vit _ WATER 259 
cultivated portion of the valley is partly 
arable, partly pasture, the latter differing 
from our meadows in containing a greater 
variety of flowers — Campanulas, Wild Ge- 
raniums, Chervil, Ragged Robin, Narcissus, 
etc. Here and there is a brown village, 
while more or less in the centre hurries 
along, with a delightful rushing sound, the 
mountain torrent, to which the depth, if not 
the very existence of the valley, is mainly 
due. The meadows are often carefully 
irrigated, and the water power is also used 
for mills, the streams seeming to rush on, as 
Ruskin says, “eager for their work at the 
mill, or their ministry to the meadows.” 
Apart from the action of running water, 
snow and frost are continually disintegrating 
the rocks, and at the base of almost any 
steep cliff-may be seen a slope of debris 
(as in Figs. 25, 26). This stands at a regular 
angle —the angle of repose —and unless it 
is continually removed by a stream at the 
base, gradually creeps up higher and higher, 
until at last the cliff entirely disappears. 
Sometimes the two sides of the valley 
