224 THE UPLANDS. [1839. 



o too much water. But remote from the streams and 

 ■narshes, the country is, at all times and seasons, an arid 

 lesert — barren, dreary, and desolate. 



The mountainous districts, on the contrary, are exceed- 

 ingly rich and picturesque. Deep and impassable galleys, 

 generally the beds of rivers, sometimes three thousand feet 

 .Jeep, — on either hand precipice rising above precipice, rocks 

 piled on rocks, Ossa upon Pelion, — intersect the ranges, and 

 probably form the avenues by which the waters confined in 

 lakes, in the elevated basins, originally escaped through their 

 rocky barriers to the ocean. Plains and valleys are scattered 

 everywhere amid the mountains, and grassy hills and undu- 

 lations, slopes and terraces, lie spread out on their flank's, 

 whose abundant fertility presents a strong contrast to the 

 barrenness of the low country. Golden glades interspersed 

 among the green holts, mark the progress of the settler ; and 

 the flocks and herds clambering up the mountain sides, indi- 

 cate the certain rewards of industry and enterprise. 



In all ordinary seasons, the high-lying plains and valleys 

 are well-watered ; but it is a remarkable fact, that the streams, 

 which, when they leave the mountains, are rushing and im- 

 petuous torrents, at their embouchures are scarcely larger 

 than mere burns or brooks. Near the bases of the ranges, 

 they have high bergs, that protect the plains bordering upon 

 them from the extremes of drought and flood, and the banks 

 are being gradually extended by the process of formation con- 

 stantly going on ; but when the waters reach the low sandy 

 levels, they spread over the surface, forming in the marshes 

 dank pools, or tarns, which are connected together like the 

 links of a chain. Evaporation, under the vertical sun, soon 

 diminishes their volume ; the thirsty and porous soil drinks 

 up another large portion ; and the remainder, after divers 

 meanderings, at length reaches the ocean. This is especially 

 true of the rivers and streamlets of the interior, whose systems 

 are not yet developed, nor their courses permanently estab- 

 lished. 



If any reliance may be placed upon the appearances which 



