GENEVA, LAKE (Fr. Lac Leman, the Lacus Lemanus of the Romans). A crescent-shaped lake, the largest in Switzerland, extending around the northern part of the French Depart ment of Haute-Savoie, and with its west, north, and east shores bordering the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, and Valais (Map: Switzerland, A 2). It has an area of 224 square miles. It is 45 miles long, and attains a maximum breadth of 81/2 miles between Morges and Amphion; its greatest depth is 1015 feet, between Evian and Ouchy. At the Strait of Promenthoux, 2 miles wide, it is divided into the Great Lake, about 39 miles long, with an average breadth of 6 miles, and into the Little Lake, 6 miles long and 2 miles broad. The river Rhone, turbid and yellow, enters the lake at the northeastern end, and leaves it at the southwest, through the city of Geneva, perfectly clear and of a deep-blue tint. The deposits of this river at the northeastern end have contract ed considerably the area of the lake, former towns and villages on its shores in some cases now being miles inland. About twenty other streams, all insignificant, flow into the lake, which is 1230 feet above the sea; with the melting of the mountain snow in summer the lake rises from 6 to 8 feet above its usual level. It is subject
to the phenomena known as seiches, caused by alterations in the atmospheric pressure, which frequently occasion a rise and fall of from 2 to 5 feet in the course of half an hour. The seiches longitudinales traverse the lake from one end to the other, the highest on record being over 6 feet high; the seiches transversales cross from the Swiss to the French side in ten minutes. The lake is never entirely frozen over. It abounds in trout, lake salmon, perch, pike, and carp.
The beauties of Lake Geneva have been cele brated for centuries, and annually attract thou sands of tourists; its shores have been favorite residential resorts of numerous celebrities. The shore on the side of the Pays de Vaud is cele brated for the magnificence of its scenery; the southern French shore rises solemn and stern, with the mountains of Savoy in the background. From the Lake of Geneva Mont Blanc is visible, and, although 40 miles distant, is often reflected in its intensely blue waters. The principal places on Lake Geneva are: Geneva, Coppet, Nyon, Morges, Lausanne (with its port, Ouchy), Vevay, Montreux, Evian-les-Bains, and Thonon.