C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

127~ Nean theDivideThe Divide. The Height of Land.What romance and suggestiveness lie in those words, what a sense of continentalvastness. They provoke thoughts of adventure and gold-seeking, of theRocky Mountains and incredible feats of pioneers who were always driven bysome nameless urge towards the sunset or the North. The height ofland; thegreat Divide that separates Alaska from Canada.I murmured the words over and over to myself in deep excitement, for we wereactually nearing the Divide. All subsequent travels over cols and passes have beencolourless by comparison with our crossing of the height of land which is like adying effort of the Rocky Mountains to assert themselves in the North. The word"Pass" has a certain glamour, it is true, being suggestive of Tibetan Lamaseries,of the Khyber, of the Himalayas, of St Bernard dogs and their incomparablefeats in snow. But what is a mere "col" in these modern days? A little somethingmarked on the map in small letters, and when you come near you drive up to thetop in your Jaguar or Austin or Riley by easy looping lines on a tarmac road thatis smooth as glass, and when you have reached it you stop for five minutes todrink hot coffee in a restaurant and take a picture or two with your cine-camera,in the company of dozens of tourists like yourself. Then you drive down similarloops of a similar road on the other side and you have not the excitement of overcomingany difficulties or meeting with any dangers.It may be that you traverse two or three such cols in a single day and that everafterwards they remain confused in your memory.