BY Rev. H. N. HUTCHINSON , B.A., F.G.S. AUTHOR OF "THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE EARTH." With Sixteen Full-page Illustrations. They are as a great and noble architecture, first giving shelter, comfort, and rest; and covered also with mighty sculpture and painted legend.— Ruskin. New York: MACMILLAN AND CO. AND LONDON. 1892. Copyright, 1891 , By Macmillan and Co. University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. TO ALL WHO LOVE MOUNTAINS AND HILLS This little Book is Dedicated, IN THE HOPE THAT

Now that travelling is no longer a luxury for the rich, and thousands of people go every summer to spend their holidays among the mountains of Europe, and ladies climb Mont Blanc or ramble among the Carpathians, there must be many who would like to know something of the secret of the hills, their origin, their architecture, and the forces that made them what they are. For such this book is chiefly written. Those will best understand it who take it with them on their travels, and endeavour by its

"Happy, I said, whose home is here; Fair fortunes to the Mountaineer." In old times people looked with awe upon the mountains, and regarded them with feelings akin to horror or dread. A very slight acquaintance with the classical writers of antiquity will suffice to convince any one that Greeks and Romans did so regard them. They were not so familiar with mountains as we are; for there were no roads through them, as now through the Alps, or the Highlands of Scotland,—to say nothing of the all-pe

The valleys only feed; the mountains feed and guard and strengthen us.— Ruskin. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are no physical features of the surface of the earth which render such a variety of services as mountains. The operations which they perform involve such far-reaching consequences that it is difficult to say where their effects cease. Indeed, it might almost be maintained that they are the mainspring of the world,—as far as its surface is concerned,—for it would fare ill wi

"The spirit of the hills is action, that of the lowlands repose." [9] The plains, with their peaceful meadows and meandering streams, might almost be said to be asleep; but the mountains are wide awake. They are emphatically scenes of violent or rapid action. The wind blows more fiercely among the mountain-peaks than over the plains below; heat and cold are more extreme; and every process of change or decay seems quickened. Avalanches, falls of rock, earthquakes, storms, and floods exhibit the m

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and so are the stony rocks for the conies.— Psalm civ. 18. There must be few people who have neither seen nor heard of the beauty and exquisite colours of Alpine [15] flowers. They are first seen on the fringes of the stately woods above the cultivated land; then in multitudes on the sloping pastures with which many mountain-chains are robed, brightening the verdure with innumerable colours; and higher up, where neither grass nor loose herbage can

Probably every mountain climber, resting for a brief space on a loose boulder, or seeking the shade of some overhanging piece of rock, has often asked himself, "How were all these rocks made?" The question must occur again and again to any intelligent person on visiting a mountain for the first time, or even on seeing a mountain-range in the distance. He may well ask his companions how these great ramparts of the earth were built up. But unless he possesses some knowledge of the science of geolo

The notion that the ground is naturally steadfast is an error,—an error which arises from the incapacity of our senses to appreciate any but the most palpable, and at the same time most exceptional, of its movements. The idea of terra firma belongs with the ancient belief that the earth was the centre of the universe. It is, indeed, by their mobility that the continents survive the increasing assaults of the ocean waves, and the continuous down-wearing which the rivers and glaciers bring about.—

The mighty fortresses of the earth, which seem so imperishable, so majestic in their strength, and have from time immemorial received their title of "the everlasting hills," are nevertheless undergoing constant change and decay. They cannot abide for ever. Those waste leagues around their feet are loaded with the wrecks of what once belonged to them; they are witnesses to the victory of the hostile forces that are for ever contending with them, and pledges of a final triumph. To those who will r

In some parts of the world we meet with mountains of a very different kind from any we have yet considered,—mountains that are known at times to send forth fiery streams of glowing lava, and to emit with terrific force great clouds of steam. Such mountains have long been known, in popular but unscientific language, as "burning mountains," [25] —a term which is unfortunate, because they do not burn in the proper sense of the word, like candles or gas-jets. They are better known as volcanoes. Ther

The dying splendours of the sun slowly sinking and entering the "gates of the West" may well serve as a fitting emblem of the mountains in their beautiful old age, awaiting in silent and calm dignity the time when they also must be brought low, and sink in the waters of the ocean, as the sun appears daily to do. Yes, they too have their day. They too had their rising, when mighty forces brought them up out of their watery bed. Many of them have passed their hey-day of youth, and their midday; wh

It might naturally be asked at what period in the world's primeval or geological history some particular mountain-range was upheaved; whether it is younger or older than another one perhaps not very far away; and again, whether the mountain-chains of the world have been uplifted all at once, or whether the process of elevation was prolonged and gradual? Questions such as these are deeply interesting, and present to the geologist some of the most fascinating problems to be met with in the whole r