SOLEURE AND NEUCHATEL. 57 -one more such victory, and we are lost." Full of a chivalrous feeling of respect for the Swiss, the Dauphin accordingly retired upon Ensisheim, where a peace was shortly after concluded between France and the Confederates. CANTONS OF SOLEURE AND NEUCHATEL. 66 Que d'objets rassemblés dans ce frais paysage Le fleuve en son heureux passage Refléchit de ses bords la fertile beauté. Que le ciel est serein! quel calme dans les champs! Que ces sites sont doux ! que ces lieux sont touchants!" THE canton of Soleure, or Solothurn-distinguished as the tenth in the Confederation-extends between the Jura and the Aar, over a space of twelve leagues in length, by ten in breadth. It is divided into two districts-the higher and lower. The latter, watered by the Aar, and numerous inferior rivers, presents a scene of great fertility; and with the exception of that portion of the plain immediately above the city, which is rather marshy, is covered with fruit-trees, forests, wheat-fields, and meadows. The higher district, formed by that part of the Jura which traverses the canton from S. W. to N. E., is intersected by numerous valleys, through which roads, embracing a profusion of picturesque scenery, and opening upon numerous ruined fortresses of the olden time, communicate with the territory of Basle, and the Rhenish border. The most remarkable among these feudal ruins are those of Thierstein, Frobourg, and Falkenstein-to the last of which we have lately adverted in the history of its lord. The highest points in this district of the Jura are the Hasenmatt, the Rothi, and Vinde-about two thousand feet above the Aar-all calcareous, and abounding in shells and petrifactions. Besides the Aar, the principal rivers are the Emme, the Donneron, and the Lusel. The lakes are only two in number, small, and in no respect remarkable. The cattle fed in the mountain pasture are among the finest in Switzerland, and are now estimated at upwards of twenty thousand. The Soleure ox is of a breed peculiar to the canton, and fetches a high price in the market. In the quality and abundance of its • It is in this canton, near the ruins of Falkenstein, that the celebrated Geisskäse, or goat-milk cheese, is prepared. VOL. II. |