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by a kind of tender lamellated sand-stone, having the pebbles of which they are formed,
in general of the secondary order, lying in irregular strata, nearly horizontal, few of
their angles rounded, effervescing with acids, and their cement almost every-where of
calcareous matter. These circumstances make it natural to infer, that this kind of
pudding-stone doubtless owes its formation to some cause posterior to the one which
formed the primitive, which have invariably more coherency than these, and do not
effervesce wi th acids.
The sameness of some parts of the road was agreeably diversified by a number of
cascades, formed by the junction of rivulets, which descend abundantly from the summit
of the same mountain, and then glide away in silvery streams. The one that
afforded me the greatest pleasure, and I am inclined to think will particularly strike the
traveler, stands on the left, before reaching the town of St. Saphorin; and, as it is the
drain of the Bro, a small lake situate on the top of the mountain, a most solitary and
romantic spot, the fall is at all times considerable.
This small town, three miles from Vevay, is extremely pretty, and pleasingly seated
on the banks of the lake. Some remains of a Roman via, or road, have been discovered in
its environs, as likewise a kind of column, or mile-stone, at present placed in the principal
church. On the column is the following inscription, from which it appears to have
been erected in honour of the emperor Claudius, about the year 46 of the Christian ara:
TIT. CLAUDIUS DRUSI F. CM.S. AUG. GERM. PONT. MAX. TRIB. POT. VII. IMP. Xll.
P. P. COS. ni l . F.A. XXXVII.
Besides these vestiges of antiquity, there have since been dug, in the neighbourhood
of Cully, several Roman medals, inscriptions, and a pedestal, which, from its ornaments,
seems to import not only that the vine was cultivated by the inhabitants of this country
in the time of the Romans, but that they even paid homage to Bacchus; for on one
of its compartments are the following words:
LIBERO PATRI COCLIENSI.
From St. Saphorin, the road, which follows the fertile banks of the lake, takes a more
southern direction, and the beautiful landscape I had been so long contemplating
seemed gradually to expand, while its rural and picturesque objects assumed a more
varied, lively, and harmonious tint as I imperceptibly drew near Vevay, the most
delightful town in Switzerland, at twelve miles distance from Lausanne. In my way
m