26 SPRINGS, RIVERS, CANALS, LAKES, 



Grimsel mountain, and then directs its course from east to west, 

 till, after a winding northward, it discharges itself with great impe- 

 tuosity into the lake of Geneva: all the streams and lesser rivers of 

 the Valais issuing from the mountains mingle witiiit. 



The waters of tire Rhone rush into the lake with such rapidity, 

 that for the distance of half a league, they continue unmixed with 

 those of the lake, the one being very foul, and the other very clear ; 

 but afterwards, says Keysler, there is no visible distinction, though 

 some of the ancient, and some modern writers, affirm tiie contrary. 

 At itserflux from the lake it forms an island, on which, together with 

 the banks on both sides, the city of Geneva is built, being divided 

 into three unequal parts, which have a communication by four 

 bridges. On ward it forms the boundary between France and Savoy. 

 It then takes a westward direction, and dividing the late province of 

 Burgaudy from that of Dauphmy, it flows to Lyons, from which city 

 it proceeds due southward, forming the eastern boundary of Langue- 

 doc, and at the city of Avignon begins to divide it from Provence. It 

 discharges its waters into the Mediterranean by several mouths, a 

 little below Aries. On the banks of the Rhone, between Valence 

 and St. Valiere, a peculiar kind of grape is cultivated, from which 

 an agreeable, but roughish, red wine is procured, which bears the 

 name of hermitage, and is considered as very wholesome, as well as 

 excellent in point of taste. 



The VISTULA, or WEISEL, in Polish the Wisla, rises among the 

 Carpathian mountains, on the confines of Silesia and Upper Hun- 

 gary ; its course is in a north-west direction through Little Poland, 

 a part of Masovia, of Great Poland, and of Prussia, and falls by 

 three mouths into the Baltic, beiovv Dantzic. Warsaw, the capital 

 city of Poland, and Thorn, once a place of considerable trade, are 

 situated on its banks. Great quantities of grain and timber, the 

 growth of Poland, are sent down this river to Dantzic, and there 

 exported to foreign countries ; but this trade has been greatly 

 checked of late by the heavy duties imposed upon it. 



The ELBE rises in the Giants' Mountain, in the principality of 

 Jauer, in Silesia, not far from the source of the Vistula. In Saxony 

 it divides the capital city Dresden into what is called the Old and 

 New Town, which are united by a stone bridge, six hundred and 

 eighty-five paces long, and seventeen broad., containing eighteen 



