320 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



feet above the sea level, but rises towards the 

 East x and North until near Fine it reaches an 

 elevation of 972 feet. As this terrace must 

 have been originally horizontal we have here 

 a lake barrier, due to a difference of elevation, 

 amounting to over 600 feet. 



In the same way we get a clue to the curi- 

 ous cruciform shape of the Lake of Lucerne 

 as contrasted with the simple outline of such 

 lakes as those of Neuchatel or Zurich. That 

 of Lucerne is a complex lake. Soundings 

 have shown that the bottom of the Urner See 

 is quite flat. It is in fact the old bed of the 

 Reuss, which originally ran, not as now by 

 Lucerne, but by Schwytz and through the 

 Lake of Zug. In the same way the Alpnach 

 See is the old bed of the Aa, which likewise 

 ran through the Lake of Zug. The old river 

 terraces of the Reuss can be traced in places 

 between Brunnen and Goldau. Now these 

 terraces must have originally sloped from the 

 upper part downwards, from Brunnen towards 

 Goldau. But at present the slope is the other 

 way, i.e. from Goldau towards Brunnen. 

 From this and other evidence we conclude 



