﻿FORRESTER'S EVENINGS AT HOME. 113 



I have chosen MOUNTAINS for our subject to-night, though there 

 are not many facts about them which you can readily understand. 

 Mountains are vast elevations of land, varying in height in different 

 countries. The highest mountain upon the face of the earth is a 

 peak of the great chain separating Hindostan from Thibet, called the 

 Himalaya mountains. Its name is Dhawalagiri peak, and it is more 

 than five miles high. 



Flora. What is the difference between a mountain and a hill, 

 Mr. Forrester? 



M. F. Just as much as there is between a girl and a woman. 

 Pray, Miss Flora, are you a woman ? 



Flora. Why, it seems to me that I am a young woman. 



M. F. Well, if you will allow me to use a comparative phrase, 

 a hill is a young mountain. The terms are merely relative, and 

 every person must decide for himself whether the one or the other 

 should be employed. 



Mountains present a great variety of forms. Some are bold, pre- 

 cipitous, and steep, with deep, yawning and impassable chasms upon 

 their sides ; others are more easy of ascent, with smooth surfaces, 

 on the sides of which are numerous cultivated fields and pasturage 

 for cattle and sheep. The most remarkable type of the former vari- 

 ety, is the Peter Botte Mountain, on the island of Mauritius, a pic- 

 ture of which you have before you. 



It is, in fact, a high rock, some three hundred and fifty feet in 

 height ; its pinnacle being nearly two thousand feet above the sea, 

 which is only a few miles distant. 



Henry. It must be a grand sight to look down from the top of 

 this elevation. Has it been often visited ? 



M. F. No, very rarely. Its top has once or twice been reached, 

 the first time in September, 1842, by a party of British officers. 

 It was a daring adventure. One of the party gives the following 

 narrative of the efforts to accomplish their object : 



From most points of view the mountain seems to rise out of the range, 

 which runs nearly parallel to that part of the sea-coast which forms the bay of 

 Port Louis, but on arriving at its base you find that it is actually separated 

 from the rest of the range by a ravine or cleft of a tremendous depth. Seen 

 from the town (as is perceived by the sketch) it appears a cone with a large 



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