lein, und sieben Kindlein lagen in ihren Betten und Da sahen sie die Kindlein an Dah za-hen zee dee kint'-line ån die Mutter sprach: es sind ihrer Also redeten sie und wirkten, und Gott segnete ål'-zo rai'-dai-ten zee ŏŏnt virrk'-ten, ŏŏnt got zaich'-nai-tai ihre Arbeit, das sie genug hatten sammt den Kinee'-rai år-bite, dass zee gai-nooch håt'-ten zâmt dain kin'erhebet den Muth und die nach der Reihe, und dern, denn der Glaube nåd dair ri'-hai, dont dern, den dair glou'-bai err-hai'-bet dain moot bont dee steben an der Zahl! lee-bai gai-vai-ret sterr'-kai. Liebe gewähret Stärke. zee'-ben ån dair tsåhl! dee moot'-ter språhch: ess zint ee'-rer Lande. lån'-dai. VOCABULARY. Hausvater, m. father of a family Siehe, Lager, n. couch, camp Der Vater aber lächelte und sprach: banken, to thank stärken, to strengthen Wantel, change, walking, doing, acting ftchen, to stand Thür, f. door tem.... ter, to him, to the one... mehr, more verstehen, to understand schöner erscheinen und wie sieben blühende Röslein. nach ber Reihe, one after the other vermögen, to be able to do sho'-ner err'-shi'-nen ŏŏnt vee zee'-ben blü'-hen-dai rö'ss'-line. ihrer, Genitive of them Mutter, dies zeuget uns ja, daß Er, der das Zahl, f. number Mŏŏt'-ter, deess tsoi'-ghet oons yåh, dåss air, dair dåss hart, hard, difficult Morgenroth machet und den Schlaf sendet, morg"-en-rote mach-chet oont den shlåhf zen'-det, ist und ohne Wandel. ist ŏont o'-nai vån'-del. Theurung, f. famine, dearth getreu theuer, dear gai-troi' allzumal, all together fließen, to flow erscheinen, to appear zeugen, to prove, witness, testify Und als sie nun aus dem Kämmerlein traten, da immer kleiner und kleiner, je zwei für ein fee'-lai våh'-ren, ŏŏnt zee vi'-nai-tai. Der Vater aber antwortete und sprach: MutDair fah'-ter åh'-ber ånt'-vor-tai-tai ŏŏnt språhd: Mõõt'ter, was weinest du? Haben sie doch alle sieben die ter, våss vi'-nest doo? Hah'-ben zee doch ål'-lai zee'-ben dee runden und muntern Füßlein empfangen, wie toll roon'-den ŏŏnt moon'-tern fü'ss'-line emp-fång'-en, vee zol'ten wir denn um die Hüllen uns ängsten! Haben ten veer den ŏŏm dee hül'-len õõns eng'-sten! Hâh'-ben doch die Kindlein Vertrauen zu uns, wie sollten wir dody dee kint'-line ferr-trow'-en tsoo ŏŏnss, vee zol'-ten veer es denn nicht zu dem haben, der mehr vermag, ess denn nicht tsoo dem håh'-ben, dair mair ferr-måhd als ålss wohlan, well then lassen, to let, leave Lauf, m. course Antlig, n. countenance LESSONS IN GEOLOGY.-No. XXXVII. ON THE INFLUENCE OF ATMOSPHERIC AGENTS ON THE In the temperate zones of the earth it is found that when the ON THE EFFECTS OF SNOW AVALANCHES. In countries where there are very elevated mountains, you need not wait for the revolution of the year, to observe the effects of different degrees of temperature. Meteorologists have demonstrated, that in every country, the atmosphere becomes colder as we ascend it, until the cold reaches a great intensity. As a consequence of this law of the atmosphere, a traveller, wir verstehn. Siehe, seine Sonne kommt! Wohlan, higher regions, will pass through every variety in the sucby merely ascending the slopes of a mountain towards its Vole-an', cessive gradations of the seasons of the year. The stupendous fröhli- ranges of the Himalayas in Asia, and of the Andes in South frö'-lich- America, present in one continuous surface all the climates of the earth, from the glowing vegetation of the tropics to the eternal snow of the Poles. The plains around the base of | such mountains, and the slopes on their different spurs, are veer ferr-steyn'. Zee'-kai, zi'-nai zon'-nai komt! covered with the verdure of summer, while frozen winter reigns undisturbed on the summits. The inhabitants of snow-capped mountains observe, that, no snow at all falls in the plains. Higher up the mountains, the snow falls occasionally, but rarely. Higher up still, the snow remains a great part of the year on the surface, but melts with the increase of the summer temperature. At last there is a point, a horizontal, but somewhat curved, line where the snow never appears to melt, but remains throughout the year. This is the line that is called, in Physical Geography, the line of perpetual congelation, or the zone of perpetual snow. Upwards from that point or line, the covering of the mountain, or, speaking figuratively, its superficial stratum, is always snow. Between the tropics, snow never falls, except on the tops of very elevated mountains. In these hot regions the mean height of the line of perpetual snow is about 15,207 feet above the level of the sea. This means, that were you to ascend a tropical mountain, it must be higher than 15,207 feet before you would come to the point or line where the snow never disappeared. This line is highest exactly at the equator. Were it possible, either by travelling or by ballooning, to follow this line of snow, from the equator towards north or south, it would be found to decrease constantly, but variably, from the equinoctial mountain to either pole. The decrease continues until at last the line of perpetual snow is the surface of the earth on a level with the sea; and ultimately, within the arctic and antaretic circles, the permanent frost enters deeply into the crust of the earth. This gradual decrease of the line is represented in fig. 80. Fig. 80. mountains, there are meadows and cultivated fields on an elevation higher than Mont Blanc in Europe. In the Andes, near Quito, in South America, the lowest level to which the line comes is 15,795 feet above the level of the sea. This is higher than the highest peak of Mont Blanc. From that point towards both north and south it varies irre gularly. On the mountains of Mexico, in 18° north latitude, the line comes down to 14,772 feet. To the south, in some parts of the western Cordilleras, it rises to 18,000 feet; and, on the same mountains, in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, it sinks again to 12,780 feet. The highest mountain in Europe is Mont Blane (pronounced Mong Blong), whose elevation above the level of the sea is about 15,500 feet. In this mountain the line of perpetual snow is at the elevation of 8,500 feet. Hence, 8,500 subtracted from 15,500, the whole height, shows that this mountain is clad with snow from its summit to 7,000 feet below the summit. In the arctic and antarctic regions, the long summer day of six months' sunshine is not sufficient to melt the snow and ice that have accumulated in the long winter. It is, therefore, not surprising that, at a certain height, on the tops of elevated mountains, snow should always lie. When the summer never melts the snow, or melts it but partially, the mass of flakes which every snow storm deposits must necessarily accumulate and become thicker and thicker. This would be the invariable result, and snow mountains would become higher and higher, if the Author of the laws of snow had not provided some counteraction. This counteraction takes place by partial thaws, by evaporation, by weight and pressure, by the formation of ice and glaciers, and by the disruption and-removal of portions of such masses of ice,-which will form the subject of our next lessons. After snow has rested for the greatest part of the year on the summit of a mountain, and then has been melted away by the increased temperature of the season, the surface rocks are always found shivered and splintered in a very extraordinary manner. SCORESBY found this to be the case at Spitzbergen, and DARWIN in the Andes, and in Terra del Fuego. Mr. Darwin says, that the quantity of crumbling stonesound on such summits in the Cordilleras was enormous. After the disappearance of the snow from the upper ledges of precipices, large masses of the crumbled rock slide down the mountain, and cover with their debris the snow drifts that lie in the valleys. In the Alps and other high mountains, the snow settles on the slopes and the declivities of the hills, or drifts, and lies in valleys and ravines that slant and dip very rapidly. When such accumulations of snow move from their position, either by increase of weight, or by the melting of the lower portions, the moving mass is called an avalanche. An avalanche consists of an immense mass of snow and of ice derived from melted snow recongealed. These accumulations collect, on the upper ledges and slopes of the mountain, to such an extent that the inclined plane on which they off into the valleys below, and rush with such force and rested can no longer support their weight. They then slide velocity as to tear and sweep everything before them, fill up valleys with ruin, and stop the courses of rivers. Our next engraving, fig. 81 represents the Alps, and shows the manner in which the snow rests upon the declivities, and in the narrow ravines of the mountains. In studying it, you will keep in memory, that the highest peak represents a perpendicular height of above 15,000 feet, or about three miles in vertical elevation-and that the same proportion must be applied to the declivities, and the ravines covered with snow. In various parts of this engraving, especially to the right of it, you find various accumulations of snow resting upon great declivities of the mountains. Should the lower portions of these become loosened from the masses above, their rush to the valleys below would be terrific. As they pass over stony slopes, and tracts of cultivated ground, they carry with them trees and animals, plants, and stones, human beings, and remains of houses, and lay them in one heap of heterogeneous detritus at the bottom. It is on this account that avalanches are regarded in geology as great agents of revolution in the external crust of the globe, bringing down slowly but continually from great heights large masses of rock, alpine plants, and platforms of earthy soil; and continuing this process for ages upon ages, they contribute to reduce the lofty mountain to a plain, and supply valleys with suitable soil for vegetation for the use of man. There are four different kinds of avalanches,-the drifting, the rolling, the sliding, and the glacial. 1. DRIFTING AVALANCHES.-Drifting avalanches consist of loose, fresh-fallen snow. They are formed when a heavy snow storm has fallen on the higher portions of the mountain in calm weather. This mass, before it has acquired consistency, is sometimes put in motion by a strong wind. Or when such an accumulation of snow is formed upon an inclined plane, and has acquired weight sufficient to detach it from the steep declivity on which it lay, it becomes dislodged and rushes downward. down to the distance of ten miles, from the point where they were first detached from the high snow bed, into the valley where they deposed their burden of ruins. 2. ROLLING AVALANCHES.-Rolling avalanches take place most frequently after a thaw. The snow, in this case, has become so clammy and adhesive that it unites in large hard pieces, and takes the form of a large compact ball. Such a huge ball of clammy snow, put in motion perhaps by its own weight, it begins slowly to descend the slant of the hill, and as it rolls downward, all the snow lying in its course sticks to it. As the mass increases in volume and weight, it increases in rapidity, dashes against trees, projecting rocks, and human dwellings, and mingles them all in one widespread heap of destruction. In 1749, a village called Ruaras, in the valley of Tawetsch, among the Grisons, was visited with an avalanche which When once the drifting avalanche has moved, the mass, accumulating as it descends, is driven from one slope to another, or from one slanting ravine to another below it, it rushes from point to point, bringing down with it an incredible volume of snow and fragments of rock to the lower valleys. They sometimes rush with the velocity of lightning. This velocity is such that by the compression of the air, which it produces, it overturns houses and splinters rocks. This blast of the avalanche resembles what is called "the wind" of a cannon ball. It rushes off on all sides with a force sufficient to shiver the largest forest trees, overturn houses, and fling down huge fragments of rocks. Avalanches of the drift description have been known to fall covered all its dwellings, and also removed them from their usual sites. This avalanche fell in the night, but, unlike the drifting avalanche, it descended so noiseless that the inhabitants in their beds were not aware of either its effects or its existence. Next morning, one hundred human beings were dug out in the ruins, sixty of whom were alive. In 1806, at Val Calanca, of the same canton, an avalanche transported an entire forest from one side of the valley up the slope of the opposite hill, and planted a fir tree upon the roof of the minister's house. These rolling avalanches are not so destructive as others are, as their movements are generally more slow. Where they are common, the inhabitants know their localities and courses, and by observing the weather, they can generally foretell their coming. 3. SLIDING AVALANCHES.-What are called sliding avalanches are formed on the lower declivities and the more gentle slopes of the mountains. Their fall generally takes place at the spring of the year, after the whole mass has been partially melted, and again frozen into a consistency somewhat compact. When a real spring thaw takes place, the layer of snow that lies next to the surface of the earth begins to dissolve and melt away. In this manner the bond of connection between the over-lying mass and the base which supported it, is removed. The whole superincumbent accumulation of snow then begins to move slowly down the inclined plane, which has now been made slippery by the thaw. These avalanches are sometimes so nicely poised, that the muleteers and carriers of Switzerland are obliged to use the utmost caution against every movement that is calculated to disturb these imminent masses. When their roads lie a small distance below these dangerous accumulations, they proceed as rapidly as they well can, but they carefully avoid every kind of noise-they even avoid speaking, and they muffle the bells on the necks of the mules, lest the slightest vibration should be given to the air in the neighbourhood of the threatening avalanche. 4. GLACIAL AVALANCHES.-The glacial avalanches are sometimes called ice avalanches, because they consist of nothing but pieces and fragments of ice which had previously constituted parts of a glacier, such as is represented in the, stream of ice, a little to the left of the centre of our last engraving. The formation and the operations of these glaciers will be described in some future lessons. The fragments of ice which constitute glacial avalanches have been detached from the parent glacier by the operations of summer heat. They are formed in deep ravines of great declivity. They move very slowly till they come to the ledge of a precipitous rock, which sometimes they overhang, as a terrific mass, accumulating ice. As they are precipitated from one high valley into another, their fall sounds like thunder, and their force against projecting rocks shatters them to fragments. The spectacle of their fall is magnificent. As they roll down a rugged declivity, their velocity breaks them frequently into an infinite number of small, white, and shining pieces. When seen from a distance, they resemble a cataract of a mountain torrent rushing down the slope of a hill, not in water, but in foam. Among the Alps, especially in the Grindelwald and among the glens of the Jungfrau (pronounced yoóngfraoo), they may he frequently seen; but the thunder which accompanies their fall in the high ravines is heard almost every day in sum mer. The action of glacial avalanches has been illustrated in many disastrous instances. One of the glens of the Alps is called the valley of the Visp, in which stands the picturesque village of Randa. The village is situated at the base of a precipitous mountain mass, which rises almost perpendicularly near nine thousand feet high, and which forms part of the celebrated snow mountain called the Weisshorn. It is so high as to be completely encompassed by glaciers. In 1819, one of these glaciers had reached the high ledges of this mountain, and projected considerably over the brink of this tremendous precipice. In one instant, an enormous fragment of it broke off and rushed down to the Vispthal with terrific velocity. The masses of ice that fell, and the quantity of rocky fragments and debris that they brought down with them were sufficient to form a layer 150 feet deep, 4,600 feet in length, and 1000 feet in breadth; that is, about a mile long and nearly a quarter of a mile broad. The avalanche, in its fall, did not touch the village of Randa; but the air was compressed to such a degree, that the blast rushed against the buildings of the village, blew some of the houses to fragments as if they had been of pasteboard. One gust struck against the eastern spire of the convent of Dissentis, dislodged the upper part of it, and carried a portion of it to the distance of a quarter of a mile. LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY.-No. XXVII. MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA. SOUTH America has on the map the appearance of the vertical section of an irregularly shaped pear. The stalk end is broken off at the island of Terra del Fuego, where it meets the junction of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, on the south. It is bounded by the Caribbean sea, on the north; by the Straits of Magellan, on the south; by the Pacific Ocean, on the west; and by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east. It is connected with the North American continent at the north-west point by the Isthmus of Panama, and includes the narrowest portion of that isthmus. The most northerly point of this continent is Point Gallinas, in New Granada, in lat. 12° 30' N. nearly and long. 71° 53′ W. nearly; the most southerly point, including Terra del Fuego and the adjacent islands, is Cape Horn, in lat. 55° 59' S. and long. 67° 12′ W.; the most westerly point is Parina Point, near the Lobos Islands, in lat. 4° 43' S. and long. 81° 11′ W.; and the most easterly point is the entrance to the river Goyana, near Olinda, in lat. 7° 31' S. and long. 34° 47' W. The length of this continent from north to south is about 4,800 miles; and its greatest breadth about 3,300 miles. The surface of South America, including its adjacent islands south of the equator, is about 8 millions of square miles; and the population is about 16 millions; hence this continent contains about 2 inhabitants to every square mile. The islands considered as belonging to South America are few and unimportant. The largest, viz. Terra del Fuego, is considered sterile and scarcely habitable. This island is divided by narrow straits, crowded with islets, into three parts; the eastern part, which is the largest, is called King Charles' Land; the middle, which is the smallest, Clarence island; and the western part, Desolation Land. Between the continent and this triple island lies the long, narrow, and winding strait, called by the name of Magellan (or Magalhaens), the navigator who first sailed through it and discovered the passage to the Pacific Ocean. The southern coast of Terra del Fuego is broken into numerous islets. Staten Land is an island of a larger size, lying off its eastern coast, and separated from it by the strait of Le Maire. On one of the smaller islands, called L'Hermite island, stands the celebrated Cape Horn, once deemed "infamous for tempests," but now reckoned more passable than the strait of Magellan. About 200 miles east which is called the East Falkland, and the other the West, beof the entrance to this strait, lie the Falkland Islands, one of tween which runs the Falkland channel; besides these this group consists of 200 smaller islands, the area of the whole being about 6,000 square miles. About 600 miles east of these islands, lies the South Georgian group, the largest of which is 90 miles long by 10 miles broad, a depôt for the seal and whale fishery. The Galapagos islands are situated on the equator, about 700 miles west of the state called Equador, to celebrated for their guano, lie off the west coast of the state of which they belong. The Lobos islands and the Chinca islands, Peru, to which they belong. The island of Juan Fernandez, on which Alexander Selkirk was shipwrecked, and whose narrative gave rise to the story of Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, lies off the west coast of the state of Chili. The Patagonian Archipelago, including the islands of Chiloe, Chonos, Wellington, Madre de Dios, Hanover, Adelaide, &c. lies west of the country or region from which it receives its name. North-east of Cape St. Roque, the easternmost point of Brazil, lie the islands of Fernando Noronha and Rocas; and north of the entire continent lie the West Indies in the Caribbean sea, as described in a former lesson. Of inland seas in this continent there are none; and the Gulfs and Bays are small and unimportant. At the northwest corner, where it joins North America, are found on the Pacific side, the Bay of Panama and the Gulf of St. Miguel; on the Atlantic side and to the north of it, are the Gulf of Darien, the Gulf of Venezuela, the Gulf of Triste, the Gulf of Paria, the mouth of the Orinoco, the mouth of the Amazon, and the mouth of the Maranham. On the east of the continent are the bay of Todos Santos, the bay of Espirito Santo, the mouth of the River Plate, the gulf of San Matias and the gulf of St. George. On the west, Lord Nelson strait, the gulf of Trinidad, the gulf of Penas, the bay of Morena, the bay of Pisco, the gulf of Guyaquil, and the bay of Choco. |