246 Dependence on th& Geographical Relations of Countries 



quence of the clearing of forests, the temperature of countries 

 has been on the increase. 



If we now keep in mind the powerful influence of climate 

 on the peculiarities, manners, and customs of nations, on the 

 development of their intellectual and moral faculties, and 

 on the cultivation and productive powers of the soil ; and if 

 we consider how much climate depends on the greater or less 

 extent of forests, we have surely collected arguments strong 

 enough to prove the assertion, that all the geographical rela- 

 tions of nations ought to be viewed as intimately connected 

 with forests, and that it should be held a main problem of 

 comparative geography, to estimate their influence in all its 

 bearings, and to acknowledge them as principal agents. 



Similar and still greater alterations in temperature are 

 linked with those depending on forests, in so far as they 

 are attributable to the formation and preservation of flowing 

 waters. The countries and nations of antiquity, as well as of 

 modern times, bear witness to the powerful influence of the 

 latter upon the physical condition and fertilization of coun- 

 tries, as also upon trades and manufactures, agriculture and 

 commerce, navigation, and all the other branches of industry ; 

 besides, in an indirect manner upon the intellectual and politi- 

 cal character of the inhabitants. The ancients regarded Egypt 

 as a gift of the Nile ; the country situated between the Eu- 

 phrates and Tigris, as the happy land or Paradise. Civiliza- 

 tion made the most rapid progress along the banks of rivers, 

 where the population is generally very numerous and in a pros- 

 pering condition. The Rhine, with the adjacent districts, 

 ofi^ers the best proof of this assertion ; the Weser, Elbe, Oder, 

 and Vistula, the Rhone and Danube, not to mention many 

 other navigable rivers in Europe, demonstrate the same. Inun- 

 dations and the retreat of flowing waters are two phenomena 

 which considerably modify the physical aspect of countries. All 

 the rivers of Europe testify the retreat of their contents to a 

 lower level, as also the drying up of innumerable springs. The 

 large masses of water they used to carry formerly, excavated 

 the valleys and laid the foundation of the alluvial plains. The 

 sand drifted along by the Seine and other French rivers is 

 still found at a great distance from their banks, and leads us 



