avagant Bill--Proceed on Mules--Their
astonishing Safety--River Arve--Pont de Chevres--Cascade of
Chede--Extravagance of English Travellers very prejudicial--Lake of
Chede--Servoy and its Mines--Visited by the Empress Maria
Louisa--Glaciers des Bossons--Definition of Glacier--Of the Valley
and Village of Chamouny--Guides--Politics of the Savoyards--State of
Taxation--Ascent of Montanvert--Magnificent and awful Spectacle of
the Mer de Glace--Height of various Mountains, compared with Mont
Blanc--Simile from Pope--Return to Chamouny--Larch and Fir mixed on
these vast Mountains--Their Productions--The Valley continually
threatened with Avalanches
119

CHAP. VIII.

Leave Chamouny--Delightful Situation of Valorsine--Festival
there--Of the Savoyard Peasants--Anecdote from M. de
Saussure--Country difficult to travel through--Trient--Magnificent
View from the Fourcle--The French not so much disliked in the Valais
as their Cruelty deserved--Castle of la
Rathia--Martigny--Unsuccessful Attempt of two English Gentlemen to
ascend Mont Blanc--Less adventurous, we did not ascend Mount St.
Bernard--Cascade of the Pisse Vache--Number of Idiots and Goitrous
Persons in the Valais--Opinion of Mr. Coxe on the Subject--Opinion
of M. de Saussure--St. Maurice--Its strong Position--Roman Bridge
and Antiquities--Passports demanded here--Different Colour of the
Rhone here and at Geneva.
139

CHAP. IX.

Bex--Industry of the Inhabitants of this Country--Their Cottages and
Wandering Lives--Salt Springs--Aigle--Growth of
Corn--Villeneuve--Agitated State of the Lake--Labours of the
Inhabitants often destroyed by the Fall of
Rocks--Chillon--Clarens--Vevay--Magnificent View from its Church--Of
General Ludlow--Lausanne--Its singular Situation--Its Antiquity--Its
Cathedral--View from the Church-yard--Population and
Manufactures--French Manners prevail here--Gibbon--Pope Felix V. a
singular Character--Reformation--Morges--Festivity there--Rolle--Its
Spa--Country Seats--Delightful Scene from the Garden of its Castle
in the Evening--Nyon--Chateau de Pranqui--Joseph
Buonaparte--Vines--Swiss Artillery--Copet--Anecdote of Md^e. de
Stael--Versoi--Return to Geneva