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 ROLLO IN GENEVA,

 BY

 JACOB ABBOTT.

 NEW YORK:
 SHELDON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS,
 498 & 500 BROADWAY.
 1867.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858,

by JACOB ABBOTT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.


[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CHILLON.]


 [Illustration: ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE.
 SHELDON & CO.,
 PUBLISHERS, N. Y.]




ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE.


ORDER OF THE VOLUMES.

 ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC.
 ROLLO IN PARIS.
 ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND.
 ROLLO IN LONDON.
 ROLLO ON THE RHINE.
 ROLLO IN SCOTLAND.
 ROLLO IN GENEVA.
 ROLLO IN HOLLAND.
 ROLLO IN NAPLES.
 ROLLO IN ROME.


PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY.

 ROLLO; twelve years of age.
 MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in Europe.
 THANNY; Rollo's younger brother.
 JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday.
 MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle.




 CONTENTS.


 CHAPTER                                                       PAGE

    I.--THE FAME OF GENEVA,                                     11

   II.--PLANNING,                                               24

  III.--THE RIDE TO GENEVA,                                     35

   IV.--THE TOWN,                                               55

    V.--THE HOTEL,                                              64

   VI.--A RIDE IN THE ENVIRONS,                                 71

  VII.--THE JUNCTION OF THE ARVE,                               93

 VIII.--SEEING MONT BLANC GO OUT,                              108

   IX.--A LAW QUESTION,                                        122

    X.--AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKE,                              134

   XI.--VILLENEUVE,                                            148

  XII.--THE CASTLE OF CHILLON,                                 155

 XIII.--PLAN FORMED,                                           171

  XIV.--WALK TO AIGLE,                                         179

   XV.--THE JEWELRY,                                           197

  XVI.--A FORTUNATE ACCIDENT,                                  209


 ENGRAVINGS.


                                                               PAGE

 THE CASTLE OF CHILLON,                            (Frontispiece.)

 THE GREAT NET,                                                 30

 GOING THROUGH THE VILLAGE,                                     46

 VIEW OF GENEVA,                                                58

 THE WATER WHEEL,                                              100

 FISHING,                                                      104

 GOING TO TAKE A SAIL,                                         132

 THE DUNGEONS OF CHILLON,                                      161

 THE BASKET RIDE,                                              185

 SHOPPING AT GENEVA,                                           203




ROLLO IN GENEVA.




CHAPTER I.

THE FAME OF GENEVA.


Geneva is one of the most remarkable and most celebrated cities in
Europe. It derives its celebrity, however, not so much from its size, or
from the magnificence of its edifices, as from the peculiar beauty of
its situation, and from the circumstances of its history.

Geneva is situated upon the confines of France, Switzerland, and
Sardinia, at the outlet of the Lake of Geneva, which is perhaps the most
beautiful, and certainly the most celebrated, lake in Switzerland. It is
shaped like a crescent,--that is, like the new moon, or rather like the
moon after it is about four or five days old. The lower end of the
lake--that is, the end where Geneva is situated--lies in a comparatively
open country, though vast ranges of lofty mountains, some of them
covered with perpetual snow, are to be seen in the distance all around.
All the country near, however, at this end of the lake, is gently
undulating, and it is extremely fertile and beautiful. There are a great
many elegant country seats along the shore of the lake, and on the banks
of the River Rhone, which flows out of it. The waters of the lake at
this end, and of the river which issues from it, are very clear, and of
a deep and beautiful blue color. This blue color is so remarkable that
it attracts the attention of every one who looks down into it from a
bridge or from a boat, and there have been a great many suppositions and
speculations made in respect to the cause of it; but I believe that,
after all, nobody has yet been able to find out what the cause is.

The city of Geneva is situated exactly at the lower end of the lake,
that is, at the western end; and the River Rhone, in coming out of the
lake, flows directly through the town.

The lake is about fifty miles long, and the eastern end of it runs far
in among the mountains. These mountains are very dark and sombre, and
their sides rise so precipitously from the margin of the water that in
many places there is scarcely room for a road along the shore. Indeed,
you go generally to that end of the lake in a steamer; and as you
advance, the mountains seem to shut you in completely at the end of the
lake. But when you get near to the end, you see a narrow valley opening
before you, with high mountains on either hand, and the River Rhone
flowing very swiftly between green and beautiful banks in the middle of
it. Besides the river, there is a magnificent road to be seen running
along this valley. This is the great high road leading from France into
Italy; and it has been known and travelled as such ever since the days
of the old Romans.

The River Rhone, where it flows into the lake at the eastern end of it,
is very thick and turbid, being formed from torrents coming down the
mountain sides, or from muddy streams derived from the melting of the
glaciers. At the western end, on the other hand, where it issues from
the lake, the water is beautifully pellucid and clear. The reason of
this is, that during its slow passage through the lake it has had time
to settle. The impurities which the torrents bring down into it from the
mountains all subside to the bottom of the lake, and are left there, and
thus the water comes out at the lower end quite clear. The lake itself,
however, is of course gradually filling up by means of this process.

There are several large and handsome houses on the northern shore of
the lake; but Geneva, at the western end of it, entirely surpasses them
all.

Geneva is, however, after all, a comparatively small town. It contains
only thirty or forty thousand inhabitants. It would take ten Genevas