At the present time the chain is divided betwixt France, Switzerland, and Italy. France has the lion’s share, Switzerland the most fertile portion, and Italy the steepest side. It has acquired a reputation which is not extraordinary, but which is not wholly merited. It has neither the beauty of the Oberland, nor the sublimity of Dauphiné. It attracts the vulgar by the possession of the highest summit in the Alps. If that is removed, the elevation of the chain is in nowise remarkable. In fact, excluding Mont Blanc itself, the mountains of which the chain is made up are less important than those of the Oberland and the central Pennine groups. The following table will afford a ready means of comparison.(125) Mètres. Eng. feet(126) 1. Mont Blanc 4810 = 15,781 2. Grandes Jorasses 4206 . 13,800 3. Aiguille Verte 4127 . 13,540 4. Aiguille de Bionnassay 4061 . 13,324 5. Les Droites 4030 . 13,222 6. Aiguille du Géant 4010 . 13,157 7. Aiguille de Trélatête, No. 1 3932 . 12,900 Aiguille de Trélatête, No. 2 3904 . 12,809 Aiguille de Trélatête, No. 3 3896 . 12,782 8. Aiguille d’Argentière 3901 . 12,799 9. Aiguille de Triolet 3879 . 12,726 10. Aiguille du Midi 3843 . 12,608 11. Aiguille du Glacier 3834 . 12,579 12. Mont Dolent 3830 . 12,566 13. Aiguille du Chardonnet 3823 . 12,543 14. Aiguille du Dru 3815 . 12,517 15. Aiguille de Miage 3680 . 12,074 16. Aiguille du Plan 3673 . 12,051 17. Aiguille de Blaitière 3533 . 11,591 18. Aiguille des Charmoz 3442 . 11,293 The frontier-line follows the main ridge. Very little of it can be seen from the Valley of Chamounix, and from the village itself two small strips only are visible (amounting to scarcely three miles in length)—viz. from the summit of Mont Blanc to the Dôme du Goûter, and in the neighbourhood of the Col de Balme. All the rest is concealed by outlying ridges and by mountains of secondary importance.