THE GEOLOGY OF NATURAL SCENERY. 243 



ing influences of the atmospliere and rear their summits far 

 above the surrounding country. 



When Storm King is passed in our northward course, the 

 scenery changes completely. The gneiss hills of Westchester 

 County, abruptly rolling to the east, the craggy Palisades and the 

 Highland mountains give way to a region of moderate elevation 

 and gently rolling surface, abruptly notched by the river valley. 

 This is a belt of slate and limestone territory extending from 

 Vermont to Alabama, and of world-wide fame in its fertility, 

 known in Pennsylvania as the Great Valley, and in Virginia as 

 the Valley of the Shenandoah. 



From Cornwall to Troy the scenery of the Hudson shows but 

 little variation, as the geology does not change materially except 

 where the hard Catskill sandstones and conglomerates rear their 

 lofty pile, furrowed, channeled, and notched so deeply and widely 

 that of the original plateau only the present mountain remnants 

 may be seen. 



As a geological map of the Hudson Valley would tell what 

 variety of scenery might be expected, so one may forecast the 

 scenic pleasures of the Rhineland without entering its territory. 



From Basle to Mainz the Rhine flows through a low plain of 

 Quaternary age. In this portion of the valley the natural scenery 

 is monotonous, varied only by distant views of hill country. 

 From Biebrich to Bingen the river skirts the foot of the Rhein- 

 gau, which affords on the right bank the picturesque scenery of 

 that famous vine-clad slope. From Bingen northward the river 

 has abruptly cut its channel through the Devonian rocks which 

 extend from Bingen nearly to Bonn, and, in meandering through 

 the defiles of its valley, exhibits to the traveler a variety of im- 

 posing scenery which in remote centuries as well as in recent 

 times has inspired the poet and the minstrel, and in the richness 

 of its historic associations and its relics of the feudal system is 

 unsurpassed and probably unequaled by any other valley in the 

 world. From Bonn to the sea the country bordering the river is 

 of more recent origin and proportionately deficient in relief and 

 scenic variety. 



In connection with these instances may be stated a gen- 

 eral principle of the relation of scenery to geology : the older 

 the formation, the higher its relief and the more striking its 

 scenery. 



To exemplify this principle in its broadest form let the reader 

 compare the topography of some of the newest and oldest for- 

 mations. For instance, compare the London basin with the Scot- 

 tish Highlands, or Dover Cliffs with Mount Snowdon, or the drift 

 hills of Long Island with the Adirondack peaks, or the sand 

 plains of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas with the mountain 



