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so rapidly, that from hence to Cerdon, another village at about the same distance, they
might be classed as mountains of the second order. Indeed, so sudden and unexpected
did this rise appear, the first time I visited that part of France, that I was led to
suppose them to be a ramification of the mountains of Jura, in Switzerland, which
stretch towards the French frontier j but in consequence of having, some time after,
explored them with attention, I was soon convinced that they were totally foreign to
those, both as to structure and direction : these, with very little variation, tending from
north to south ; whereas the others extend from north-east to south-west. And though
some of these hills are calcareous, containing even fossils similar to those found in the
Jura, yet the inclination, thickness, and colour of their strata, are so widely different,
that I was perfectly satisfied there was no apparent connexion between them, but that
they formed two separate chains.
By way of strengthening or elucidating this assertion still farther, I soon after made
an excursion on purpose to explore them ; and observed, at about a mile and a half
south-west of the public road, at the back of a castle which stands on the summit
of a mountain some distance from Cerdon, that the basis of many of the hills belonging
to the same range appeared to be of granite, if we judge by the immense pieces which
projected from their sides ; whereas others are entirely of a hard calcareous stone, containing
no impressions whatever of shells or fossils.
These granites, of which there are likewise several huge pieces scattered on tlie
surface of many of them, are so soft, that they seem to dissolve or crumble of themselves,
being very like what I found near Auxerre in Burgundy.
May we not therefore be inclined to believe that the major part of this chain owes
its origin to a more distant epocha than that which formed the mountains of the Jura,
and that the other part is of a posterior date ; or, in other words, that its structure
may have been effected at the time of the great débâcle, or bouleversement, which
formed the lake of Geneva. But, as I shall have occasion to enlarge hereafter on this
idea, I shall only now remark, that, in the wide and deep cavities naturally formed
between the pieces of compound stone, whioli, to all appearance, serve as the basis of
many of the hills, I discovered a number of shells and fossils, most of them incrusted with
a calcareous matter similar to that which covers the D6le, the highest point of the Jura.
The romantic little village of Cerdon, from whence the rise of the hills is so conspicuous,
stands in a bottom, at the foot of the above chain ; yet the high road, which
passes through it, imperceptibly discovers to the traveler, as he journeys on across a
most picturesque country, a rich and pleasing variety of landscape, presenting, at
intervals, tremendous objects of rude Nature.
Conceive a formidable mountain, now and then rising in a perpendicular direction,
sometimes appearing as though shelving over the road, ready to detach pieces from its
craggy sides j at other times» a stupendous rock, presenting itself unexpectedly to view,
as if to bar the passage, leaving no apparent alternative but that of scrambling over
its abrupt and jagged surface; and now an impetuous torrent, sweeping down the
steep its foaming waters, dashing them precipitately from rock to rock, seeming to
dispute the pass, and to put a stop to all further progress, while it fills the mind with a
mixture of awe and terror.
But how quick the transition to other sensations ! for Nature soon resumes her
milder features, and displays an aspect of placid beauty j the road continuing through the
centre of a charming tranquil vale, and across fertile fields and rich meadows, shaded
by trees, between whose thick foliage the eye catches, at intervals, a distant peep at
the humble cots I had so much admired, and whose rustic roofs and mildly-tinted walls
blend admirably with the surrounding scenery.
The pass across this range of hills, which I take to be the first step towards the
Alps, cannot fail of producing a strong impression on the mind of every admirer of rude
Nature, or of such features as she is wont to assume in these tremendous mountains,—
scenes calculated for contemplation, and to awaken thoughtfulness in persons of common
as well as of the most exalted intellect. And this reflexion has frequently led
me to grieve, that so many of those, whose fortunes enable them to travel, should be so
vitiated by the luxury and dissipation of great cities as scarcely to have a wish to peep
out of their carriages to behold mere natural beauties.
It may here be necessary to observe, that, although the village of Cerdon apparently
lies in a hollow, yet, on my taking its elevation, I found it to be nine hundred and sixtysix
feet above the level of the sea, and four hundred and twenty-two higher than the
Rhône in the vicinity of Lyons. The summit, likewise, of the mountain that commands
this village, by which the high road to Geneva passes, opposite to the excavation
made in the main rock in order to widen the road, appeared, by my measurement,
five hundred and sixty feet above Cerdon (which is reckoned twelve miles from
Nantua), and one thousand five hundred and twenty-six above the level of the sea.