(B) MAIN DIVISIONS OF THE ALPS
(a) Maritime Alps
On examining a map of the region where the chain of the Alps approached the shores of the Mediterranean, it will be seen that, about 50 miles N.N.W. of Nice, and about 20 S.S.W. of the Monte Viso, several valleys diverge in various directions, disposed, roughly speaking, like the rays of a fan. These are formed by a number of ridges which converge towards, although they do not actually meet at, the Mont Enchastraye or Cima dei Quattro Vescovadi. On the west side one of these ridges divided the upper valley of the Ubaye from that of the Verdon, and sends out a branch which separates the latter from the Bleone. A third ridge divided the Verdon from the Var, and a fourth separates this from its main affluent, the Tinea. As already mentioned, the range extending S.E. from Mont Enchastraye is regarded as the main chain of the Maritime Alps, and extends, with numerous diverging secondary ridges, in a curved line, gradually approaching nearer to the coast till it is merged in the chain of the Apennines. To fix the limit between the Alps and the Apennines in this direction is necessarily a somewhat arbitrary process, and different criteria may be applied with different results; but it seems most natural to fix on the depression west of Savona Known as the Col d’Altare or Col di Cadibona, over which the road is carried which leads in one direction to Alessandria, and in the other to Mondovi. This is by far the lowest depression in the barrier dividing the Adriatic from the Mediterranean, the summit being only 1608 feet above the sea level; and during the Miocene epoch it formed a strait connecting those seas. In modern times the project of utilizing the same pass for the construction of a canal to connect the Po with the Gulf of Genoa is an illustration of its geographical significance. On the north side of the Mont enchastraye, a comparatively low pass, Col de l’Argentiere, divides that mountain from the adjoining portion of the main chain. This might properly be regarded as the northern limit of the Maritime Alps, but ancient usage has included in the group the ranges that enclose the Val Maira, and separate it on one side from Stura di Demonte, and on the other from the Vraita.Conforming to that practice, we fix the northern limit of the Maritime Akps at the Col de Longet, S.E. of the peak of Monte Viso, connecting the head of Val Vraita in Piedmont with the sources of the Ubaye in France.
Chief Peaks of the Maritime Alps.
(The heights are given in English feet).
Monte Gale ……………… 5,649 Monte Matto …………….. 10,230
Monte Fronte……………. 7,l98 Mont Tinibras……………. 10,223
Monte Bertrand …………. 8,209 Mont Enchastraye……….. 9,747
Rocca dell’ Abisso……….. 9,193 Grand Rioburent………….. 11,142
Cima dei Gelas……………10,433 Aiguille de Chambeyron…...11,155
Rocca dell’ Argentera…….10,617 Pointe Haute de Mary………10,537
Chief Passes of the Maritime Alps.
Col di San Bernardo (Albenga to Garessio), carriage road…………...3301
Col di Nava (Oneglia to Ormea), carriage road………………….…….3150
Col di Tenda (Tenda to Cuneo), carriage road…………………….…..6158
Col delle Finestre (S. martino to Entracque), footpath…………….….8189
Col delle Cerese (S. martino to Valdieri), footpath……………….……8412
Col di Frema Morta (Val Tinea to Valdieri), bridle-path………….….8839
Col della Lombarda (Val Tinea to Vinadio), footpath…………….…..7858
Col di Sta. Anna (same), footpath………………………………….…...8009
Col de Pouriac (San Stefano to Bersesio), footpath……………….…...8360
Col de’l Argentiere (val. Of the Stura to Barcelonnette), bridle-path..6545
Col de Sautron (Val Maira to Barcelonnette), footpath………..about 8000
Col de Lauzanier (Val Tinea to the Ubaye), footpath…………..about 8300
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