near the lake, on those charming plains, that imagination leads me.
An orchard on the banks of that lake, and no other, is absolutely
necessary; a firm friend, an amiable woman, a cow, and a little boat;
nor could I enjoy perfect happiness on earth without these
concomitants.... On my way to Vevey I gave myself up to the soft
melancholy ... I sighed and wept like a child.'

He clung to Nature, and most of all when surrounded by human beings;
a morbid impulse to flee from them was always present as a negative
element in the background of his love for her. His Fifth Reverie, the
most beautiful one, shews this.

He had gone to the Peter Island on the Lake of Bienne. So far as he
knew, no other traveller had paid any attention to the place; but
that did not disturb his confidence in his own taste.

'The shores of the Lake of Bienne are wilder and more romantic than
those of the Lake of Geneva, because the rocks and woods come nearer
to the water; but they are not less radiant. With less cultivation
and fewer vineyards, towns, and houses, there are more green fields
and shady sheltered spots, more contrasts and irregularities. As
there are no good carriage roads on these happy shores, the district
is little frequented by travellers; but it is interesting for the
solitary contemplation of those who like to intoxicate themselves at
their leisure with Nature's charms, and to retire into a silence
unbroken by any sound but the eagle's cry, the intermittent warbling
of birds, and the roar of torrents falling from the mountains,'

Here he had a delightful Robinson Crusoe existence. The only other
human beings were the Bernese manager with his family and labourers.