40 MOUNTAINS.
ing into the lake, then receding from it,
form verdant amphitheatres, in which are
vineyards and cottages, that seem cut off
from all access with the world, except by
water.
The highest mountains are on the eastern
side: the Tournetts, opposite Chateau Du-
ing, I found,by admeasurement, to rise from
5560 to 5637 English feet above the lake,
and as the lake is, according to Saussure,
1460 Englisir feet above the level of the
sea, the absolute elevation of the Tournetts
is about 7000 feet, or about 1000 feet below
the line of perpetual snow.* The
snow, however, remains near the summit
till the commencement of July, and even in
* I have stated the above as the extremes of several
measurements. From the difficulty of finding a base
for the Tournetts, I was obliged to take one across the
lake, measuring the distance by the quadrant, as a theodolite.
The quadrant had sixteen inches radius. It
was cut out by a carpenter in the village, and I was
obligingly assisted in its graduation by my friend, Mr.
B. of the Royal Engineers. I cannot vouch for the
correctness of the admeasurements, taken under such
unfavourable circumstances, but I think they may be
relied on as good approximations.
The residents on the lake of Annecy supposed the
Tournetts to be much liigher. The mountains near the
lake of Annecy, according to Ebel, are seen distinctly
from Neufchatel.
MOUNTAIN VALLEYS. 41
the month of August I saw large masses of
snow on the western side of the mountain,
in shaded situations.
The next most remarkable mountain
here is the Dent D’Alenyon ; its summit is
composed of a perpendicular wall or ridge
of limestone, the remains of a calcareous
stratum, ranged like the turrets of an
ancient castle, and standing on a detached
steep and narrow slope, which is partially
covered with verdure. The height of this
mountain I found to be 3840 feet above
the level of the lake, and the height of the
perpendicular wall or ridge is from 400 to
500 feet.
The most peculiar features in the physical
geography of this lake are the numerous
mountain valleys that slope towards it
at a very considerable angle; they may be
compared to funnels truncated at their
summits. From the annexed sketch, taken
from above the village of Talloire, a better
idea may be formed of these valleys, than
by any description I could give. It is a
bird’s eye view, or rather a map of the
upper end of the lake, and is intended to
show the form of the valleys and the outlines
of the mountains.