is a place of inns,
hostelries, of blacksmith shops, where in the busy season the sound of
hammer and anvil is heard all night; of stables and corrals crowded with
pack and draft animals; of storehouses where the traveler can provide
himself with food for the journey across the barren, uninhabited
heights. It is the typical outfitting point such as springs up on the
margin of any pure transit region, whether mountain or desert. Such
places are Andermatt and Airolo, lying at an altitude of 4000 feet or
more on the St. Gotthard road, St. Moritz below the Maloja Pass, Jaca
near the Pass de Canfranc over the Pyrenees, Kugiar and Shahidula[1236] at
an elevation of 10,775 feet or 3285 meters on the road up to the
Karakorum Pass (18,548 feet or 5655 meters), which crosses the highest
range of the Himalayas between Leh in the upper Indus Valley and
Yarkand in Chinese Turkestan.

[Sidenote: Lower settlements.]

Farther down the transverse valley the type of settlement changes where
side valleys, leading down from other passes, converge and help build up
a distributing center for a considerable highland area. Such a point is
Chiavenna in northern Italy, located above the head of Lake Como at the
junction of the Mera and Liro valleys, which lead respectively to the
Spluegen and Maloja passes. It lies at an altitude of 1090 feet (332
meters) and has a population of 4000. Such a point is Aosta (1913 feet
or 583 meters elevation) in the Dora Baltea Valley, commanding the
Italian approaches to the Great St. Bernard Pass, and the less important
Col de Fenetre leading to the upper Rhone, the Little St. Bernard
highway to the valley of the Isere, and Col de la Seigne path around the
Mont Blanc range to the valley of the Arve. Aosta was an important place
in the Roman period and has to-day a population of about 8000. Kokan, in
the upper Sir-Daria Valley in Russian Turkestan, commands the approach
to the passes of the western Tian Shan and the northern Pamir. Its
well-stocked bazaars, containing goods from Russia, Persia and India,
testify to its commercial location.

[Sidenote: Pass cities and their markets.]

When the highland area is very broad and therefore necessitates long
transit journeys, genuine pass cities develop at high altitudes, and
become the termini of the transmontane trade. Such is the Leh (11,280
feet or 3439 meters) on the caravan route from Central Asia over the
Karakorum Pass down to Kashmir, and such is Srinagar