234 SKETCHES OF CREATION. 



mented force, they urge their way downward. Soon they 

 are joined by other streamlets, and thus the united waters 

 form a rivulet, which goes wandering about the country, 

 seeking the thirsty and weary brute, and dispensing its 

 blessings to all that choose to partake. On this traffic no 

 excise-tax has been imposed. The rivers are still free to 

 perambulate the country, and furnish entertainment and 

 comfort for man and beast. 



Suppose, for a moment, the surface of the drift had been 

 left an unbroken plain. The native cisterns might still 

 have been inclosed, but no leakages could occur ; neither 

 spring nor rivulet could originate under such circum- 

 stances. A stream originating in another region might 

 flow through this, but even such a stream would diminish 

 instead of augmenting its volume. The greedy sands 

 would consume it. Like the rivers of Nevada, its begin- 

 ning would be more imposing than its end. 



But suppose, farther, that in a country of such unbroken 

 surface, the argillaceous particles had not been separated 

 in beds of clay. Suppose the entire mass of drift materials 

 a promiscuous mixture of coarser and finer constituents. 

 What would become of the water precipitated from the 

 clouds? It must descend to the rocky foundations of the 

 land. Man, who would seek a well, must dig to the bot- 

 tom of the formation. This might be one, two, or five 

 hundred feet. Such a condition of things would be rather 

 inconvenient. And yet the existing condition results from 

 an incident in geological history which, at first view, seems 

 only destructive and retrogressive. 



Nor is this all. Vegetation has greater need than man 

 that a large body of water should be held within a limited 

 distance of the surface. Were rains always frequent, this 

 necessity might not exist ; but large portions of the earth's 

 surface are subject to droughts of greater or less severity. 



