Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/91

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LETTERS FROM SWITZERLAND
81

from the east, those of the Grisons; from the south, those of the Italian cantons; while from the west, by means of the Furca, the double Hue of mountains which enclose Valais presses upon it. Not far from this house there are two small lakes, one of which sends forth the Ticino through gorges and valleys into Italy; while from the other, in like manner, the Reuss proceeds, till it empties itself in the Lake of the Forest towns.[1] Not far from this spot are the sources of the Rhine, which pursue an easterly course; and if then we take in the Rhone, which rises at the foot of the Furca, and runs westward through Valais, we shall find ourselves at the point of a cross, from which mountain ranges and rivers proceed toward the four cardinal points.

  1. Lake Lucerne.