VII WATER 259 



cultivated portion of the valley is partly- 

 arable, partly pasture, the latter differing 

 from our meadows in containing a greater 

 variety of flowers — Campanulas, Wild Ge- 

 raniums, Chervil, Ragged Robin, Narcissus, 

 etc. Here and there is a brown village, 

 while more or less in the centre hurries 

 along, with a delightful rushing sound, the 

 mountain torrent, to which the depth, if not 

 the very existence of the valley, is mainly 

 due. The meadows are often carefully 

 irrigated, and the water power is also used 

 for mills, the streams seeming to rush on, as 

 Ruskin says, "eager for their work at the 

 mill, or their ministry to the meadows." 



Apart from the action of running water, 

 snow and frost are continually disintegrating 

 the rocks, and at the base of almost any 

 steep cliff may be seen a slope of debris 

 (as in Figs. 25, 26). This stands at a regular 

 angle — the angle of repose — and unless it 

 is continually removed by a stream at the 

 base, gradually creeps up higher and higher, 

 until at last the cliff entirely disappears. 



Sometimes the two sides of the valley 



