ALPINE SCULPTURE. 179 
depth. At some places the river-bed is covered with 
rolled stones; at other places it is bare, but shows no trace 
of fissure. The abstract power of water, if I may use the 
term, to cut through rock is demonstrated by such 
instances. But if water be competent to form a gorge 
without the aid of a fissure, why assume the existence of 
such fissures in cases like that at Pontresina? It seems 
far more philosophical to accept the simple and impressive 
history written on the walls of those gorges by the agent 
which produced them. 
Numerous cases might be pointed out, varying in 
magnitude, but all identical in kind, of barriers which 
crossed valleys and formed lakes having been cut through 
by rivers, narrow gorges being the consequence. One of 
the most famous examples of this kind is the Finster- 
aarschlucht in the valley of Hasli. Here the ridge called 
theKirchet seems split across, and the river .Aar rushes 
through the fissure. Behind the barrier we have the 
meadows and pastures of Imhof resting on the sediment of 
an ancient lake. Were this an isolated case, one might 
with an apparent show of reason conclude that the Fins- 
teruarschlucht was produced by an earthquake, as some 
suppose it to have been; but when we find it to be a single 
sample of actions which are frequent in the Alps when 
probably a hundred cases of the same kind, though dif- 
ferent in magnitude, can be pointed out it seems quite 
unphilosophical to assume that in each particular case an 
earthquake was at hand to form a channel for the river. 
As in the case of the barrier at Pontresina, the Kirchet, 
after the retreat of the Aar glacier, dammed the waters 
flowing from it, thus forming a lake, on the bed of which 
now stands the village of Imhof. Over this barrier the 
Aar tumbled toward Meyringen. cutting, as the centuries 
passed, its bed ever deeper, until finally it became deep 
enough to drain the lake, leaving in its place the alluvial 
plain, through which the river now flows in a definite 
channel. 
In 1866 I subjected the Finsteraarschlucht to a close 
examination. The earthquake theory already adverted to 
was then prevalent regarding it, and I wished to see 
whether any evidences existed of aqueous erosion. Near 
the summit of the Kirchet is a signboard inviting the 
traveler to visit the Aarenschlucht, a narrow lateral gorge 
