The _Alps_ rise as the central mass of the southern mountain region of
Europe. The many groups comprised in this series of heights which curve
round the plain of Lombardy arrange themselves into three generally
recognized divisions:--The Western Alps, the groups lying between the
Gulf of Genoa and the Little St. Bernard Pass; the Central Alps,
extending from the St. Bernard to the pass named the Stilfser Joch; and
the Eastern Alps beyond this. The central mass is the highest, rising
with majestic forms from deep valleys up to sharp riven peaks, high
above the line of permanent snow; its wings to east and west decrease in
elevation towards the Gallic Sea and the plain of the Danube on either
side. All the less jagged heights are mantled in snows, from which
glacier streams descend. The largest of these ice streams are the
Aletsch glacier from the group of the Finsteraarhorn, and those of the
frequented valley of Chamounix, descending from Mont Blanc, the monarch
of the Alps.