to our own time. [2] But they never really held the country.

The Church, too, early entered this territory, the field being given
over to the Dominicans, [3] who furnished many devoted missionaries
to the cause. But here, too, failure must be recorded in respect of
permanency of results in the really wild parts of the Highlands. It
has remained for our own Government to get a real hold of the people
of these regions, to win their confidence, command their respect,
and exact their obedience in all relations in which obedience is
proper and just.

The indispensable material condition of success was to make the
mountain country accessible. Only those who have had the fortune to
travel through this country can realize how difficult this endeavor
has been and must continue to be, chiefly because of the great local
complexity of the mountain system, but also because of the severely
destructive storms of this region, with consequent torrential violence
of the streams affected. But little money, too, can be, or has been,
spent for the necessary road-work. In spite of the difficulties
involved, however, a system of road-making has been set on foot,
the labor needed being furnished by the highlanders themselves in
lieu of a road tax. Very briefly, the system is as follows:

(_a_) The first thing done is to open what is known as the "meter
trail," i.e., a trail one meter wide, at a grade not to exceed 6
per cent, and where possible to be kept at 4 per cent. At certain
points where the absolute necessity exists, a 10 per cent grade is
admissible for very short distances, as at river crossings, but only
where a gentler grade would involve a long detour at great expense.