Page:The Rise of the Swiss Republic (1892).djvu/23

Rh of Zürich, and so it was that Dr. Ferdinand Keller, the President of that society, repaired to Obermeilen, and having examined the remains, announced the discovery of prehistoric lake dwellings.

As compared with some of the great tourist show-places of Switzerland, the lake of Zürich cannot perhaps claim to possess exceptional beauty of scenery. It has neither the romantic loveliness of the lake of Luzern, enhanced as that is by historical and legendary traditions, nor the wealth of color and the majestic sweep of Lake Leman, but the discovery of the first lake dwellings upon its shores has secured it an imperishable name in the annals of science. By searching the shores of other lakes in Switzerland, similar remains were found in great quantities, grouped in stations or villages, the number of which has now grown to more than two hundred. Usually, however, the most important discoveries were made by accident, like that of Obermeilen, when dredging operations were in progress or piers were being built in the water. Some years ago the Swiss government inaugurated a great engineering enterprise, known as the “Correction des Eaux du Jura,” which was designed to drain a district of marshland lying between the lakes of Neuchatel, Bienne, and Morat, and marked upon the map as the “Grosse Moos.” This undertaking is now practically complete, and the level of the three lakes has been lowered some six or eight feet, unexpectedly revealing the existence of numerous lake dwelling villages along the shores, which had heretofore been hidden under water. In the same way interesting finds were made at Ziirich when the beautiful new promenades were being built along the lake front.

These discoveries in Switzerland stimulated antiquarian researches in other parts of Europe, so that traces of lake dwellings have been found throughout an area extending from the British Isles to the great rivers of the Black Sea, and from Scandinavia to Northern Italy. Besides the typical lake dwellings such as are found in Switzerland, there are other vari-