GEOLOGY. 605 



and marvellous appearances. Here and there we find pro- 

 found and narrow gorges, immense abysses, the sombre hol- 

 lows of which the eye cannot fathom, and in the depths of 

 which often rolls a furious torrent, its thunders multiplied a 

 hundred-fold by the echoes. Everything threatens the dar- 

 ing traveller who ventures to plunge into their abysses. 

 On one hand the avalanche hangs suspended over his head, 

 and on the other every now and then fragments of rock fall 

 down and threaten to crush him. 



Almost all these imposing gorges are the effect of convul- 

 sions of the globe, and the first glance shows that they 

 have resulted from a violent fracture of the mountains and 

 separation of the fragments. We can identify these great 

 fissures by the similarity which their walls present in re- 

 spect to the layers of which they are formed, and by the 

 irregularity of their chasms, in the depths of which reign 

 shade and terror. Our superstitious ancestors, overcome by 

 the awe which these darksome clefts inspired, often gave 

 them names expressive" of the dread they gave rise to; as, 

 for instance, calling them hell valleys, hell holes, or devil's 

 gorges. 



In all high mountains, such as the Alps and Pyrenees, we 

 see some which are thus designated. But certainly one of 

 the most remarkable of these gorges is the Hell Valley in 

 the Black Forest. I passed through it during a severe win- 

 ter, and nothing could equal the dark horror it inspired. 

 Masses of snow hung suspended on its buttresses, and their 

 whiteness contrasted strongly with the gloomy mouth of 

 the infernal abyss. This portico to the domains of Pluto, 

 though ample of entrance, was yet shrouded in impenetra- 



