SWITZERLAND. 



719 



i&ting slopes, vine-clad fields, and bright patches of vegetation. Alonl Blanc, the highest 

 summit in Europe, overlooks the celebrated vale of Chaniouni in Savoy ; a district not com- 

 prised within the political limits of Switzerland, but which pertains to it in a geographical 

 character. This mountain is 15,814 feet in height ; it is capped with eternal snow, and the 

 approach to the top is so full of difficulty and hazard that it has never been ascended, except in 

 4 or 5 instances. The Helvetian, or Lepontine Jllps, extend from Mount Ross to Mount 

 Bernardino ; their most elevated branch forms the northern boundary of the Valais, stretching 

 from the Lake of Geneva to Mount St. Gothard. The loftiest summit is Finsteraarhorn, 

 14,111 feet high ; the Jungfrau, or Virgin, is 13,718 feet high. The Rhoitian Alps extend 

 through the Grisons and Tyrol, sending off a branch to Lake Constance. Some of their 

 summits in Switzerland attain the height of 12,000 feet. 



One distinguishing characteristic of the Swiss mountains is the Glaciers, which resemble a 

 stormy sea, suddenly congealed and bristling all over with sharp ridges.* The avalanches, or 

 slips of snow, form another peculiar feature in the scenery of this country. There are innu- 

 merable valleys, entirely desolated, and almost inaccessible to anything having life, in conse- 

 quence of these tremendous visitations from the surrounding cliffs. Not only the snow-fields, 

 but mountains themselves, occasionally, slide down upon the country below. In 1806, a piece 

 of the Rossberg, twice as large as the city of Paris, slipped down at once into the Lake of 

 Lowertz, and occasioned the most dreadful devastation. Another accident of the same kind 

 occurred on the Lake of Lucerne, in 1801, when 11 persons were drowned at a village on the 

 opposite side of the lake, by the wave raised by the plunge of the falling mass. Switzerland 

 abounds in deep and romantic valleys, many of v.hich are fertile and well-cultivated, and full of 

 wild and picturesque scenery. 



3. Rivers. The Rhine has its three sources in the Rhaetian Alps, and, passing through the 

 Lake of Constance, flows to the westward, until it reaches Basle. The Rhone is formed by 

 different streams from Mounts Grimsel and Furca, and flows into the lake of Geneva. The 

 Tesino issues from Mount Griers and traverses lake Maggiore in Italy. The Inn rises in the 

 Grisons, runs northeast, and subsequently joins the Danube. The Aar is the principal stream 

 which has its course wholly in Switzerland. Rising in the Lepontine Alps, it traverses the 

 lakes of Brientz and Thun, and, after receiving the waters of the lakes of Neufchatel, Zurich, 

 Lucerne, and some other lakes, empties itself into the Rhine. 



4. Lakes. The Lake of Geneva, called also Leman, is 40 miles long. It is 1,230 feet 

 above the level of the sea, and its greatest depth is about 1,000 feet. The waters of this lake 

 are beautifully transparent, and the surrounding scenery has long been celebrated for its magnif- 

 icence. The Lake of Constance is about 45 miles in length, and 15 in breadth. The Lake 

 Lugano is at an elevation of 880 feet above the sea. The Lake of Lucerne, or the Four 

 Forest Cantons, is above 20 miles in length, and from 8 to 10 in breadth ; its greatest depth 

 is about 600 feet, and its navigation dangerous. Among the numerous other lakes are those 

 of Zurich, JK'eufchatel, Thun, Brientz, Moral, and Biel. 



5. Climate. From the great elevation of Switzerland, the air is pure and salubrious ; and 

 though in some of the narrow valleys, where radiation is great, the heat is often excessive, yet 

 the atmosphere is in general much cooler than might be expected from the latitude. Three 

 different climates may be said to exist in ihis country ; viz. the cold in the Alps, the temperate 

 in the plains, and the hot in the canton of Tesino. In the valleys, however, the temperature 

 of districts at a short distance from one another, often varies extremely. 



6. Soil. In the upper regions of Switzerland, which fall within the limits of cultivation, the 

 soil is chiefly composed of particles crumbled from the rocks that tower above them, and is 

 consequently stony and barren, or merely clothed with a scanty covering of shoi t herbs ; but 

 in the lower tracts it is often rich and productive, and in a few places marshy. 



7. Geology. The Alps aflrjrd the materials of continual study to the geologist who exam- 



* A recent traveler, in describing ttiem, says ; " Ynu 

 cannot picture the scene ; but you can form some idea of 

 the awe struck astonishment whici) filled our minds, when, 

 after surmounting all the difficulties of the way, we found 

 ourselves standing amidst a world of ice, extending around, 

 beneath, above us; far beyond where the straiiiino- sight, 

 in every direction, vainly sought to follow the interjnina- 

 ble frozen leagues of glaciers, propped up in towering 

 pyramids, oi shapeless heaps, or opening into yawninir 



gulfs, and unfathomable fissures. Here there is no trace 

 of vegetation, no blade of grass, no bush, no tree ; no 

 spreading weed or creeping lichen invades the cold, still 

 desolation of the icy desert- It is tlje death of nature'. 

 The only sound which meets the ear is that of the load 

 detonation of the ice, as it bursts open into new abysses 

 with the crash of thunder, and reverberates from the wild 

 rocks like the voice of the mountain storms " 



