STUDIES IN NATURE 



let out of a pool flowing down to the right, and 

 another streamlet out of the same pool falling 

 away to the left. They will run down different 

 sides of the hill, each into a different valley, 

 and we cannot always tell whether these valleys 

 join together or belong to different watersheds. 



We can see something of the same sort on any 

 road during a rain-storm, for the ups and downs 

 of the surface will send the water sometimes to 

 one side and sometimes to the other, just as, 

 on a much larger scale the hills divide the 

 watersheds. Indeed, we need not wait for a 

 shower, but can go out with a can of water and 

 study the watersheds of the paths around us 

 for ourselves. The only way to be certain, 

 without asking, or looking at a map, which way 

 a stream will flow in the end, would be to walk 

 down the stream to the river, and down the 

 river to the sea. If we live far from the sea 

 we should most of us have neither time nor 

 strength for such a walk ; but as it is interesting 

 to know whither the water near us is bound 

 we may fairly look at our maps, which have 

 been drawn by people who have taken this 

 walk, or parts of it, and see what they have to 

 tell us about the matter. 



In the same way, if we live by the sea and 

 look about us, we shall want to know where 

 the river we see running out into the ocean 

 comes from ; what valleys and hill-sides it drains ; 

 what other towns and villages it passes through. 



(14) 



