and the Jungfrau, for example, are not alps. They are mountains
with alps upon them.

An alpe is a tract of the highest summer pasturage just below the
snow-line, and only capable of being grazed for two or three months
in every year. It is held as common land by one or more villages
in the immediate neighbourhood, and sometimes by a single
individual to whom the village has sold it. A few men and boys
attend the whole herd, whether of cattle or goats, and make the
cheese, which is apportioned out among the owners of the cattle
later on. The pigs go up to be fattened on whey. The cheese is
not commonly made at the alpe, but as soon as the curd has been
pressed clear of whey, it is sent down on men's backs to the
village to be made into cheese. Sometimes there will be a little
hay grown on an alpe, as at Gribbio and in Piora; in this case
there will be some chalets built, which will be inhabited for a few
weeks and left empty the rest of the year.

The monte is the pasture land immediately above the highest
enclosed meadows and below the alpe. The cattle are kept here in
spring and autumn before and after their visit to the alpe. The
monte has many houses, dairies, and cowhouses,--being almost the
paese, or village, in miniature. It will always have its chapel,
and is inhabited by so considerable a number of the villagers, for
so long a time both in spring and autumn, that they find it worth
while to make themselves more comfortable than is necessary for the
few who make the short summer visit to the alpe.

Every inch of the ascent was good, but the descent was even better
on account of the views of the Dalpe glacier on the other side the