l \
62 VALLEY OF THONES.
As
If ■
which was hired from a peasant in another
district.
With dapple, and an attendant on foot,
I crossed the lake to Talloires, and proceeded
to Chateau Menthon, from whence
the road ascended eastward round the flank
of the Dent D’Alençon. This singular
mountain had now entirely changed its appearance;
for instead of the castellated summit,
represented in Plate II., as seen from
Duing, it resembled a vast broken column
placed on an immense cone, as in the annexed
cut.
The ridge or wall of limestone which
covers the summit of the mountain beina:
extremely narrow, its breadth, when thus
VALLEY OF THONES. 63
seen in profile, scarcely appears to exceed
its height. It was this change of form that
had surprised me so much on the road from
Cruseilles. The cause was now explained.
After ascending to a considerable height,
I began to discover the valley of Thones
below me, and could trace the course of the
river as far as the gorge or chasm through
which it flows out, at the end nearest Annecy.
The opening scarcely seemed wide
enough to permit the river to pass in rainy
seasons, or when it is enlarged by the melting
of the snow in the mountains. The
appearance of the bottom of the valley covered
with osiers and broad beds of stones,
indicates the difficulty with which the water
sometimes escapes even at present, and also
proves that the valley had formerly been a
lake.
The Romans first opened a road into the
valley through this gorge, by cutting away
the rock, and by building a bridge over the
torrent. The bridge remained to the year
1794. The name of the Roman General who
first opened the passage is still to be seen
cut in the rock. L. T in c iu s P ac u lu s per
v iuM FECIT. It is now Called the passage