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It terminates just where the small river Sihl joins the Limmat. The former is an insignificant stream except in the spring, when it assumes considerable importance through the body of water which it conducts into the bosom of the larger river. Switzerland is but a small division of Europe.
At Coblentz a strange thing happens, for at this place the river receives the waters of the Aar, swollen by the Reuss and the Limmat, and of greater volume than the stream in which it loses itself. It is at Basel that the Rhine, taking a northward trend, enters Germany. By this time it has made a descent of nearly 7000 feet, and has traversed about a third of its course.
In M. Morlot's map already cited we behold between the areas occupied by the glacial drift of the Rhine and Rhone three smaller yet not inconsiderable spaces distinguished by distinct colours, indicating the peculiar detritus brought down by the three great rivers, the Aar, Reuss, and Limmat.
In like manner the old extinct glacier of the Limmat during its gradual retreat has left monuments of its course in the Lake of Zurich in the shape of terminal moraines, one of which has almost divided that great sheet of water into two lakes.
Had there ever been such a rush of muddy water, said he, the blocks carried down the basins of the principal Swiss rivers, such as the Rhone, Aar, Reuss, and Limmat, would all have been mingled confusedly together instead of having each remained in separate and distinct areas as they do and should do according to the glacial hypothesis.
As we approached Zurich, the noise of employment from mills, furnaces and factories, came to us like familiar sounds, reminding us of the bustle of our home cities. The situation of the city is lovely. It lies at the head of the lake, and on both sides of the little river Limmat, whose clear green waters carry the collected meltings of the Alps to the Rhine.
Massena, taking advantage of the departure of the archduke and the non-arrival of Suwarow, crossed the Limmat at Dietikon and shut Korsakow, who had imprudently stationed himself with his whole army in Zurich, so closely in, that, after an engagement that lasted two days, from the 15th to the 17th of September, the Russian general was compelled to abandon his artillery and to force his way through the enemy.
On the top of all repose very large erratic blocks, affording clear evidence that the colossal glacier which once filled the valley of the Limmat covered the old littoral deposit. The great age of the lignite is partly indicated by the bones of Elephas antiquus found in it.
Finally, there where the River Limmat leaves the lake, a vista of bridges open into the heart of the city a succession of arches and lines that invite inspection. Like most progressive cities of Europe, Zurich has outgrown its feudal accouterments within the last fifty years.
At a distance, Zurich seems surrounded by beautiful hills, descending gradually to the river Limmat, which, issuing from the lake, divides the city into two unequal parts.
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