THE REUSS. 
209 
first appears at Amsteg, from which village to Atting- 
hausen the road passes through a Flysch region of 
rich meadows and shady woods; from Attinghausen 
to the Bock brook about half an hour from Erstfeld 
is Hochgebirgskalk. 
The valley above Fluelen has been admirably 
described by Rutimeyer, from whose memoir* most 
of the following figures are taken. The Upper Reuss 
is a transverse valley, and in fact from Erstfeld to 
Luino on the Lago Maggiore, the strike and mineral 
character of the rocks on both sides of the valley are 
very similar. 
The two sides indeed are so similar that in 
several cases lines of fracture can be traced com- 
pletely across the valley. 
At Erstfeld the crystalline rock appears, mainly 
Mica schist, and micaceous Gneiss. As we look 
westwards— the jagged ridges of the crystalline rocks 
are in marked contrast to the softer outlines of the 
calcareous mountains. 
From Amsteg to Gurtnellen the prevalent rock is 
Sericitic Gneiss, with lenticular masses of Amphibolite, 
which stretches away south-westwards by Guttannen 
to the Lauteraarhorner and eastwards to the Tschingel 
Glacier. 
* liber Thai- u. Seebildung. 
Scenery of Switzerland. II. 
4 
