viii RIVERS AND LAKES 321 



that in the direction from Lucerne towards 

 Rapperschwyl there has been an elevation of 

 the land, which has dammed up the valleys 

 and thus turned parts of the Aa and the 

 Reuss into lakes — the two branches of the 

 Lake of Lucerne known as the Alpnach See 

 and Urner See. 



During the earthquakes of 1819 while part 

 of the Runn of Cutch, 2000 square miles in 

 area, sunk several feet, a ridge of land, called 

 by the natives the UUa-Bund or " the wall of 

 God," thirty miles long, and in parts sixteen 

 mUes wide, was raised across an ancient arm 

 of the Indus, and turned it temporarily into 

 a lake. 



In considering the great Italian lakes, 

 which descend far below the sea level, we 

 must remember that the Valley of the Po is a 

 continuation of the Adriatic, now filled up 

 and converted into land, by the materials 

 brought down from the Alps. Hence we are 

 tempted to ask whether the lakes may not 

 be remains of the ancient sea which once 

 occupied the whole plain. Moreover just as 

 the Seals of Lake Baikal in Siberia carry us 



