34 RAMBLES IN WESTERN SWITZERLAND 



first trip to the Jura. It was a most delightful one to myself, and 

 I shall be well satisfied if I have communicated any of the amuse- 

 ment to my reader. 



CHAPTER II. 



English Scenery — Mex. — Cossonex.— Ascent of the Jura. 



Sudden Change of Scenery. — The Desert. — First View of 



the Lac de Joux — Le Pont. — The I^ac de Joux Lac de 



Brenet. — Vallorbe, the Valley and Village. — Jougne. 



It was about a month after my return to Lausanne from the little 

 expedition narrated in the preceding chapter, that I again bent my 

 steps to the western mountains ; and I did so, resolved to explore in 

 a wilder district, and to give more time to the various points of inter- 

 est that might present themselves. Even then, however, I was 

 sadly hurried, and missed much that well deserved examination, al- 

 though I certainly saw a great deal, both of Switzerland and the 

 Swiss, which travellers in general have carelessly and even supercili- 

 ously passed by. On starting, I took the road to the north-west, 

 which leads by several small villages to Cossonex, near which place 

 there is an abrupt and considerable ascent ; and the rest of the route, 

 as far as the Jura, is upon the high ridge of sand hills running pa- 

 rallel to the mountain chain, and terminating towards the south at the 

 Signal of Bougy, concerning which enough has already been said. 



Almost immediately on leaving Lausanne every vestige of houses 

 is lost sight of, and the scenery strikingly resembles the very prettiest 

 and quietest met with in the middle of England. Were it not, in- 

 deed, for the Savoy mountains still visible in the distance, the illusion 

 would be complete ; for the few vineyards to be seen give one quite 

 the idea of hop-gardens, and the rest of the ground, covered with 

 waving corn-fields and beautiful orchards, or dotted here and there 

 with rich clover and smiling meadow land, is all neatly enclosed with 

 quickset hedges, and covers the gentle slope of a most English-like hill. 

 Really the effect of a few miles of this agreeable home-scenery makes 

 one enjoy yet more the rich contrast presented when the noble and 

 majestic mountains form, as they usually do, an important feature in 

 the landscape. 



As I had not started very early, I found it expedient to halt at a 



