VALLEYS, PLAINS, AND LOWLANDo 



239 



of rock, with precipices and overhanging crags, 

 prove one of two things : Either the rock is 

 very hard or the exposure is very new. The 

 wear of the elements tends to round, smooth, 

 and flatten down all such sharp projections. 

 In the older valleys of the world, such as those 

 of the Alleghanies, the sides are sloping, the 

 basins rounded, and the lines against the sky 

 show only the smoothest curves. Usually a 

 small river or brook winds its way down the 

 larger valleys, cutting out the soft deposits of 

 earth and forming banks or cliffs on either side, 

 where vines clamber and stunted pines cling in 

 the fissures of the rocks, and small trickling 

 streams drip from under thick carpetings of 

 moss. It is usually a noisy, swift-running 

 stream, dashing its way seaward over shelves of 

 stone and gravel, winding in and out of deep 

 pools, and swirling around sharp bends in 

 eddies and circles. Its tributaries are the little 

 cold-water- rivulets that come down the side 

 gulches, springing over ledges and bubbling 

 into basins streams where the young trout 

 splash in their leaps up the falls, and where 

 the stealthy -footed inhabitants of the wood 

 come to drink. 

 The brook, the river, the valley, and the 



Sloping 

 tides and 

 smooth 



The brook 

 again. 



