MOUNTAIN SXBEAM. 



for miles and miles under ground, running through some 

 porous stratum, such as gravel, until it flows out in the form 

 of a spring, bubbling up amongst flowers and weeds, and 

 forming the source of some river, which receiving the rain 

 and all the springs in the country through which it flows, 

 finds its way back into the ocean at last. 



This is the way in which all rivers and streams are 

 formed. An enormous extent of land thus drained gives 

 rise to thousands of rills, which collect into streams of 

 goodly size, meandering through valleys and pouring their 

 tribute of waters into a main stream, which at. last accu- 

 mulates by additions to its course, and becomes one of those 

 great water-courses which form the highway through a con- 

 tinent. The Amazon, Hoang-Ho, Ganges, Nile, Danube, 

 and Volga, may be cited as some of the greatest water- 



