Mountain

(mownt'an.) (Same der iv.] (Geog.) A large ma of earth and rock, rising above the common level of the earth or adjacent land, but of no definite altitude. Any M. of small dimensions is termed a hill, especially when it rises above the plain by almost insensible degrees. There are various parts in a M. which it is well to observe; for we have the base, the sides or declivities, and the top or summit. When the summit of a M. is detached, so to speak, from the general ma , by a uming all at once a very steep ascent, it is called a peak; such as the Pic-du-Midi in the Pyrenees, and the Pic-Blancin the Alps, near Mont Rosa, and the Peak of Teyda in the island of Teneriffe. Every flat summit is termed a plateau, while a rounded one is called a drove or hummock. The intervening space between two chains of M. is termed a valley; and this is said to be of the first cla when it serves as the basin of a large river. The lateral subdivisions which M.-chains frequently exhibit, and which form smaller valleys leading into the principal one, bear the name of branches. An offset is a series of smaller M. which detach themselves from the principal chain, receding from it in a direction almost parallel. If this offset be of small extent, it is termed a spur, while the name of crest is applied to the upper ridge, whether of a branch, an offset, or a spur. The highest summits ou the globe are -inAsia, Himalaya range: Mount Everest 29,002ft., Mouse, and Kunchinjinga 28,178; in America, Andes: Aconcagua 23,910, and Chimb or azo 21,420; in Europe, Alps: Mont Blanc 15,777, and Monte Rosa 15,206; in Africa, the Kilimandjaro, 21,000ft. Mouth, [s. 621]