66 TOWN OF THONES.
f
The town of Thones is situated higher O
lip the vale. There appears no carriage-
road to it, but I was surprised to find, on
entering the gate, that it was a handsome
town for Savoy, containing above 2000
inhabitants, with a spacious market-place,
and a well built church in the centre ofit.
The persons at the inn where I alighted
were surprised to see a stranger, and still
more so to find that I had no other object
in view but to explore the valley, at which,
however, they seemed much pleased. They
endeavoured to persuade me to sleep there,
in order that I might visit some mountain-
lakes the following morning, which they
represented as highly curious. It may appear
extraordinary that there should be so
considerable a town in a situation apparently
so secluded, but Thones is the capital
of a number of valleys which open
into the main valley, and have no other
outlet. Each oi these valleys contain several
villages and hamlets, and it would be
scarcely possible for the inhabitants of these
remote villages to attend the market at
Annecy, in order to dispose of their produce.
It is therefore brought to Thones,
and purchased by agents from different
parts of Savoy, and even from Geneva.
STRATIFICATION. 67
The whole population of the valley of
Thones, including the mountain valleys that
branch from it, amounts to nearly 12,000
persons. It forms a canton in Savoy.
There is a glass-house, tanneries, and various
manufactures at Thones, to supply
the inhabitants of the district with articles
of indispensable necessity. Fairs for cattle
and cheese are held here four times a year.
Though the valley appears closed in
southward, there is a horse-road winding
up between the mountains to Faverge, and
another road on the east to Cluse, but this
is more difficult. It is near this last road
that the mountain lakes are situated.
Having in some degree satisfied my
curiosity, respecting certain objects of geological
enquiry, which induced me to visit
Thones, I left it at the approach of evening,
though I should have liked to have prolonged
my stay, but I had made no arrangement
for the purpose when I left Duing.
The narrowness of this valley, the abrupt
termination of the strata, and their present
position, plainly prove that it has been
formed by an agent more powerful than
the erosion of water. On the eastern side
of the valley, about two miles from the
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