C 5045 ) 
ofJdlf;^ or at the beginning of that, there ftmamfng but the 
flock of Ice for entertaining the increafe of the water unto the month 
oiAngap, fome have thence been indticed to fay, that this increafe, 
which amounts, as hath been faid, to 15, feet water generally ail over 
the Lake.is caufcd by the herbs,growiEg,as they preteBd,at its bottom 
in great abundance ^ and that thefe herbs, whiift growing, do force 
the water upwards.afld dying in autumn make the water to fink lower. 
Which is not fatisfadory to me,becaufe there are no herbs feen upon 
the Lake, and very little within it, and the banks being very 
dry.^ 
Others there are,that will have this water rarifiedby the heat of the 
Sun,and thereupon fwelled^on the borders^hot water not being fo high 
is the, middle as cold. 
This is certain, that all the rivers and torrents, that fall into this 
Lake, carry with them ftore of ftones and earth, which may indeed en- 
large and raife it : But fuch an augmentation or rife cannot be fen- 
fiblebutfromagetoagei not to mention, that in winter, whilftihe 
water is low, the ftones of the Lake are carried away for building 
fortifying at Geneva^ 
At the iffuing out of the barres,that forme Genevd.on the fide of the 
Lake,ar€ feen in the water two or three hugeFlints,ftanding out of the 
water the chief of which they cHl Niton : And the tradition is, thaC 
it formerly was an Altar confecrated to Neftme there being alfo a 
place cut out in the middle,which they take to have been the place for 
the facrifice. On this Flint fevcn or eight perfons can fit ^ and fome- 
timcs,whcn the waters are very low, there are found about it knives; 
and needles as thick as bodkins of tweefes, and much longer both of 
brafs^well enough made, and cfteeraed to have ferved for the facrifices. 
Thi? Lake in ferene and calm weather appears fometimes , and that 
even before Sun-rifing,as if it were made of divers pieces, differently 
coloured part of it being browner than the reft : which feems to be 
caufed Jjy a breath of wind palling thorow the water, coming either 
from the bottom of the Lake,or from above vthough others think this 
gentle agitation to proceed from fome fprings that arc at the bottom, 
making the water Ihiver above^But that part of the water, that is not 
moved, appears as even and fmootb as a looking-giafs, or like water 
traced by a fliip. And as for the Colors, they are, in my opinion, an ef-- 
fed of the neighbouring mountains, the different images of which, be- 
ing confounded in the water,make an appearance of very pale colours. 
After that the Rhone is entred into the Lake, he retakes not his im- 
petuous courfe before a quarter of a mile's diftance from its coming 
forth again,that is,above Geneva, And the nearer he coraes to tint 
Town,thc more his bed becoms narrow, and confequently his courfe 
more rapid. Yet this rapidnefs hath been in our times once furraoun- 
ted by wiodjand once by water.To underftand which, you may ima- 
Eeeee 2 ^ giaej, 
