ICE AND GLACIERS 2S3 



the cold mountain peaks deposits there most of the water it 

 contains in the form of snow. In the second place, the snow 

 melts most rapidly in summer, and thus the springs which 

 flow from the snow-fields are most abundant in that season 

 of the year in which they are most needed. 



Thus we ultimately get to know the wild, dead ice-wastes 

 from another point of view. From them trickles in thou- 

 sands of rills, springs, and brooks the fructifying moisture 

 which enables the industrious dwellers of the Alps to pro- 

 cure succulent vegetation and abundance of nourishment 

 from the wild mountain slopes. On the comparatively small 

 surface of the Alpine chain they produce the mighty streams 

 the Rhine, the Rhone, the Po, the Adige, the Inn, which for 

 hundreds of miles form broad, rich river-valleys, extending 

 through Europe to the German Ocean, the Mediterranean, 

 the Adriatic, and the Black Sea. Let us call to mind how 

 magnificently Goethe, in " Mahomet's Song," has depicted the 

 course of the rocky spring, from its origin beyond the clouds 

 to its union with Father Ocean. It would be presumptuous 

 after him to give such a picture in other than his own 

 words : 



And along, in triumph rolling, 

 Names he gives to regions ; cities 

 Grow amain beneath his feet. 



On and ever on he rushes ; 

 Spire and turret fiery crested 

 Marble palaces, the creatures 

 Of his wealth, he leaves behind. 



Pine-built houses bears the Atlas 

 On his giant shoulders. O'er his 

 Head a thousand pennons rustle, 

 Floating far upon the breezes, 

 Tokens of his majesty. 



And so beareth he his brothers, 

 And his treasures, and his children, 

 To their primal sire expectant, 

 All his bosom throbbing, heaving, 

 With a wild tumultuous joy. 



THEODORE MARTIN'S Translation. 



