504 
forms in the interior of the channel a pro- 
jection, or fort of cornice, which ftands 
out eight or ten feet on both fides, but 
which being open in the middle allows one 
to fee the furface of the water runnibg 
tranguiliy at the bottom. ‘The cornice 
thus feparates the channel into two parts, 
an upper and a jower one; the former of 
thefe 1s fomewhat wider than the: latter: 
the Rhone, enclofed during winter in the 
jower divifion, runs very flowly, in con- 
fequence, no deubt, of its, incenfiderable 
declivity. 
*< Thus far, however, the Rhone is not 
abfoiutely lot, becaufe the furface of the. 
water is every where to be diftinguithed : 
but at two or three hundred paces below 
the gulf or funnel, which has been already 
mentioned, vatt mafles of rock, which 
have been detached from the ee of the 
upper division of the channel, have fallen 
ito it, and icdged themielves on the fa- 
lient furface of the cornice which projets 
over theinferior one. “i hele accumulated 
fragments thus ee an additional cover- 
ing, and for the {pace of about imy yards 
conceal the river, which is iyclofed in the 
iubterranean pafiage. It is here, there- 
tore, that the Rhone is really loft: it is 
throughout this fpace of fixty yards that 
ene is unable to fee it, and which is, there- 
fore, called the Lofs of the Rhone. 
“By climbing over this confufion of 
yecks one may crofs over the “Rhone 
without wetting a foot, But thefe rocks 
are not of very eafy accefs: in order to 
reach them it is neceflary to get upon 
this cornice, which is thirty-one feet deep 
ain the erat channel, the fides of which 
are perpendseniar, The defcent to it is 
by means of a Jarge ladder, which the 
peafants of Coupy have purpofely con- 
tiructed : but even this ladder is of diffi- 
ult approach, for the ground is extremely 
declivitous to the very brink of the chan- 
nel. 
“< We may readily imagine that this 
bridge, which nature has thrown over the 
narrow channel in which the Rhone asa 
does not afford a very commedious paflage 
acrofs it: a ladder of thirty feet to de- 
fcend on one fide, and to remount on the 
other, is not very firikingly convenient. 
The Rhone, moreover, when its waters 
are high, covers all thefe rocks, fills the 
great channel, and even rifles over its 
yess i. 5.05: 
“ I¢ was highly neceflary, therefore, that 
art fhowld come im to the affifiance of na- 
ture: a wooden bridge is conftructed, fup- 
ported on either fide by ftone-work, which 
Faiies it twelve feet aboye the edges of the 
faperier channel, 
An Excurfion through France io Geneva. 
UJ ane Ty, 
‘« This bridge is called the bridge of 
Lucey. M. de Luc has found that it is 
thirty-nine toifes (234 French feet) below 
the furface of our lake. Recherches fur 
les Modific. de P Athmofph. $755." 
“© It is below this bridge, near where the 
Rhone begins to difappear, that the ladder 
is placed by which we defcend. to the cor- _ 
nice which extends over the lower chan- 
nel. 
** Standing on this cornice, a man ma 
examine at his leifure, and ar the.ad. 
vantage of a clofe view, all the par tictla- 
rities attending the lofs of thefe watess ; 
he may examine the nature of thofe rocks 
through which the channel is hellowed ; 
he may clearly fee that the layer of which 
the yee is compafed is harder and more 
compaét than the reft; and he may difco- 
ver that it is this falient cornice which 
has caufed the difappearance of the Rhone, 
fince, without it, the fragments of rock, 
which now conceal the ftream, weuld have 
* M, de Sauflure took an opportunity him- 
felr of meafuring the declivity of the Rhone 
between Geneva and the paflage of the river 
under Fort de ’Eclufe. The following note 
occurs in a different part of his werk: **On 
the 27th of February, 1778, the barometer, 
placed four feet above the level of the Rhone, 
ftood at 27 inches, 1 line, and 3 5 at the 
fame infrant it food at Geneva 2 Fae above — 
the level of the Rhone, at 26.9.7. The 
common thermometer (Reaumur’s), expofed 
in open air on the brink of the Rhone, was 
at 3 degrees; at Geneva, the fame thermo- 
meter ftood at 22. It follows, that between 
Geneva and P’Eclufe the Rhone, in winter, 
makes a defcent of 224 feet. 
‘< As the river, immediately under the fort, 
is contraéted within a narrow channel, its 
waters rife higher in the fpring-time here 
than they do at Geneva. We have feen (§13) 
that the difference of its elevation in winter 
and in {pring does not commonly exceed at 'Ge- 
neva more than from § to 6 feet: here the 
difference is from 15 to 16. The dectivity of 
the Rhone is confequently lefs in {pring than 
in winter by about zo feet. 
<¢ After having noticed the thermometer on 
the brink of the Rhone, I afcended imme- 
diately to the Fort, and obferved it on a level 
with the ground at its entrance, on the fide 
of Geneva; I found precifely four lines dif- 
ference : below, as we have juft feen, it was 
27. 1.63 here it fteod at 26.9. 5.. The 
common thermometer at the brink of the 
Rhone was +3}; at the Fort, at +14, which 
gives an elevation of 304 feet frem the bed of 
the river in winter tothe terrace of the Fort ; 3 
the fame obfervation gives 73 feet for the ele- 
vation of the fame terrace above the level of 
the Lake in fpring-time.” Voyages, Ee 
Chap. vi, § 213, 
, ; fallen 
