the ruined tower, said to have been built by Julius Cæsar, and proceeded on to Nerni, where they rested for the night, and had to content themselves with very disagreeable beds, which, Lord Byron said, reminded him of Greece. "The influence of the recollections excited," says says Shelley, "by this circumstance on our conversation, gradually faded, and I retired to rest with no unpleasant sensations, thinking of our journey to-morrow."

Early the next morning they passed Yvoire, where the Lake begins to assume a bolder aspect, and the snow-capped mountains of Savoy descend in broken slopes to its shores, covered with groves of oak or chesnut, which open upon many a green expanse. Steering directly across the bay, overlooked by the town or village of Thonon, they came in sight of the river Drance, one of those many torrents that pour down from between the chasms in the mountains, to become purified as they mingle with the waters of the lake. Here the mountains begin to descend more precipitately to the shores, increasing in grandeur at each remove, and the boat glided along over its glassy mirror, bearing them on

towards scenes rendered immortal by genius, even more than by their own enchanting beauty.

They reached Evian in the evening of the day, accompanied by one of those warm blasts from the south which so often sweep over Lake Leman, and dark clouds were blowing up over the mountain peaks, from which flashes of lightning began to play soon after their arrival. As usual, there was some little difficulty about passports, but with characteristic servility the officer apologised for the circumstance so soon as he learned the name and rank of Lord Byron.

The town of Evian is romantically situate among the mountains, being overhung with huge masses of rock and intermingled wood, against which the glittering spire of the church stands up in picturesque beauty. Here they were fortunate enough to meet with a good inn, and rested again for the night.

In the morning, when they continued their tour, the wind was blowing with such violence as to prevent their carrying but one sail; such a circumstance was calculated, however, to render Shelley's spirits particularly joyous, for the waves rolled high, and the boat danced over them with

VOL II.

C

great speed, though not without some appearance of danger; and they sailed along, with expectation on tiptoe, towards the scene of St. Preux's visionary exile, passing rapidly "mighty forests, which overhung the lake, and lawns of exquisite verdure, and mountains with bare and icy points, which rose immediately from the summit of the rocks-whose bases were echoing to the waves," and at length reached Meillerie in safety.

Until now Shelley had never read the "Nouvelle Héloïse," an overflowing, as he terms it, of sublimest genius, and more than human sensibility; during this voyage he devoted himself to that pleasing occupation, and experienced all the enjoyment to be derived from reading such a work for the first time, on the very spot where the scenes are laid.

The character of Julie, created by an imagination which sometimes appears divine, as well as that of St. Preux, whose abnegation of self, together with the worship he paid to love, so peculiarly illustrated Shelley's own disposition,*

* See Mrs. Shelley's notes.

was calculated to excite all his enthusiasm; and Meillerie now rose up before him, surrounded with all the charm of associations newly called forth; but were Rousseau no magician, he tells us this is indeed enchanted ground.

"Groves of pines, chesnut, and walnut overshadow it; magnificent and unbounded forests, to which England affords no parallel. In the midst of these woods are dells of lawny expanse, inconceivably verdant, adorned with a thousand of the rarest flowers, and odorous with thyme."

From this point every spot they touched on was classical, wherever the eye wandered it was over scenes inseparably linked with that vision of more than mortal love.

The impassioned nature of Rousseau gave life and reality to the creations of his fancy, and sanctified each particular spot to the imagination as the scene of some event which he described, while the whole seemed pervaded by that divine spirit of beauty with which he alone could have invested it

When they departed from Meillerie the wind had fallen, and the lake was again calm and placid.

Keeping close along the banks, the scenery increased in magnificence with the turn of every promontory; but the calm with which they set sail had lulled them into a false security.

66

Gradually," says the delightful narrative of this voyage, "the wind increased in violence, until it blew tremendously; and as it came from the remotest extremity of the lake, produced waves of a frightful height, and covered the whole surface with a chaos of foam. One of the boatmen, who was a dreadfully stupid fellow, persisted in holding the sail at a time when the boat was on the point of being driven under water by the hurricane. On discovering his error, he let it entirely go, and the boat for a moment refused to obey the helm; in addition, the rudder was so broken as to render the management of it very difficult; one wave fell in, and then another."

Their position was thus very critical, and throwing off their coats, they each sat with their arms crossed, patiently awaiting the event which seemed inevitable. In relating this, some time afterwards, Lord Byron says:

"I slipped off my coat, made him (Shelley)