uniformity which prevails in the primitive frame of the lower
grounds among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of
still water are bedded, is broken by the _secondary_ agents of Nature,
ever at work to supply the deficiences of the mould in which things were
originally cast. Using the word _deficiences_, I do not speak with
reference to those stronger emotions which a region of mountains is
peculiarly fitted to excite. The bases of those huge barriers may run
for a long space in straight lines, and these parallel to each other;
the opposite sides of a profound vale may ascend as exact counterparts,
or in mutual reflection, like the billows of a troubled sea; and the
impression be, from its very simplicity, more awful and sublime.
Sublimity is the result of Nature's first great dealings with the
superficies of the Earth; but the general tendency of her subsequent
operations is towards the production of beauty; by a multiplicity of
symmetrical parts uniting in a consistent whole. This is everywhere
exemplified along the margins of these lakes. Masses of rock, that have
been precipitated from the heights into the area of waters, lie in some
places like stranded ships; or have acquired the compact structure of
jutting piers; or project in little peninsulas crested with native wood.
The smallest rivulet--one whose silent influx is scarcely noticeable
in a season of dry weather--so faint is the dimple made by it on the
surface of the smooth lake--will be found to have been not useless in
shaping, by its deposits of gravel and soil in time of flood, a curve
that would not otherwise have existed. But the more powerful brooks,
encroaching upon the level of the lake, have, in course of time, given
birth to ample promontories of sweeping outline that contrast boldly
with the longitudinal base of the steeps on the opposite shore; while
their flat or gently-sloping-surfaces never fail to introduce, into the
midst of desolation and barrenness, the elements of fertility, even
where the habitations of men may not have been raised. These alluvial
promontories, however, threaten, in some places, to bisect the waters
which they have long adorned; and, in course of ages, they will cause
some of the lakes to dwindle into numerous and insignificant pools;
which, in their turn, will finally be filled up. But, checking these
intrusive calculations, let us rather be content with appearances as
they are, and pursue in imaginatio