the Roche Melon; then the Orca, flowing through the Val di Locana; and then the Dora Baltea, one of the greatest of all the Alpine tributaries of the Po, which has its source in the glaciers of Mont Blanc, above Courmayeur, and thence descends through the Val d'Aosta for about 70 m.

It bias the greatest density of population of any of .the Alpine provinces.

Upon the exposed mountain slopes a species of rhubarb (Rheum Ribes) is noticeable, and also a vetch (Vicia canescens) excellent for sheep. The spring vegetation, which lasts until July, appears to be rich, especially as regards showy plants, such as Corydalis, Gagea, Colchicum, Puschkinia, Geranium, Ornithogalum, &c. The flora of the highest ridges, along the edges of the snow patches, exhibits no forms related to the northern alpine flora, but suggestions of it are found in a Draba, an Androsace, an Alsine and a violet, occurring, however, only in local species.

But the Vorarlberg is predominantly an Alpine region, though its mountains rarely surpass the snowlevel.

I) does not occur, its place is taken by the closely allied Alpine, or mountain hare (fig.

He for ten years assisted his father in his business; but, his love of art having been awakened while journeying in Holland, he in 1832 began the study of painting at Munich under Cornelius and Schnorr, and in 1836 established himself at Paris, where he painted a number of pictures of more than average merit, among which may be mentioned the "Cumaean Sibyl" (1844); an "Offering to Venus" (1845); a "View of Rome" (1849); the "Death of Romeo and Juliet" (1857); and several Alpine landscapes.

The strong, vigorous, healthfulness and enjoyment which permeate the record of his Alpine work are magnificent, and traces of his influence remain in Switzerland to this day.

The relations between alpine butterflies and plants are especially interesting, as regards not only their bionomic interdependence but also the analogies of their geographical distribution.

The valley of the Po formed the main artery of trade between western Europe and the East, Milan being besides the point of convergence for all Alpine passes west of the Brenner (the St Gotthard, however, was not made accessible until early in the 13th century).

We also offer alpine activities like rafting, canyoning and 4x4 driving and mountain biking in the french alps for beginners.