ty for the consumption of its inhabitants, who are said to exceed
10,000. The church of Bex is neat, and has been lately repaired. We next
arrived at Villeneuve, which is only remarkable as a place of
embarkation on the lake of Geneva. Our plan was to return to Geneva by
water, but the violence of the wind, which was against us, and which had
greatly ruffled the lake, obliged us to continue our journey along its
banks. The length of this lake is about 50 or 53 English miles, and its
breadth from 10 to 12. This vast body of water is sometimes so much
agitated by sudden storms from the surrounding mountains, as to be
covered with waves like the sea. We were highly pleased with the
extraordinary scene of cultivation which its banks presented; they are
sometimes extremely steep, but are formed by the unceasing industry of
the inhabitants into terraces supported by walls, and if their labour in
originally making these divisions is calculated to astonish, their
perseverance in repairing, and sometimes in rebuilding them, after the
torrents have carried them away, is not less worthy of praise. The
industry of the inhabitants seems continually threatened by the vast
masses of rock which hang over their possessions, and which sometimes
cover them with ruin. We saw an enormous mass which had fallen from one
of the mountains, and is now in the lake, having been removed thither by
the inhabitants after it had for some time completely obstructed the
road. We passed near the castle of Chillon, which is singularly
situated, being built on some rocks in the lake, by which it is
completely surrounded. It consists of a number of circular towers, and
was formerly used as a state prison. A more secure position, for such an
edifice, it is difficult to conceive. Before our arrival at Vevay, we
saw the village of Clarens, so much celebrated by Rousseau. Vevay is a
handsome town, with about 4,000 inhabitants; and is, after Lausanne,
the principal place in the Canton of Vaud. The principal church is
situated on an eminence above the town; from its tower I saw a most
magnificent prospect, embracing nearly the whole of the lake, (which is
here nearly at its greatest breadth) the entrance of the Rhone through a
romantic valley, and the stupendous scenery of the Alps, heightened by
the numerous villages on the Savoy side the lake. For the union of wild
and cultivated scenery this view stands unequalled. No description of
mine could do it justice: