SCENERY OF SWITZERt.ANn. 
II4 
CHAPTER XVll. 
THE VALAIS. 
The valley of the Rhone, from the Lake of 
Geneva to the Glacier, forms the Canton of Valais 
— the valley par excellence. 
The present valley from Villeneuve to the Gorge 
of St. Maurice was evidently at one time a part of 
the lake, and would be so still if it were not for the 
deposits brought down by the Rhone.| 
From Villeneuve to Martigny the Rhone occupies 
a transverse valley, cutting across the strike of the 
strata, which form a succession of complicated folds, 
the strata being often, as it were, brayed together, 
and sometimes vertical. They correspond on the 
two sides. 
The valley is, no doubt, of great antiquity. Favre 
and Schardt consider that it originally formed a 
narrow gulf of the sea.* This view has also the 
support of Renevier’s high authority, but seems to 
me, I confess, improbable. It has all the appear- 
* Beiir. 2. Geol. K. d. Schw., L. XXII. 
