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156 C A L C A R E O U S M I L L S T O N E S .
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rooms were locked up, when we were there
before.
My principal object, however, was to
re-examine the mill-stone quarries at the
foot of the hill leading to Les Charmettes.
The stone at these quarries is of a brownish
gray colour; hard and frangible, with a
flattish conchoidal fracture. The first time
I saw it, I supposed it to be a chert or horn-
stone, similar to some I had seen interstratified
with limestone, at the head of
the lake of Geneva; but on examining a
specimen which I had taken with me to
Aix, it proved to be limestone; and as I
was not then aware that limestone was
ever used for grinding corn, I imagined
that I must by mistake have broken the
specimen from an upper or under stratum,
instead of the mill-stone stratum. On this
second visit, however, I found that it was
true limestone; and I was informed that
these mill-stones answer the purpose very
well for grinding corn, but they are not so
duiahle as those made of mill-stone grit.
In countries where siliceous mill-stones
cannot be procured, but at a great expense,
perhaps the knowledge that hard limestone
may be used instead, will prove useful. The
L E S C H A R M E T T E S . 157
mill-stones at this quarry are cut out of
the rock upon the spot. The strata are of
the proper thickness, and nearly horizontal.
A circle is drawn of the diameter required,
and the surrounding parts are chipped
away. Wedges are then driven in between
the strata, and the stone is raised by levers.
Having satisfied my curiosity respecting
the stone quarry, we proceeded to Les
Charmettes, up a steep ascent, not very
safe or easy for a carriage, along a shady
glen, with sloping cultivated fields on each
side; and to the left of the road is a rivulet
which murmurs in its rocky channel, forming
several little waterfalls in its descent.
The lofty mountains, in the neighbourhood
of Chamberry, are hidden from the view in
ascending; and the whole of this retired
valley bears a striking resemblance to some
of the wooded glens in Hertfordshire. It
is in character truly English. To the left
of the road, opposite the house, is the
grove of chestnut-trees mentioned by Rousseau,
though the present trees appear to
be of a more recent date. Every thing, in
fact, remains very nearly as Rousseau described
the place in the year 1736.
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