ALPINE SCULPTURE. 1?0 



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 tlie 

 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- 

 aarsclilucht in the valley of Hasli. Here the ridge called 

 the Kirchet 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- 

 teraarschlucht 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 

 an philosophical 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 Aarenschlitcht, a narrow lateral gorge 



