36 RAMBLES IN WESTERN SWITZERLAND 



mountains successively elevating their broad shoulders above the hori- 

 zon, until at length the whole chain became visible from the Mol^son 

 and other mountains in the canton of Freyburg, to the Savoy 

 mountains, presenting towards the south-east splendid and very 

 characteristic views of those two giants, the Dent de Midi and 

 the Dent de Morcles,* which stand as sentinels, obhged, indeed, 

 to allow the waters of the Rhone a free passage, but frowning 

 upon, and threatening, as it were, with instant destruction, any bold 

 intruder who may venture to prosecute his wayward fancies, and at- 

 tempt to trace here the history of the now calm and uniform, though 

 once fearfully disturbed, course of nature. 



And then it was not less interesting to let the eye dwell upon the 

 rich and charming tract of cultivated land extending between the lakes 

 of Neuchatel and Geneva, and abutting directly against the highljT 

 inclined strata of the mountain I was scaling. The bird's eye view 

 of this portion of the valley, when seen in comparison with real 

 mountains, presented the appearance only of a vast plain, with a chain 

 of low hills running N.E. and S.W., and here and there a small se- 

 ries of undulations, just sufficent to take away the character of mono- 

 tony that might otherwise have belonged to it. 



It will easily be conceived that scenery so varied and extensive, so 

 rich in all that constitutes the riches of a country, and yet so noble 

 and majestic in the distant prospect, could not be unattractive. Many, 

 indeed, were the long lingering looks which I cast behind me as the 

 shades of evening gradually closed in, and the broad, deep, and 

 lengthening shadow of the huge mountain before me made the inter- 

 mediate valley dark and gloomy, and threw out with greater distinct- 

 ness the outline of the distant elevations, whose snowy summits were 

 becoming tinged with the rosy hue which marks a Swiss sunset. 



By the time that I arrived at the top of the pass the sun had quite 

 disappeared, and was succeeded by the moon, which, being at the 

 full, poured forth a flood of light and glory, causing it to be almost 

 too bright for the eye to gaze on without pain. Then, too, the sce- 

 nery entirely and quite suddenly changed, in a manner as unexpected 

 as it was striking. I will endeavour to give some idea of the new 

 view which presented itself, both because it was in itself most beauti- 



• The valley of the Rhone, after a long course to the south-west, turns 

 suddenly and at right angles to the north-west at Martigny, and passes be- 

 tween these two singular mountains in the only break that occurs between 

 IMont Blanc and the Oberland Alps. 



