85 



and as bright as cryftal, v/as immediately be- 

 fore us. Near to us, at the upper extremity 

 of this fine fheet of water, appeared the city 

 . of Geneva, encompaffing the end of the lake 

 In femilunar form. Upon its fides were feen 

 many villages, towns, and country villas, 

 diftributed amidft verdant fields, or luxuriant 

 vineyards* At the diftance of a few miles, 

 on the left fhore, was the celebrated town of 

 Laufanne, with the towering mountains of 

 Jura, which divide Switzerland from France; 

 and before us, on the oppofite coaft of the 

 lake, rofe the gigantic Alps of Savoy, proudly 

 elevating thernfelves, in three vaft ranges, 

 jafpiring to the very fkies, and fcarcely leav- 

 ing a fpace between the earth and heaven. 

 The firft rife, gradually, behind the beautiful 

 villas and vineyards bordering the lake, and 

 are covered, to the top, with cattle and green 

 herbage; thofe of the fecond range, tower 

 above thefe, and appear, at the diftance of 

 from ten to twenty miles, in rugged pyramids 

 of naked rock ; and the moft remote, which 

 crown all the others, are feen above the 

 clouds, at the diftance of forty or fifty 



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