148 ON THE ARTIFICIAL MODES 



ration is called in Italian colmare, in French combler, that 

 is to say, to Jill up. I once, in travelling, saw it carrying 

 on, in a spot on the declivity of a hill ; for you under- 

 stand that it can take place only where the ground slopes, 

 so as to enable the waters to run off. 



Caroline. When the mountains, from which the rivu- 

 lets bring down the earth are of schist, like the Apen- 

 nines, this operation must be much more easily effected 

 than when they are of granite, for the harder the earth the 

 less earthy matter the waters can wash down. 



Mrs. B. When the mountains are of granite, no de- 

 position of earth takes place to interrupt the course of the 

 streams, and produce a marsh : the evil cannot exist, and 

 the remedy is not required. 



Emily. But elaborate and artificial as this mode ap- 

 pears, it is, in fact, precisely that which Nature employs 

 to level the inequalities of the globe : the streams are 

 ever conveying earth from the mountains to deposit it in 

 the vallies, thus lowering the one and elevating the other. 



Mrs. B. That is perfectly true : it is thus that the 

 plains in the north of Italy, between the two ridges of 

 the Alps and the Apennines, have been formed. The 

 rivers flowing from these long chains of mountains have 

 deposited their solid contents in the intervening low 

 lands, raised and united the several vallies, and levelled 

 them into plains, such as those of Lombardy and Ligu- 

 ria; and, had Nature been allowed time to complete her 

 work, they would have been elevated to a height which 

 would have preserved them from danger ; but impatient 

 man was eager to inhabit this alluring paradise, before its 

 creation was completed. Hence, instead of profiting by 

 the gratuitous labors of Nature, who was gradually pre- 

 paring it for his reception, he has been compelled to re- 

 pair by artificial means, at the expense of immense toil 

 and trouble, the evils resulting from the interruption giv- 

 en to her operations. 



Emily. But of what nature are those evils ? 



Mrs. B. Inundations produced by the quantity of tur- 

 bid waters, which in rainy seasons, is frequently so great, 

 as to overflow the whole country, and destroy cultivation. 



820. What is it called! 821. What is the consequence if the 

 mountains are of granite! 822. Where else have similar plains been 

 formed! 823. Why was this work of nature interrupted! 824. 

 What evils resulted from the artificial means! 



