eparture, and of the
corpse-like pallor which succeeded it, there spreads over the mountains a
faint blush that dies gradually into the night. These changes--the glory,
the death, the soft succeeding life--really seem like something that has a
spiritual existence. While, however, I counsel my friends to see the Alps
for the first time in the afternoon, if possible, I do not promise them
that the hour will bring with it such a scene as I have tried to describe.
Perfect sunsets are rare in any land; but, nevertheless, I would advise
travellers to choose the latter half of the day and a road over the Jura
for their entrance into Switzerland.[3]

[Footnote 3: The two most imposing views of the Alps from the Jura
are those of Latourne, on the road from Pontarlier to Neufchatel,
and of St. Cergues, on the road from Lons le Saulnier to Nyon; the
next best is to be had above Boujean, on the road from Basle to
Bienne. Very extensive views may be obtained from any of the
summits in the southern range of the Jura; among which the
Weissenstein above Soleure, the Chasseral above Bienne, the
Chanmont above Neufchatel, the Chasseron above Grancon, the Suchet
above Orbe, the Mont Tendre or the Noirmont above Morges, and the
Dole above Nyon, are the most frequented. Of all these pointe
Chaumont is unquestionably to be preferred, as it commands at the
same time an equally extensive view of the Bernese Alps and the
Mont Blanc range.]

It was from the Jura itself that one of the great epochs in the history of
the globe received its name. It was in a deep gorge of the Jura, that,
more than half a century ago, Leopold von Buch first perceived the mode of
formation of mountains; and it was at the foot of the Jura, in the
neighborhood of Neufchatel, that the investigations were made which first
led to the recognition of the changes connected with the Periods. As I
shall have occasion hereafter to enter into this subject more at length, I
will only allude briefly here to the circumstances. In so doing I am
anticipating the true geological order, because I must treat of the
Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, which are still far in advance of us;
but as it was by the study of these deposits that the circumscription of
the Periods, as I have defined them above, was first ascertained, I must
allude to them in this connection.

Facing the range of the Jura from the Lake of Neufchatel, there seems