AND THE JURA. 27 



my reflections upon it, I will proceed to describe a few days spent, last 

 summer, most agreeably, in wandering and exploring in the valleys 

 of the Jura ; and though the results of my expedition cannot be said 

 to possess much that is novel or of scientific interest, they may, at all 

 events, help to pass away an idle hour, and induce others to visit, in 

 a similar way, a district abounding in wild romantic and forest 

 scenery. 



The part of Switzerland to which the peregrinations I am about to 

 describe were confined, consists of a narrow strip limited by a line 

 through Lausanne and Neuchatel to the east, and the frontier of 

 France to the west. It includes a small part of the great valley of 

 Switzerland, and the greater part of the line of mountains well known 

 under the name of " The Jura.*' 



This chain of the Jura extends for about one hundred and fifty 

 miles in a direct line between the Rhine and the Rhone, and forms 

 the natural boundary of France and Switzerland. Towards the north 

 it expands in an easterly direction, forming several irregularly paral- 

 lel ridges ; but throughout there is an approximation to a division 

 into three principal lines, which, however, nearly unite towards Ge- 

 neva, and are represented in the very singular mountain of the Saleve, 

 which rises immediately to the south of that city. Such is the gene- 

 ral appearance of the chain. The elevations are all considerable, but 

 none of them excessive, the usual range being from three to five 

 thousand feet, although Mont Tendre reaches a height of nearly six 

 thousand. The outline is, for the most part, rounded and heavy, 

 wanting all the sharp, jagged, needle-shaped projections, which render 

 the high Alps so picturesque and grand. Seen from a distance, there 

 is nothing striking or prepossessing in the prospect ; and the eye of 

 the traveller entering Switzerland is naturally and necessarily at- 

 tracted to the more remarkable configuration which the great chain 

 of the Alps presents to view. It is only when we come near, and 

 view in detail the separate mountains of the Jura from the valleys 

 between them — when we wander in the vast forests of lofty pines, or 

 look down from a bold, rocky, naked eminence, upon the mixture of 

 desolation and cultivation, of nature and art, of wildness and beauty, 

 which the numerous valleys present — when we come suddenly upon 

 the most retired and most lovely of lakes, or thread the narrow and 

 singular gorges which at intervals present themselves— it is only, in 

 fact, when we search for the beauties that we find and truly enjoy 

 them ; for I am willing to admit that they do not force themselves 



