214 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP, 
one of very moderate elevation, if well placed, 
such say as the well-known Piz Languard, we 
see that in many cases they must have once 
formed a dome, or even a table land, out of 
which the valleys have been carved. Many 
mountain chains were originally at least twice . 
as high as they are now, and the highest 
peaks are those which have suffered least 
from the wear and tear of time. 
We used to speak of the everlasting hills, 
and are only beginning to realise the vast 
and many changes which our earth has un- 
dergone. . PN! 
There rolls the deep where grew the tree. 
- Oearth, what changes hast thou seen! 
There where the long street roars, hath been 
The stillness of the central sea. 
The hills are shadows, and they flow 
From form to form, and nothing stands; 
They melt like mist, the solid lands, 
Like clouds they shape themselves and go. 
THE ORIGIN OF MOUNTAINS 
Geography moreover acquires a new in- 
terest when we once realise that mountains 
1Tennyson. 
ee ee =e” 
