ABSTRACT
Astill greater danger overhangs travellers among mountains that are full of caves, for through the concentration of tiny snowflakes there one can observe the blasts and gusts of wind roused to such violence in those places that, unless they bring along shovels or ice-picks with which to clear the way, they have hardly any hope of emerging from mountains so high and valleys so deep. These, then, are the principal mountains: Dovre, Skars, Sula, and Hornilla, 1 and there are many others like them, from whose feet, or hearts, issue enormous rivers, some to the east, some to the west. The mountains are continuous, their ridges stretching in a line which runs from south to north in an unbroken hump. 2 Their names are taken from provinces, rivers, or the shape of the land, or from the wild beasts that live in them, as for instance, bears, wolves, and stags, or from beavers and other animals that are completely covered in fur, for, to suit the nature of their habitat, these are extremely well clad against the violence of the cold. This is why, if lions, camels, apes, asses, or mules are transported there, they can scarcely survive, as I reported in Bk I about the horrific cold. 3 The natives make their way into these mountains in winter-time using reindeer like yoked stags to bear quite heavy burdens for a distance of almost two hundred Italian miles. 4 A single man will own forty tame reindeer, of which any one can sustain a weight of two hundred pounds or more. 5
Very tiny snowflakes more dangerous
Names of mountains
Huge rivers
Names of mountains from hairy animals
There are no lions, camels, etc. in the North
