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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 to the geological structure of mountain-chains.
This had to be very briefly treated, in order to avoid introducing
details which would be too complicated for a book of this kind.

The author desires to acknowledge his obligations to the writings
of Sir A. Geikie; Professor Bonney, Professor Green, and Professor
Shaler, of Harvard University; the volumes of the "Alpine Journal;"
"The Earth," by Reclus; the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." Canon Isaac
Taylor's "Words and Places," have also been made use of; and if in
every case the reference is not given, the writer hopes the omission
will be pardoned. A few passages from Mr. Ruskin's "Modern Painters"
have been quoted, in the hope that others may be led to read that
wonderful book, and to learn more about mountains and clouds, and
many other things, at the feet of one of the greatest teachers of the
century.

Some of our engravings are taken from the justly celebrated
photographs of the High Alps,[1] by the late Mr. W. Donkin, whose
premature death among the Caucasus Mountains was deeply deplored
by all. Those reproduced were kindly lent by his brother, Mr. A. E.
Donkin, of Rugby. To Messrs. Valentine & Son of Dundee, Mr. Wilson
of Aberdeen, and to Messrs. Frith we are indebted for permission to
reproduce some of their admirable photographs; also to Messrs. James
How & Sons of Farringdon Street, for three excellent photographs of
rock-sections taken with the microscope.

  [1] Published by Messrs. Spooner, of the Strand.




CONTENTS.

    Part I.

    THE MOUNTAINS AS THEY ARE.

    CHAPTER                                          PAGE

    I. MOUNTAINS AND MEN                                3

    II. THE USES OF MOUNTAINS                          33

    III. SUNSHINE AND STORM ON THE MOUNTAINS           70

    IV. MOUNTAIN PLANTS AND ANIMALS                   103


    Part II.

    CHAPTER                                          PAGE

    HOW THE MOUNTAINS WERE MADE.

    V. HOW THE MATERIALS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER        139

    VI. HOW THE MOUNTAINS WERE UPHEAVED               174

    VII. HOW THE MOUNTAINS WERE CARVED OUT            205

    VIII. VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS                          242

    IX. MOUNTAIN ARCHITECTURE                         282

    X. THE AGES OF MOUNTAINS AND OTHER QUESTIONS      318




ILLUSTRATIONS.


    NORHAM CASTLE. After Turner                   _Frontispiece_

    BEN LOMOND. From a Photograph by J. Valentine             16

    CLOUDS ON BEN NEVIS                                       38

    SNOW ON THE HIGH ALPS. From a Photograph by
        Mr. Donkin                                            64

    A STORM ON THE LAKE OF THUN. After Turner                 86

    THE MATTERHORN. From a Photograph by Mr. Donkin           98

    ON A GLACIER.                                            116

    RED DEER. After Ansdell                                  133

    CHALK ROCKS, FLAMBOROUGH HEAD. From a Photograph by
        G. W. Wilson                                         152

    MICROPHOTOGRAPHS ILLUSTRATING ROCK FORMATION             172

    THE SKAEGGEDALSFORS, NORWAY. From a Photograph by
        J. Valentine                                         192

    THE MER DE GLACE AND MONT BUET. From a Photograph
        by Mr. Donkin                                        229

    THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS IN 1872. From an
        Instantaneous Photograph                             250

    COLUMNAR BASALT AT CLAMSHELL CAVE, STAFFA. From
        a Photograph by J. Valentine                         280

    MONT BLANC, SNOWFIELDS, GLACIERS, AND STREAMS.           312

    MOUNTAIN IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY.                         336




    ILLUSTRATIONS II.

    Fig. 1. SECTION ACROSS THE WEALD OF KENT AND SURREY.     237

    Fig. 2. THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND ON A TRUE
    SCALE (after Geikie.)                                    237

    Fig. 1. THE RANGES OF THE GREAT BASIN, WESTERN
    STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, SHOWING A SERIES OF
    GREAT FRACTURES AND TILTED MASSES OF ROCK.               272

    Fig. 2. SECTION THROUGH SNOWDON.                         272

    SECTIONS OF MOUNTAIN-RANGES, SHOWING THEIR
    STRUCTURE AND THE AMOUNT OF ROCK WORN AWAY               306




PART I.

THE MOUNTAINS AS THEY ARE.




THE STORY OF THE HILLS.

Part I.

THE MOUNTAINS AS THEY ARE.




CHAPTER I.

MOUNTAINS AND MEN.

    "Happy, I said, whose home is here;
    Fair fortunes to the Mountaineer."


In old times people looked with awe upon the mountains, and
regarded them with feelings akin to horror or dread. A very slight
acquaintance with the classical writers of antiquity will suffice
to convince any one that Greeks and Romans did so regard them. They
were not so familiar with mountains as we are; for there were no
roads through them, as now through the Alps, or the Highlands of
Scotland,--to say nothing of the all-pervading railway. It would,
however, be a great mistake to suppose that the ancients did not
observe and enjoy the beauties of Nature. The fair and fertile
plain, the vine-clad <DW72>s of the lower hill-ranges, and the
"many-twinkling smile of ocean" were seen and loved by all who had
a mind to appreciate the beautiful. The poems of Homer and Virgil
would alone be sufficient to prove this. But the higher ranges,
untrodden by the foot of man, were gazed at, not with admiration,
but with religious awe; for men looked upon mountains as the abode
of the gods. They dwelt in the rich plain, which they cultivated,
and beside the sweet waters of some river; for food and drink are
the first necessities of life. But they left the high hills alone,
and in fancy peopled them with the "Immortals" who ruled their
destiny,--controlling also the winds and the lightning, the rain and
the clouds, which seem to have their home among the mountains. A
childlike fear of the unknown, coupled with religious awe, made them
avoid the lofty and barren hills, from which little was to be got
but wild honey and a scanty supply of game. There were also dangers
to be encountered from the fury of the storm and the avalanche; but
the safer ground of the plains below would reward their toil with an
ample supply of corn and other necessaries of life.

In classical times, and also in the Middle Ages, the mountains,
as well as glens and rivers, were supposed to be peopled with
fairies, nymphs, elves, and all sorts of strange beings; and even
now travellers among the mountains of Switzerland, Norway, Wales,
or Scotland find that it is not long since the simple folk of these
regions believed in the existence of such beings, and attributed to
their agency many things which they could not otherwise explain.

Of all the nations of antiquity the Jews seem to have shown the
greatest appreciation of mountain scenery; and in no ancient writings
do we find so many or so eloquent allusions to the hills as in the
Old Testament. But here again one cannot fail to trace the same
feelings of religious awe. The Law was given to their forefathers
in the desert amidst the thunders of Sinai. To them the earth was
literally Jehovah's footstool, and the clouds were His tabernacle.
"If He do but touch the hills, they shall smoke."

But this awe was not unmixed with other and more comforting thoughts.
They felt that those cloud-capped towers were symbols of strength and
the abode of Him who would help them in their need. For so we find
the psalmists regarding them; and with our very different conceptions
of the earth's natural features, we can but dimly perceive and
realise the full force and meaning of the words, "I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."

To take another example from antiquity, we find that the Himalayas
and the source of the Ganges have from very early times been
considered as holy by the people of India. Thousands of pilgrims from
all parts of that vast country still continue to seek salvation in
the holy waters of the Ganges, and at its sacred sources in the snowy
Himalayas. And to those who know India the wondrous snowclad peaks of
the Himalayas still seem to be surrounded with somewhat of the same
halo of glory as of old.

Mountains are intimately associated with the history of nations, and
have contributed much to the moulding of the human mind and the
character of those who dwell among them; they have alike inspired the
mind of the artist, the poet, the reformer, and the visionary seeking
repose for his soul, that, dwelling far from the strife and turmoil
of the world, he may contemplate alone the glory of the Eternal
Being. They have been the refuge of the afflicted and the persecuted;
they have braced the minds and bodies of heroes who have dwelt for a
time among them before descending once more to the plain that they
might play some noble part in the progress of the world.

Moses, while leading the flock of his father-in-law to the back of
the wilderness, came to Mount Horeb and received the divine summons
to return to Egypt and lead Israel out of bondage. David, with his
six hundred followers, fleeing from the face of Saul, found a refuge
in the hill country; and the life of peril and adventure which he
led during these years of persecution was a part of his training for
the great future task of ruling Israel, which he performed so well.
Elijah summoned the false prophets of Baal and Asherah to Mount
Carmel and slew them at the brook Kishon; and a little later we find
him at Mount Horeb listening, not to the wind or to the earthquake
or to the fire, but to the "still small voice" telling him to return
and anoint Jehu to be king.

Or, to take another example from a later age, we find that Mahomet's
favourite resort was a cave at the foot of Mount Hira, north of
Mecca; here in dark and wild surroundings his mind was wrought up to
rhapsodic enthusiasm.

And many, like these leaders of men, have received in mountain
retreats a firmness and tenacity of purpose giving them the right
to be leaders, and the power to redress human wrongs; or, it may
be, a temper of mind and spirit enabling them to soar into regions
of thought and contemplation untrodden by the careless and more
luxurious multitudes who dwell on the plains below. Perhaps Mr. Lewis
Morris was unconsciously offering his testimony to the influence of
mountains when he wrote those words which he puts into the mouth of
poor Marsyas,--

                        "More it is than ease,
    Palace and pomp, honours and luxuries,
    To have seen white presences upon the hills,
    To have heard the voices of the eternal gods."[2]

  [2] Epic of Hades.
The thunder and lightning, storm and cloud, as well as the soft
beauty of colour, and the harmony of mountain outline, have been a
part, and a very important part, of their training. The exhilarating
air, the struggle with the elements in their fierceness, the rugged
strength of granite, seem to have possessed the very souls of such
men, and made them like "the strong ones,"--the immortal beings to
whom in all previous ages the races of mankind have assigned their
abode in the hills, as the Greek gods were supposed to dwell on Mount
Olympus. On these heights such men seem to have gained something of
the strength of Him who dwells in the heavens far above their highest
peaks,--"the strength of the hills," which, as the Hebrew poet says,
"is His also."

We have spoken of the attitude of the human mind towards mountains in
the past; let us now consider the light in which they are regarded
at the present time by all thoughtful and cultivated people. And it
does not require a moment's consideration to perceive that a very
great change has taken place. Instead of regarding them with horror
or aversion, we look upon them with wonder and delight; we watch
them hour by hour whenever for a brief season of holiday we take
up our abode near or among them. We come back to them year by year
to breathe once more the pure air which so frequently restores the
invalid to health and brings back the colour to faded cheeks. We love
to watch the ever-varying lights and shades upon them, as the day
goes by. But it is towards evening that the most enchanting scenes
are to be witnessed, when the sinking sun sheds its golden rays upon
their <DW72>s, or tinges their summits with floods of crimson light;
and then presently, after the sun has gone down, pale mists begin
to rise, and the hills seem more majestic than ever. Later on, as
the full moon appears from behind a bank of cloud, those wonderful
moonlight effects may be seen which must be familiar to all who know
the mountains as they are in summer or autumn,--scenes such as the
writer has frequently witnessed in the Highlands of Scotland, but
which only the poet can adequately describe.

There are few sights in Nature which more powerfully impress the mind
than a sunset among the mountains. General Sir Richard Strachey
concludes his description of the Himalayas with the following
striking passage:

   "Here may the eye, as it sweeps along the horizon, embrace a
   line of snowclad mountains such as exist in no other part of
   the world, stretching over one third of the entire circle,
   at a distance of forty or fifty miles, their peaks towering
   over a sea of intervening ranges piled one behind another,
   whose extent on either hand is lost in the remote distance,
   and of which the nearest rises from a gulf far down beneath
   the spectator's feet, where may be seen the silver line that
   marks a river's course, or crimson fields of amaranth and the
   dwellings of man. Sole representative of animal life, some
   great eagle floats high overhead in the pure dark-blue sky,
   or, unused to man, fearlessly sweeps down within a few yards
   to gaze at the stranger who intrudes among these solitudes of
   Nature. As the sun sinks, the cold grey shadow of the summit
   where we stand is thrown forward, slowly stealing over the
   distant hills, and veiling their glowing purples as it goes,
   carries the night up to the feet of the great snowy peaks,
   which still rise radiant in the rosy light above the now
   darkening world. From east to west in succession the splendour
   fades away from one point after another, and the vast shadow of
   the earth is rapidly drawn across the whole vault of heaven.
   One more departing day is added to the countless series which
   has silently witnessed the deathlike change that passes over
   the eternal snows, as they are left raising their cold pale
   fronts against the now leaden sky; till slowly with the
   deepening night the world of mountains rises again, as it were,
   to a new life, under the changed light of the thousand stars
   which stud the firmament and shine with a brilliancy unknown
   except in the clear rarefied air of these sublime heights."

Year by year a larger number of busy workers from our great towns,
availing themselves of the increased facilities for travel, come to
the mountains to spend their summer holidays,--some to the Swiss
Alps, others to Wales, Cumberland, Norway, or the Highlands of
Scotland. There are few untrodden valleys in these regions, few of
the more important mountains which have not been climbed.

Our knowledge of mountains, thanks to the labours of a zealous army
of workers, is now considerable. The professors of physical science
have been busy making important observations on the condition of
the atmosphere in the higher regions; geographers have noted their
heights and mapped their leading contours. Geologists have done a
vast amount of work in ascertaining the composition and arrangement
of the rocks of which mountain chains are composed, in observing
their peculiar structures, in recording the changes which are
continually effecting their waste and decay, and thus interpreting
the story of the hills as it is written in the very rocks of which
they are built up.

Naturalists have collected and noted the peculiar plants and animals
which have their home among the hills, and so the forms of life, both
animal and vegetable, which inhabit the mountains of Europe, and some
other countries, are now fairly well known.

The historian, the antiquary, and the student of languages have
made interesting discoveries with regard to the mountain races of
mankind. And only to mention this country, such writers as Scott,
Wordsworth, and Ruskin have given us in verse and prose descriptions
of mountain scenery which will take a permanent place in literature;
while Turner, our great landscape-painter, has expressed the glories
of mountain scenery in pictures which speak more eloquently than
many words. Thus we see that whatever line of inquiry be chosen, our
subject is full of varied interest.

With regard to the characteristics of mountain races, it is not easy
to say to what extent people in different parts of the world who
live among mountains share the same virtues or the same failings;
but the most obvious traits in the character of the mountaineer
seem to be the result of his natural surroundings. Thus we find
mountaineers generally endowed with hardihood, strength, and bravery.
To spend one's days on the hillsides for a large part of the year, as
shepherds and others do in Scotland or Wales, and to walk some miles
every day in pure bracing air, must be healthy and tend to develop
the muscles of the body; and so we find the highlanders of all
countries are usually muscular, strong, and capable of endurance. And
there can be little doubt that mountain races are kept up to a high
standard of strength and endurance by a rigorous and constant weeding
out of the weakly ones, especially among children. And if only the
stronger live to grow up and become parents, the chances are that
their children will be strong too. Thus Nature exercises a kind of
"selection;" and we have consequently "the survival of the fittest."
This "selection," together with the healthy lives they lead, is
probably sufficient to account for their strength and hardiness.

As might be expected, mountaineers are celebrated for their fighting
qualities. The fierce Afghans who have often faced a British army,
and sometimes victoriously; the brave Swiss peasantry, who have
more than once fought nobly for freedom; the Highlanders, who have
contributed so largely to the success of British arms in nearly
all parts of the world, and whose forefathers defied even the
all-conquering Roman in their mountain strongholds,--these and many
others all show the same valour and power of endurance. Etymologists,
whose learned researches into the meaning of words have thrown so
much light on the ages before history was written, tell us that the
Picts were so called from their fighting qualities, and that the
word "Pict" is derived from the Gaelic "peicta," a fighting man. And
Julius Caesar says the chief god of the Britons was the god of war.

In some countries--as, for instance, Greece, Italy, and Spain--the
mountains are infested with banditti and robbers, who often become a
terror to the neighbourhood. In more peaceful and orderly countries,
however, we find among mountaineers many noble qualities,--such
as patience, honesty, simplicity of life, thrift, a dignified
self-reliance, together with true courtesy and hospitality. This is
high praise; but who that knows mountain peasants would say it is
undeserved? How many a tired traveller among the hills of Scotland
or Wales has had reason to be grateful for welcome, food, and rest
in some little cottage in a far-away glen! How many friendships have
thus been formed! How many a pleasant talk has beguiled the time
during a storm or shower! The old feuds are forgotten now that the
Saxon stranger and invader is at peace with the Celtic people whom
his forefathers drove into the hills. The castles, once centres of
oppression or scenes of violence, lie in peaceful and picturesque
ruins, and add not a little to the interest of one's travels in the
North. What true courtesy and consideration one meets with at the
hands of these honest folk, among whom the old kindly usages have
not died out! Often too poor to be afflicted with the greed and
thirst for wealth, which frequently marks the man of the plain as
compared with the man of the hills,--the Lowlander as compared with
the Highlander,--they exhibit many of those simple virtues which
one hardly expects to meet with among busy townspeople, all bent on
making money, or as the phrase is, "getting on in life."

  [Illustration: BEN LOMOND. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. VALENTINE.]

    "The mountain cheer, the frosty skies,
    Breed purer wits, inventive eyes;
    And then the moral of the place
    Hints summits of heroic grace.
    Men in these crags a fastness find
    To fight corruption of the mind;
    The insanity of towns to stem
    With simpleness for stratagem."

Mr. Skene, the Scotch historian, records a touching case of the
devotion of Highlanders to their chief. He says,--

   "There is perhaps no instance in which the attachment of the
   clan to their chief was so strongly manifested as in the
   case of the Macphersons of Cluny after the disaster of 'the
   Forty-five.' The chief having been deeply engaged in that
   insurrection, his life became of course forfeited to the laws;
   but neither the hope of reward nor the fear of danger could
   induce any one of his people to betray him. For nine years
   he lived concealed in a cave a short distance from his own
   house; it was situated in the front of a woody precipice of
   which the trees and shelving rocks concealed the entrance. The
   cave had been dug by his own people, who worked at night and
   conveyed the stones and rubbish into a neighbouring lake, in
   order that no vestige of their labour might appear and lead to
   the discovery of the retreat. In this asylum he continued to
   live secure, receiving by night the occasional visits of his
   friends, and sometimes by day, when the soldiers had begun to
   slacken the vigour of their pursuit. Upwards of one thousand
   persons were privy to his concealment, and a reward of L1,000
   was offered to any one who should give information against
   him.... But although the soldiers were animated by the hope
   of reward, and their officers by promise of promotion for
   the apprehension of this proscribed individual, yet so true
   were his people, so inflexibly strict in their promise of
   secrecy, and so dextrous in conveying to him the necessaries he
   required in his long confinement, not a trace of him could be
   discovered, nor an individual base enough to give a hint to his
   detriment."

The mountaineer is a true gentleman. However poor, however ignorant
or superstitious, one perceives in him a refinement of manner which
cannot fail to command admiration. His readiness to share his
best with the stranger and to render any service in his power are
pleasing traits in his character. But there is one sad feature about
mountaineers of the present day which one frequently notices in
districts where many tourists come,--especially English or American.
They are, we regret to say, losing their independence, their simple,
old-fashioned ways, and becoming servile and greedy,--at least in the
towns and villages. Such changes seem, alas! inevitable when rich
townspeople, bent on pleasure or sport, invade the recesses of the
hills where poverty usually reigns. On the one hand, we have people,
often with long purses, eager for enjoyment, waiting to be fed,
housed, or otherwise entertained; on the other hand, poor people,
anxious to "make hay while the sun shines" and to extract as much
money as possible from "the visitors," who often allow themselves
to be unmercifully fleeced. Then there are in the Highlands the
sportsmen, who require a large following of "gillies" to attend them
in their wanderings, pay them highly for their services, and dismiss
them at the end of the season; and so the men are in many cases left
without employment all the winter and spring. Is it, then, surprising
that they give way to a natural tendency to idleness, and fall into
other bad habits? Any visitor who spends a winter, or part of one,
in the Highlands will be better able to realise the extent of this
evil, which is by no means small; and one cannot help regretting that
the sportsmen's pleasure and the tourist's holiday should involve
results of such grave consequence. We are inclined to think that in
these days sport is overdone, and wish it could be followed without
taking the hillman away from the work he would otherwise find, and
which would render him a more useful member of society. With the
agitation going on in some parts against deer-forests we do not
feel much sympathy, because they are based on the erroneous idea
that "crofters" could make a living out of the land thus enclosed;
whereas those who know the land and its value for agricultural
purposes tell us that with the exception of a few small patches here
and there, hardly worth mentioning, it could not possibly be made to
produce enough to maintain crofters and their families. Nevertheless,
another way of looking at the matter is this: that the man who merely
ministers to the pleasure of others richer than himself loses some of
the self-respect and independence which he would acquire by working
in his own way for a living.

The same changes for the worse are still more manifest in
Switzerland; and even in some parts of Norway the people are being
similarly spoiled. Mr. Ruskin, speaking of the former country, says:

   "I believe that every franc now spent by travellers among
   the Alps tends more or less to the undermining of whatever
   special greatness there is in the Swiss character; and the
   persons I met in Switzerland whose position and modes of life
   render them best able to give me true information respecting
   the present state of their country, among many causes of
   national deterioration, spoke with chief fear of the influx
   of English wealth, gradually connecting all industry with the
   wants of strangers, and inviting all idleness to depend upon
   their casual help, thus resolving the ancient consistency and
   pastoral simplicity of the mountain life into the two irregular
   trades of the innkeeper and mendicant."[3]

  [3] Modern Painters, vol. iv.

Mountain people have still their superstitions; since the
introduction of railways many of the old legends and popular myths
have died out, but even what is left is interesting to the student of
folk-lore,--indeed, we might say, to every one.

Sir A. Geikie, speaking of Scotch mountain scenery says,--

    "To the influence of scenery of this kind on the mind of a
   people at once observant and imaginative, such legends as that
   of the Titans should in all likelihood be ascribed. It would be
   interesting to trace back these legends to their cradle, and to
   mark how much they owe to the character of the scenery amongst
   which they took their rise. Perhaps it would be found that the
   rugged outlines of the Boeotian hills had no small share in
   the framing of Hesiod's graphic story of that primeval warfare
   wherein the combatants fought with huge rocks, which, darkening
   the air as they flew, at last buried the discomfited Titans
   deep beneath the surface of the land. Nor would it be difficult
   to trace a close connection between the present scenery of our
   own country and some of the time-honoured traditionary stories
   of giants and hero kings, warlocks and witches, or between the
   doings of the Scandinavian Hrimthursar, or Frost Giants, and
   the more characteristic features of the landscapes and climate
   of the North."[4]

  [4] Scenery of Scotland.

The following passage from Ruskin brings out more strongly the
effects of mountains on men,--a subject to which he has given much
attention:--

   "We shall find, on the one hand, the mountains of Greece and
   Italy, forming all the loveliest dreams, first of Pagan, then
   of Christian mythology, on the other, those of Scandinavia, to
   be the first