The Rhine, its valley and history . om the Oberalp Pass,is already less than 4,000 feet above sea level, andChur, thirty miles further down, is less than 2,, the north-western boundary of the Grisons is arampart more than a mile high, which can be traversedonly on foot and at the cost of a long day. Further eastward a like barrier, the Rhaetikon, strikesnorth-westward from the Silvretta massif for thirtymiles, and beside it, within the Graubiinden, is a val-ley, the Prattigau. The Rhaetikon has peaks of 9,000feet and passes of 6,000; while Klosters, the village inthe head of the Pratti
The Rhine, its valley and history . om the Oberalp Pass,is already less than 4,000 feet above sea level, andChur, thirty miles further down, is less than 2,, the north-western boundary of the Grisons is arampart more than a mile high, which can be traversedonly on foot and at the cost of a long day. Further eastward a like barrier, the Rhaetikon, strikesnorth-westward from the Silvretta massif for thirtymiles, and beside it, within the Graubiinden, is a val-ley, the Prattigau. The Rhaetikon has peaks of 9,000feet and passes of 6,000; while Klosters, the village inthe head of the Prattigau, is less than 4,000 feet abovethe sea. The Rhaetikon is the boundary of the Grau-biinden and of Switzerland towards Austria. The Todi and Rhaetikon ranges thus approach oneanother from the south-east and from the south-westat Ragatz, north of Chur, and behind them the valleysof the Biindner Oberland and of the Prattigau simi-larly converge, and send the Rhine waters northwardbetween the range ends. As it flows past Ragatz the28. CHUR (COIRE): THL BISHOPS PALACE AN I CATHKDRA1 SQUARE The Rhaetic Rhi?ieRhine is at a level of only 1,700 feet, while the peakson either hand are of 9,000. The opening is threadedsouthward as far as Chur by a strip of green vineyards. A pallisade of glittering peaks and notched passesextending in a semicircle to the south from the Sil-vretta in the east to the Oberalp in the west, completesthe circuit of the basin. The torrents springing fromthe glaciers of these peaks, gather from the south-east,the south and the south-west, to escape by the Rhineportal at Ragatz, and the mountain paths which threadthe passes descend to Chur fan-wise. Oberalp, Lukma-nier, Greina, Bernardino, Spliigen, Duana, Septimer,Julier, Albula, Scaletta, Fluela—these are the historicnames of the Rhaetic Passes, not one of them of lessthan 6,000 feet. Within this boundary of glacial heights the Rhinebasin of the Graubiinden is a wilderness of broad ridges,a little lower than
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1908
