Bakewell's Travels in the Tarentaise, &c. 
pressive, were they not appropriated to 
diminutive objects. 
At the bottom of most valleys there is 
a flat, or plain, more or-less broad ; this 
the Germans cal] the Thalweg, er val- 
ley-way. Some valleysin the Alps have 
no plain; but the hills on each side slope 
down to the river which traverses them. 
We have no word to denote the thal- 
weg, but use the bottom of the valley to 
desiguate the lowest part of every kind 
of valley. 
Thal, in the Swiss Alps, as well as in 
Germany, designates a valley, but is 
always written after the name, as Sim- 
men-thal, or the valley of the Simmen, 
&c. In Auvergne the summits of the 
volcanic mountains are called Puys; 
they are generally dome-shaped, or co- 
nical. ‘he word is probably Celtic. 
The rough and broken currents of Java 
that rise abeve the surface of the coun- 
try are called cheres, probably a con- 
traction of sierras. 
A SAINT AND HIS RELICS. 
St. Francis de Sales was descended 
from the noble family ef de Sales, in 
Savoy; he was born in 1867. Having 
devoted himself to the church and 
evinced great zeal and eloquence in its 
defence, he was ordained Prince and 
Bishop of Geneva by Pope Clement the 
Highbth ; for the popes assumed the righit 
to confer these titles, long after the re- 
formed religion had been established at 
Geneva; Annecy being, made the bi- 
shop’s seat when the Gevenese expelled 
the chapter from their city. St. Francis 
de Sales died at Lyons in 1622, and 
was buried at Annecy. His canoniza- 
tidn took place in 1665; but before that 
event, his remains were so highly valued 
by the inhabitants, that when this city 
was taken by the I’'rench in 1630, one of 
the six articles of capitulation stipulated, 
“that the body of the venerable Francis 
de Sales should never be removed from 
the city.” In the year 1806, his bones 
were translated with great solemnity 
from the church where they were first 
deposited, to a chapel in the cathedral, 
and are much resorted to by devotees, 
Never having seen the genuine relics 
of a saint, we made application at the 
cathedral to be admitted to the beatific 
vision. ‘The service was just over, and 
we were ushered into an apartment 
where the holy things belonging to the 
priesthood are deposited. Here one of 
the priests was upon his knees performing 
his secret devotions. When he rose 
and was informed what we were come 
for, he immediately put on a peculiar 
crass, and taking a lighted taper walked 
5/9 
before us to the shrine. On entering the 
chapel, he crossed himself, and made 
two profound reverences; he then ad- 
vanced, and, lighting two tapers, un- 
drew the curtain which screened the 
body from vulgar gaze; he again re- 
peated his genuflections and crossings, 
and withdrew, leaving us to gratify our 
curiosity undisturbed. While this ce- 
remony was going on, we endeavoured 
to preserve a becoming grayity, for it 
would have been both ungenerous and 
crucl to have wounded the feelings of our 
reverend conductor, particularly as he 
seemed somewhat ashamed of having to 
perform such a ceremony before English 
heretics. ‘The glass case that held the 
relics was the full length of the saint, 
but all that we could see, on_a close in- 
spection, was the scarlet robe that en- 
veloped the body, and a silver mask that 
covered the face. The relics of La Mere 
Chantal, or Saint Jane Frances Fremiot 
de Chantal, are deposited in a neighbour- 
ing church, and may be seen, together 
with the chemise of that pious Jady ; but 
our curiosity was sufficiently satisfied. 
Pious Catholics regard the friendship 
of St. Francis de Sales and La Mere 
Chantal, as an edifying example of mu- 
tual affection spiritualized and refined 
from all admixture with the infirmities 
that flesh is heir to; but as they lived 
at a period when the animosity between 
religious sects had no bounds, the cha- 
racter and memory of St. Francis de 
Sales were attacked with much bitter- 
ness by the protestants, who described 
his attachment to the young widow as 
partaking of the frailty and consequences 
of earthly passion. Itis reported, that 
a demon which had taken possession of 
her person, was exorcised and cast out 
of her in the'visible form of an infant. 
This little imp, the protestants assert, 
was no other than the natural offspring 
of her spiritual friend and guide. Had 
such been the fact, we may be almost 
assured that the secret would have been 
better guarded from the knowledge of 
heretics, than by the flimsy veil of a 
Romish miracle. 
LAKE OF ANNECY. 
The Lake ef Annecy is about ten 
English miles in length, and varies in 
breadth from one to two miles. The 
lowest part of the lake, between Annecy 
and Duing, is about seven miles in 
length, and ranges N.N.E. to S.S.W.: 
but the upper part, after passing the 
island, ranges due south. ‘The lake is 
surrounded by steep calcareous moun- 
tains, which approach very close to it, 
except on the north, near Apnecy, where 
they 
