2 I 8 
SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 
another stream. Thus the Aar, below Berne, instead 
of continuing in the same direction, by what seems 
to have been its ancient course, along the broad 
valley now only occupied by the little Urtenenbach, 
suddenly turns at a right angle, falling into the valley 
of the Sarine, near Oltigen. 
Take again the Rhone (Fig. 58). It is said to 
turn at a right angle at Martigny, but in reality it 
falls into and adopts the transverse valley, which 
properly belongs to the Dranse; for the Dranse is 
probably an older river and ran in the present course 
even before the origin of the Valais. This would 
seem to indicate that the Oberland range is not so 
old as the Pennine, and that its elevation was so 
gradual that the Dranse was able to wear away a 
passage as the ridge gradually rose. After leaving 
the Lake of Geneva the Rhone follows a course 
curving gradually to the south, until it falls into and 
adopts a valley which properly belongs to the Val- 
serine, and afterwards another belonging to the little 
river Guiers; it subsequently joins the Ain, and 
finally falls into the Saone. If these valleys were 
attributed to their older occupiers, we should there- 
fore confine the name of the Rhone to the portion of 
its course from its source to Martigny. 
From Martigny it invades successively the val- 
