A, _The Woëvre_; B, _Trench along Montgirmont Crest_ (_the photo was taken from here_); C, _Eparges Crest_; D, _Death Ravine_; E, _Shelters in the sides of Eparges Crest_; F, _Trench_.] [Illustration: TRENCH IN DEATH RAVINE, 1915] _Go through the village_, of which only a few walls remain standing. Numerous French defence works, including some of concrete. [Illustration: DEATH RAVINE (1915)] _At the last house the road turns to the right in front of_ a French cemetery, _and goes towards_ =Trésauvaux=, passing between Montgirmont Crest _on the right and_ Hures Hill _on the left_ (_photo, p. 28_). All along the trenches, shelters and numerous graves. [Illustration] _At the top of the hill_ the houses of Trésauvaux _come into view_. _Here leave the car and climb the slopes of Montgirmont_ (trenches, boyaux, etc.), _from the top of which there is a fine_ panorama of Eparges on the French side (_photo, p. 29_). It is a desolate scene. The side of the hill is full of craters and shell-holes, forming so many grey patches on the reddish earth on which no vegetation survives. The glorious crest, entirely bare, stands out against the sky. Death Ravine, where so many brave men fell in the first assault on Eparges, lies between Montgirmont (_where the tourist stands_) and Eparges. Eparges Spur Eparges Spur, 1,500 yards in length and over a thousand feet high, forms the end of Woëvre Plain. Its sides are steep and slippery, while numerous springs and rivulets run down its slopes. It has been rightly called “a mountain of mud.” Eparges Heights form part of a series of hills, among which are Hures, Montgirmont, Combres and St. Remy. Of these, Eparges Crest is the most important. By nature an observation-post, its possession enabled those who held it to keep all the surrounding roads under gunfire. The Germans captured it on September 21, 1914, and immediately made several lines of trenches between the summit and the valleys. At some points, five rows of batteries, one above another, were placed, and nowhere were there less than two. Facing Eparges Crest, the French held the brow of Montgirmont to the north, and below, the village of Eparges, only 600 yards from the German trenches. Between Montgirmont and the northern slopes of Eparges Heights, an earth track crosses the pass between the two hills. It was on the western side that, at the end of October, the French began the attack, sapping step by step, while at the same time they slipped into the woods on the north-east, which cover the side of the ravine.