DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0070
60 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IL
on passing1 the valley ought to turn round occa-
sionally, in order to behold the magnificent
barrier of craggy rocks that close it behind.
LAGO DI LUGANO.
About twelve o’clock we arrived at Porlezza,
six miles from Menaggio, and immediately em-
barked on the Lago di Lugano. This lake is
twenty-five miles in length, in breadth from three
to six, and of immense depth; indeed, in some
places, it is.said to be almost unfathomable. Its
former name was Ceresins Lacus; but whether
known to the ancients, or produced, as some
have imagined, by a sudden convulsion in the fifth
or sixth century, has not yet been ascertained.
The banks are formed by the sides of two moun-
tains, so steep as to afford little room for villages
or even cottages, and so high, as to cast a black-
ening shade over the surface of the waters. Their
rocky bases are oftentimes so perpendicular, and
descend so rapidly into the gulph below, without
shelving or gradation, as not to allow shelter for
a boat, or even footing for a human being.
Hence, although covered with wood hanging in
vast masses of verdure from the precipices, and
although bold and magnificent in the highest de-
gree from their bulk and elevation, yet they in-
on passing1 the valley ought to turn round occa-
sionally, in order to behold the magnificent
barrier of craggy rocks that close it behind.
LAGO DI LUGANO.
About twelve o’clock we arrived at Porlezza,
six miles from Menaggio, and immediately em-
barked on the Lago di Lugano. This lake is
twenty-five miles in length, in breadth from three
to six, and of immense depth; indeed, in some
places, it is.said to be almost unfathomable. Its
former name was Ceresins Lacus; but whether
known to the ancients, or produced, as some
have imagined, by a sudden convulsion in the fifth
or sixth century, has not yet been ascertained.
The banks are formed by the sides of two moun-
tains, so steep as to afford little room for villages
or even cottages, and so high, as to cast a black-
ening shade over the surface of the waters. Their
rocky bases are oftentimes so perpendicular, and
descend so rapidly into the gulph below, without
shelving or gradation, as not to allow shelter for
a boat, or even footing for a human being.
Hence, although covered with wood hanging in
vast masses of verdure from the precipices, and
although bold and magnificent in the highest de-
gree from their bulk and elevation, yet they in-