r side, that Hannibal lost thirty-three thousand men from the
time he left the Pyrenees till he entered the plains of Northern Italy;
and he arrived on the Po with only twelve thousand Africans, eight
thousand Spanish infantry, and six thousand horse. Napoleon's army which
fought at Marengo was only twenty-nine thousand, but he had lost no men
in the passage of the Alps, and only a few in the difficult passage
across the precipices of Mont Albaredo, opposite the fort of Bard, in
the valley of the Doria Baltea. It is ridiculous, after this, to compare
the passages of the Alps by Napoleon to their crossing by Hannibal. The
French emperor has many other titles, too well founded, to warrant a
comparison with the Carthaginian hero, to render it necessary to recur
to one which is obviously chimerical.

It is a question which has divided the learned since the revival of
letters, by what pass Hannibal crossed the Alps. The general opinion of
those who have studied the subject, inclines to the opinion that he
crossed by the Little St Bernard; and to this opinion Arnold inclines.
He admits, however, with his usual candour, that, "in some respects,
also, Mont Cenis suits the description of the march better than any
other pass[24]." After having visited and traversed on foot both passes,
the author of this paper has no hesitation in expressing his decided
conviction, that he passed by Mont Cenis. His reasons for this opinion
are these:--1. It is mentioned by Polybius, that Hannibal reached the
summit of the Alps on the _ninth_ day after he had left the plains of
Dauphine. This period coincides well with what might have then been
required to ascend, as the country was, on the neighbourhood of Grenoble
or Echelles; while the ascent to the summit of the Little St Bernard,
would not require more than half the time. 2. The narrow defile of St
Jean de Maurienne, which leads from the plain of Montmelian to the foot
of Mont Cenis, corresponds much more closely with the description, given
both in Livy[25] and Polybius[26], of that in which the first serious
engagement took place between Hannibal and the Mountaineers, two days
after they had left the plains of Dauphine, than the comparatively open
valley which leads to the foot of the Little St Bernard. 3. From the
summit of the Little St Bernard you can see nothing of Italy, nor any
thing approaching to it; a confused sea of mountains alone meets the eye
on every side. Whereas, from the sout