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Transcriber's note:
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THE STORY OF THE HILLS.




  [Illustration]




  [Illustration: NORHAM CASTLE. AFTER TURNER.]




    THE

    STORY OF THE HILLS.

    A BOOK ABOUT MOUNTAINS
    FOR GENERAL READERS.

    BY

    REV. H. N. HUTCHINSON, B.A., F.G.S.

    AUTHOR OF "THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE EARTH."

    With Sixteen Full-page Illustrations.

They are as a great and noble architecture, first giving shelter,
comfort, and rest; and covered also with mighty sculpture and painted
legend.--RUSKIN.

    New York:
    MACMILLAN AND CO.
    AND LONDON.

    1892.




    _Copyright, 1891_,
    BY MACMILLAN AND CO.


    University Press:
    JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.




TO

ALL WHO LOVE MOUNTAINS AND HILLS

This little Book is Dedicated,

   IN THE HOPE THAT EVEN A SLIGHT KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR PLACE IN
   NATURE, AND PREVIOUS HISTORY, MAY ADD TO THE WONDER AND DELIGHT
   WITH WHICH WE LOOK UPON THESE NOBLE FEATURES OF THE SURFACE OF
   THE EARTH.



PREFACE.


Now that travelling is no longer a luxury for the rich, and thousands
of people go every summer to spend their holidays among the
mountains of Europe, and ladies climb Mont Blanc or ramble among the
Carpathians, there must be many who would like to know something of
the secret of the hills, their origin, their architecture, and the
forces that made them what they are.

For such this book is chiefly written. Those will best understand it
who take it with them on their travels, and endeavour by its use to
interpret what they see among the mountains; and they will find that
a little observation goes a long way to help them to read mountain
history.

It is hoped, however, that all, both young and old, who take an
intelligent interest in the world around, though they may never have
seen a mountain, may find these pages worth reading.

If readers do not find here answers to all their questions, they
may be reminded that it is not possible within the present limits
to give more than a brief sketch of the subject, leaving the gaps
to be filled in by a study of the larger and more important works
on geology. The author, assuming that the reader knows nothing of
this fascinating science, has endeavoured to interpret into ordinary
language the story of the hills as it is written in the rocks of
which they are made.

It can scarcely be denied that a little knowledge of natural objects
greatly adds to our appreciation of them, besides affording a deep
source of pleasure, in revealing the harmony, law, and order by which
all things in this wonderful world are governed. Mountains, when
once we begin to observe them, seem to become more than ever our
companions,--to take us into their counsels, and to teach us many a
lesson about the great part they play in the order of things. And
surely our admiration of their beauty is not lessened, but rather
increased, when we learn how much we and all living things owe to
the life-giving streams that flow continually from them. The writer
has, somewhat reluctantly, omitted certain parts of the subject
which, though very interesting to the geologist, can hardly be made
attractive to general readers.

Thus, the cause of earth movements, by which mountains are pushed up
far above the plains that lie at their feet, is at present a matter
of speculation; and it is difficult to express in ordinary language
the ideas that have been put forward on this subject. Again, the
curious internal changes, which we find to have taken place in the
rocks of which mountains are composed, are very interesting to those
who know something of the minerals of which rocks are made up, and
their chemical composition; but it was found impossible to render
these matters sufficiently simple.

So again with regard