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in excellence to the academy at Lausanne. Among its inhabitants, who are in general
extremely pleasant and attentive to travelers, are several of great merit and information
i so that, with this advantage, added to what it derives from its situation, of being
seated at the basis of high stupendous mountains, consequently sheltered from the north
wind, and enjoying a climate much milder than that of any other town in the Pays-de-
Vaud, it becomes particularly attractive to strangers, who are thereby tempted to make
a long stay in it, and have, in many instances, preferred it to either Lausanne or Geneva,—
a circumstance which has not only served to enliven tlie society, but rendered it
an enviable spot, though excessively hot during the summer.
' On the other side of the lake, nearly opposite the plage, or beach, in general covered
with small boats belonging to the Savoyards, who bring hither the productions of
their soil to barter with those of Switzerland, stand the abrupt and romantic rocks of
Meilierie, so celebrated by the sentimental pen of J . Jaques Rousseau, in his NouveUe
Heloise: and as it is at the foot of those rocks that the depth of the lake is most
considerable, it is also in their vicinity that the inhabitants of those parts have, at different
times, seen the effects of water-spouts. One of these phenomena was perceived
so lately as the 1st of November, 1793, at five and thirty minutes after eight, A. M.
between Meilierie and Evian, from the opposite side. Having had the satisfaction of
being favoured with an account of it, soon after it had occurred, and that account
appearing exactly to co-incide with the one since given by monsieur de la Metherie, in
the Trench Journal de Physique of the same year, I have a pleasure in subjoining the
principal facts relating to it.
« The water-spout distinguishable on the 1st of November, 1793, appeared like an
Immense column, standing on the surfece of the water, to the extreme height of about two
thousand two hundred and fifty feet, with a base of three hundred and ten in diameter,
and remained stationary for the space of four minutes and a half at most, and then
vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
« During this time, a vast motion and great agitation, or undulation, on the surface
of the water, were visible, though more particularly so where the lake made its junction
with the basis of the water-spout, for the latter appeared as if descending suddenly
from an extremely thick cloud, which tended in a direction from north to south-west."
Such is, in part, the description I received of a phanomenon, which, though at all
times considered as worthy the attention of philosophic observers, must in this instance
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become more particularly interesting, from there not having been any previous exa'mple
of similar appearances at that time of the year, added to the temperature of the season,
and, one might almost say, the non-electric state of the atmosphere.
From Vevay the high road contbues, for some distance, along the banks of the
lake, and at the basis of Chardonne, the mountain already noticed, which is in that
part entirely covered with vines. Among the number of hamlets and small villages
through which I passed, Clarence was soon discernible, and filled my mind with a
pleasing enthusiasm, while gazing- on a spot not only beautiful by its situation, but
which forces itself into notice as chosen by the Genevese philosopher for the residence
of his beloved but unfortunate Julia. In fact, the interest which I took in the landscape
before my eyes led me to believe, that, of all the various parts of Europe through
which I had previously passed, no country was so proper for the enjoyment of that
enchanting picture of rural life, so pleasingly painted, and with so much truth, by this
inimitable writer, as the one he had selected.
For the first time since my departure from Geneva, I here began to perceive some
calcareous rocks, though apparently without any regular order; for the pudding-stones,
of similar species to those in the neighbourhood of Vevay, are in great masses, confused
and intermixed with the former: but, as I drew near Chillón, I noticed some of the
same rocks, which are even of the height of fifty feet, coming, as it were, from beneath
the lake, or at least in many places serving it for a barrier. They are however more
streaked with spath, and harder than the first, for which reason they are used for millstones
by the inhabitants, who not only make them for their own use, but furnish most
of the cities and towns of the Pays-de-Vaud with this article.
Between these calcareous rocks and pudding-stones, the strata of which are extremely
inclined toward the eastern side, I remarked a variety of species of sand-stone,
and lamellated argillaceous matter, resembling schistus, which had different directions,
and varied both in colour, structure, and hardness.
This variety of matter was sometimes placed on thick strata of pudding-stones, and
sometimes in their interstices, or else leaning against the sides of the calcareous rocks.
These appearances have led me to presume, that those stones must naturally have been
deposited there at some epoch posterior to the formation of those which serve as their
support or basis, or, in other words, at a time when the waters of the lake covered tlie
major part of the mountains which are now its limit or boundary.
iliiiir