580 
(hey recede, and form an_ extensive 
plain. 
TOURNETTS. 
The highest mountains are on the 
eastern side; the Tournetts, opposite 
Chateau Duing, I found by admeasure- 
ment to rise from 5560 to 5637 English 
feet above the lake, and as the lake is, 
according to Saussure, 1460 English 
fect above the level of the sea, the ab- 
solute elevation of the Tournetts is 
about 7600 feet, or about 1000 feet be- 
low the line of perpetual snow. The 
show, however, remains near the sum- 
mit till the commencement of July, and 
even in the month of August I saw 
Jarge masses of snow on the western 
side of the mountain, in shaded situa- 
tions. 
* 'The next most remarkable mountain 
here isthe Dent d’Alencon ; its sum- 
mit is composed of a perpendicular wall 
or ridge of limestone, the remains of a 
calcareous stratum, ranged like the tur- 
rets of au ancient castle, and standing 
on a detaclied steep and narrow slope, 
which is partially covered with verdure. 
The height of this mountain I found to 
be 3840 fect above the level of the lake, 
and the height of the perpendicular 
wall or ridge is from 400 to 500 feet. 
OPPRESSION OF THE CORVEE. 
We had here an opportunity of wit- 
nessing the oppressions of the corvée, or 
Jevy, by which all proprictors, or even 
peasants, who have one or more horses, 
mules, or oxen, are obliged to bring 
them, and work themselves also at the 
road, three or four days in every week, 
for two months, without any wages or 
recompense whatever. In case of fail- 
ure, their goods are seized, or soldiers 
are quartered on them in proportion to 
the extent of their defalcation. ‘The 
misery and dissatisfaction expressed in 
the famished countenances of these poor 
labourers, whom we frequently met re- 
turning of an evening, I shall never for- 
get. Great numbers of them came 
froma distance, and nearly one-third of 
those who worked on the road were wo- 
men, who helped their husbands or 
sons. 
One day we passed the cottage of a 
widow ; who appeared in great distress; 
on enquiring the cause, she told us that 
her only son had absconded to avoid 
working at the corvée, and she was 
every moment expecting the officers to 
come and take away the little furniture 
she possessed. Such are the blessings 
of the legitimate and paternal govern- 
ments which the allied powers bestowed 
on Savoy and the Italian states, in 1814, 
34 . 
Bakewell’s Travels in the Tareniaise, &c. 
when they replaced them under the do- 
Minion of their ancient rulers, without 
any regard to the feclings, the wants, 
or the wishes of the inhabitants, and 
then, as if in mockery, they styled them- 
selves the liberators of Europe.. With 
as much truth might the emperors of 
Fez and Morocco be styled the liberators 
of Africa. ‘ 
: THONES. 
The town of Thones is situated higher 
up the vale. There appears no car- 
riage road to it, but I was surprised to 
find, on entering the gate, that it was a 
handsome town for Savoy, containing 
above 2000 inhabitants, with a spacious 
market-place, and a well-built chureh 
in the centre of it. 
‘The persons at the inn where Talighted 
were surprised to see a stranger, and 
still more so to find that I had no other 
object in view but to explore the valley, 
at which, however, ihey scemed much 
pleased. They endeavoured to persuade 
me to sleep there, in order that I might 
visit some mountain. lakes the following 
morning, which they represented as 
highly curious. It may appear extra- 
ordinary that there should be so con- 
siderable a town in a situation appa- 
rently so secluded, but Thénes is the 
capital of a nnmber of valleys which 
open into the main valley, and have no. 
other outlet. Each of these valleys 
contain several villages and hamlets, 
and it would be searcely possible for 
the inhabitants of these remote villages 
to attend the market at Annccy, in order 
to dispose of their produce. It is there- 
fore brought to Thénes, and purchased 
by agents from different parts of Savoy, 
and even from Geneva. 
The whole population of the valley of 
Thones, including the mountain valleys 
that branch from it, amounts to nearly 
12,000 persons, Itforms a canton in 
Savoy. There is a glass-house, tan- 
neries, and various manufactures at 
Thénes, to supply the inhabitants of the 
district with articles of indispensible 
necessity. Fairs for cattle and cheese 
are held here four times a year, 
On the eastern side of the valley, 
about two miles from the town of Thoénes, 
there is a rock which presents an ap- 
pearance of double stratification, not 
uncommon in the calcareous mountains 
of the Alps, and which has frequently 
induced Saussure to suppose that ver- 
tical strata were placed in junction with 
other strata nearly horizontal; au error 
into which he has been led, by mistaking 
very distinct vertical cleavages for 
stratification, On approaching this rock, 
I had 
