WILL THE MOUNTAINS BE LEVELED? 40 1 



slowly and steadily surging from the sea. The sea, robbed 

 of half his dominions, has ever since been raging around 

 the borders of the land. At last he will again reclaim his 

 own, and the universal empire will be Neptune's. 



It is vain to hope that elevatory forces can permanently 

 avert the disappearance of the land. We discover here 

 another argument against the vague belief entertained by 

 some, that the human fauna is to be succeeded by a higher 

 one, as it has itself succeeded the lower. Should it be sup- 

 posed that the ultimate submergence predicted is suffi- 

 ciently remote to permit the interposition of a superior 

 race of intelligences, I recall to mind the evidences that 

 the lands are wasting and deteriorating ; the river-beds are 

 deepening, and diminishing the sources of irrigation ; and 

 all the populated regions of the earth are slowly approach- 

 ing the desert condition of that ancient continent drained 

 by the Colorado. Each continental surface in the geolog- 

 ical succession is the exclusive gift to a single great fauna. 

 A single race witnesses the disappearance of the freshness 

 and fertility of the land. A new race would demand a 

 thorough renovation, like that which immediately preceded 

 the advent of man. Such a revolution the senescent forces 

 are unable to inaugurate. 



