Note 1 — INTRODUCTION

Called “Latschen” hereabouts, because they are “gelegt”—pressed earthwards by winter snows; or else by the old Rhætic name of “Zuondra” which we sometimes twist into “Sonderinen.” They are more generally known as “Legföhren.” These groves of Pinus pumilio deserve careful protection; they shield the meadows below from the devastating effects of cloudbursts in the upper regions, from stone-cataracts and—by welding all successive snowfalls into that first one which lies anchored among their twisted limbs—from avalanches.