Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
100
"No
description,"
says
Lieutenant
Ives,
one
of
the
first
explorers
of
this
river,
"can
convey
the
idea
of
the
varied
and
majestic
grandeur
of
this
peerless
waterway.
Wherever
the
river
turns,
the
entire
panorama
changes.
Stately
facades,
august
cathedrals,
amphitheatres,
rotundas,
castellated
walls,
and
rows
of
time-stained
ruins,
surmounted
by
every
form
of
tower,
minaret,
dome
and
spire,
have
been
moulded
from
the
cyclopean
masses
of
rock
that
form
the
mighty
defile."
Who
will
say,
after
this,
that
water
is
not
the
grandest
of
all
sculptors,
as
it
cuts
through
hundreds
of
miles
of
rock,
forming
such
magnificent
granite
groups,
not
only
unsurpassed
but
unequalled
by
any
of
the
works
of
man?
But
we
must
not
look
upon
water
only
as
a
cutting
instrument,
for
it
does
more
than
merely
carve
out
land
in
one
place,
it
also
carries
it
away
and
lays
it
down
elsewhere;
and
in
this
it
is
more
like
a
modeller
in
clay,
who
smooths
off
the
material
from
one
part
of
his
figure
to
put
it
upon
another.
Running
water
is
not
only
always
carrying
away
mud,
but
at
the
same
time
laying
it
down
here
and
there
wherever
it
flows.
When
a
torrent
brings
down
stones
and
gravel
from
the
mountains,
it
will
depend
on
the
size
and
weight
of
the
pieces
how
long
they
will
be
in
falling
through
the
water.
If
you
take
a
handful
of
gravel
and
throw
it
into
a
glass
full
of
water,
you
will
notice
that
the
stones
in
it
will
fall
to
the
bottom
at
once,
the
grit
and
coarse
sand
will
take
longer
in
sinking,
and
lastly,
the
fine
sand
will
be
an
hour
or
two
in
settling
down,
so
that
the
water
becomes
clear.
Now,
suppose
that
this
gravel
were
sinking
in
the
water
of
a
river.
The
stones
would
be
buoyed
up
as
long
as
the
river
was
very
full
and
flowed
very
quickly,
but
they
would
drop
through
sooner
than
the
coarse
sand.
The
coarse
sand
in
its
turn
would
begin
to
sink
as
the
river
flowed
more
slowly,
and
would
reach
the
bottom
while
the
fine
sand
was
still
borne
on.
Lastly,
the
fine
sand
would
sink
through
very,
very
slowly,
and
only
settle
in
comparatively
still
water.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
