o 'l(f. 's*:.- i ■ •iii •liSn ifgii s' » . WsK*'- -V ,?4i; ^1; ;i "•'# i-rV'Vv ' ON THE ELEMENTS Oh' PICTURESQUE SCENERY, CONSIDERED WITH KEKF.KENCE TO LANDSCAPE PAINTING. HENRY TWINING. fiSi,), LONDON : ^PrmlEii for ^Pn'bntc Bistribulfon, » V GEORGK BARCLAV. CASTLE STREET, LEICESTER SUUARE M.DCCC.XLVI. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/onelementsofpictOOtwin PREFACE. The pages which are now offered to a few of iny friends, are the result of the inexhaustible interest afforded me by the cultivation of the Fine Arts, rather than of any fixed plan of writing on the subject. The delightful occu- pation which studies from nature and from the old masters afford, especially in classic Italy, having been checked by the fatigue resulting from an unusual exercise of the eyes, — that of observing the effects of nature, and of noting down their results, was in a great measure sub- stituted to the more satisfactory one of rendering them in colour. But the effects which excited my interest seemed to multiply in proportion to IV PREFACE. the attention I bestowed on them; and the in- creasing difficulty of the task made me look forward, as an encouragement, to some future prospect of usefulness. To which motives for not confining the notes to my own portfolio, was added that of improvement ; being per- suaded that the best means of attaining this object would be to submit my remarks to the opinion of others. In the plan which at first suggested itself, perspective, light and shade, contrasts, and other elfects more immediately connected with paint- ing, were intended to form the principal subjects of the work, combined with a description of the chief objects and appearances of nature; but owing to the more advanced state of this last portion, and to the abundance of matter, it ap- peared preferable to form it into a separate volume, intermingled occasionally with applica- tions of the objects described, to the art of painting ; and although these applications often unite together subjects which in nature are dis- tinct, I have been chiefly guided in the arrange- ment of the parts by the relations which the o])jects described bear to one another in nature, PREFACE. V although in many cases it has been equally unavoidable to create wider distinctions between some objects, and to establish a closer connexion between others, than would be exactly consistent with their natural distribution. Those of my friends who are personally acquainted with my brother, and to whom his superior scientific ac- quirements are consequently known, will, I have no doubt, join in my deep regret, that weakness of health has compelled him to limit to a small number his contributions, which, under other cir- cumstances, would have formed so interesting and valuable an addition to the volume. The method of dictating, which I have been compelled to adopt, will, I hope, be deemed a claim to indulgence ; espeeially for repetitions, so liable to occur in subjects intimately connected and inter- woven. I was chiefly assisted in this occupation by my travelling companion, Mr. George Shilling ; and it is with no inconsiderable pleasure that I here allude to a degree of zeal and interest on the part of my amiable young friend, which greatly contributed to the pleasures of my occupation. I am similarly indebted to Mr. David Verdan, whose unwearied perseverance it v ould be diffi- VI PREFACE. cult duly to appreciate, and to whose observations \ I am indebted for some of the remarks connected with Switzerland, his native country. It is, perhaps, chiefly as a guide to nature that a work conneeted with the art of painting may prove available to those who make the former their study. The comparative uselessness of books on painting is, I believe, not an uncom- mon remark of persons practically connected with it ; and, doubtless, the advantages which are derived from rules are small, compared with those which are the result of direct application : but it does not follow that no preparatory and beneficial influence is to be anticipated from this source. This unfavourable opinion appears to me to arise from a misconception of the nature of the advantages to be derived from books on art. It is too often expected that they should instruct how to paint ; whereas their object is, in most cases, to form the taste and enlighten the mind on the general bearings of the subject. Further, a correct knowledge of every form and aspect under which nature presents herself, is a most efficient means for checking habits of mannerism, and dissipating prejudiced conceptions. An ac- PREFACE. \ 11 quaintance with the principles which govern the effects of nature, teaches us to detect a cause for every result, and to appreciate in each case its exact amount of influence. We are thus enabled to correct errors which have stepped into our subject, by tracing to their very source the prin- ciples on which the perfection of that subject depends. If some of my remarks have but a limited application to painting, it appeared to me that a strict adherence to the subject became less neces- sary, since, publication not being intended, my observations were not destined exclusively for one class of readers. The great difficulty of conveying, by means of views and diagrams, a distinct idea of any parti- cular and complex effect, induced me to limit them to a small number. With, respect to trees, they have been illustrated in a most satisfactory manner in various works ; their character and touch have been rendered with remarkable truth and success by Mr. Harding, in his work en- titled ‘‘The Park and Forest.” The studies of trees of Mr. George Barnard are likewise parti- cularly calculated to afford that kind of improve- \ 111 PREFACE. ment which is derived from practice ; and as works, both descriptive and illustrative, may be mentioned, Mr. Selby’s British Forest Trees,” and the well-known work, by Mr. Loudon, entitled “ Arboretum Britannicum.” ERRATA. Page 2, line 19, for gaudeous read gorgeous. 10, line 12, for degree of roughness read degree of smoothness. 35, line 17, for appearing read appears. 45, line 5, for Yungfrau 7'end Jungfrau, 115, Hue 23, for beech read birch. 287, line 13, for light read lighter. 314, line 23, for productions 7'ead production. ment which is derived from practice ; and as works, both descriptive and illustrative, may be mentioned, Mr. Selby’s British Forest Trees,” and the well-known work, by Mr. Loudon, entitled “ Arboretum Britannicum.” CONTENTS ON FORM ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT . ON COLOUR ....... MOUNTAINS. GENERAL REMARKS ..... THEIR INFLUENCE IN THE LANDSCAPE FORMS OF MOUNTAINS .... ELEVATION ...... DETAILS ....... TINTS ........ REMARKS ON SOME CHAINS OF MOUNTAINS . ROCKS. THEIR PICTURESQUE CHARACTER FORM AND DISPOSITION .... COLOUR ....... VOLCANOES ....... EXTINCT VOLCANOES OF AUVERGNE . b PAGE 1 5 12 19 24 26 36 40 42 4.5 49 50 63 69 73 X CONTENTS. (iLACIERS 77 DISTANT ASPECT ....... 79 TREES. INTRODUCTION ....... 83 IN CONNEXION WITH PAINTING . . . .86 OUTLINE OF TREES AS SEEN IN THE DISTANCE . 96 DESCRIPTION OF TREES. THE OAK ..... . 98 THE ELM ...... 101 THE LIME ..... . 104 THE BEECH . . . . . 106 THE HORNBEAM .... . 108 THE ASH ...... 109 THE MOUNTAIN-ASH . Ill THE HORSE-CHESTNUT 112 THE SPANISH-CHESTNUT . . 113 THE MAPLE . . . . . 114 THE PLANE ..... . 115 THE POPLARS . . . . . 115 THE BIRCH ..... . 119 THE WILLOWS . . . . . 120 THE ALDER, THORN, ETC. . 123 INFLUENCE OF THE SEASONS ON THE APPEARANCE OF THE FOLIAGE ....... 126 FIRS 128 K EM ARKS ON ALPINE VEGETATION. FIRS COMMON TO THE ALPS .... 13.2 DECIDUOUS TREES ....... 137 FRUIT-TREES ....... 141 STYRIAN FORESTS ....... 142 VEGETATION OF SOUTHERN EUROPE . . . 143 CONTENTS. xi BUILDINGS . THE ARTIFICIAL THE ORNAMENTAL VARIETY . PROPORTION . COLOUR 157 160 162 163 164 167 llUINS . 168 FIGURES . COSTUME FASHION . DETAILS OF COLOUR GROUPING 177 185 187 189 190 WATER, AND ITS VARIOUS EFFECTS . . 193 COLOUR OF WATER FIXED COLOUR APPARENT COLOUR TRANSPARENCA' OF WATER 196 197 .201 204 THE REFLEXION OF OBJECTS ON WATER . 208 TURBID AVATER ....... 215 IVAVES. FORM AND PROPAGATION ..... 220 BREAKERS ........ 226 SEA. HORIZON ........ 232 ASPECT OF THE SEA UNDER VARIOUS INFLUENCES . 235 LAKES 255 CONTENTS. xii RIVERS PAGE 263 WATERFALLS .... cow F.XLLS IN CANALS OR RIVERS FOAM IN TORRENTS . 267 275 . 277 ATMOSPHERE . 281 CLOUDS .... TRANSPARENCY . COLOUR REMARKS ON THEIR COLOUR PERSPECTIVE OF CLOUDS 295 306 306 314 322 FOGS AND MISTS . 326 EFFECTS OF SMOKE 332 WIND AND STORMS . STORMS IN THE MOUNTAINS 334 342 RAIN .... RAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS 346 350 SUNBEAMS 354 RECEDING PLANES DISTANCE MIDDLE DISTANCE 364 365 369 371 FOREGROUND ON THE ELEMENTS OF PICTURESQUE SCENERY, &c. ON FORM, AS CONSTITUTING, IN REFERENCE TO ART, THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER OF OBJECTS. Various images are presented through the eye to the mind. The sense of touch informs us, in the first place, that these images are not fancied, hut real, having substance; which implies that they have extent ; and being multifarious, and distinct from each other, they have limits, and consequently form. To vision, we owe the perception of their colour. W e are, therefore, surrounded by substantial bodies, possessed of form and colour. n 2 ON FORM. It is to form, more than to any other pro- perty, that these bodies owe the meaning which we attach, respectively, to each of them. This is more particularly the case with those bodies or objects which are necessary or serviceable to us, and with those which affect us in a durable man- ner. But to Colour, rather than to Form, should be ascribed the more transient sensations of plea- sure, since, in that kind of delight and momentary cheerfulness, which is raised by the sight of a bright colour, the impression would, in great part, remain the same, if form were altered, or entirely withdrawn. But colour, thus devoid of form, is little connected with any definite idea ; nor does it convey durable impressions. In the useful and ornamental arts, form alone takes a strong and permanent hold on the imagi- nation. The style of an edifice excites reasoning, and exercises a permanent influence; but the gau- deous colours which decorate it, produce no lasting impressions. Nature herself shews forth her most brilliant colours in sudden and transient gleams of light. From the largest to the smallest of her scale, that kind of beauty which is derived from form is alone permanent. The same principle is shewn, by a comparison of the successive and durable emotions, communicated by the expressions of the countenance, with the momentary delight evinced ON FORM. 3 at the sight of a tlower. It is form, much more than colour, which constitutes the expression of a countenance, and which, consequently, instils into the minds of others emotions of sympathy. This powerful instrument for exciting the feelings would lose all its energy with its Form, very little with its Colour ; whereas, the gay flower, which pleases but for a time, and awakens but one kind of feeling, may lose the delicacy of its form, and yet preserve a great portion of its influence on the imagination. One of the most interesting particulars con- nected with form, is, that it marks every exten- sion of the object to which it belongs : and this circumstance, so essential to our knowledge of bodies having depth, as well as height and width, involves all those considerations which constitute Perspective. The extension of objects, in a direction at right angles to that in which they are seen — that is to say, in a plane perpendicular to the visual ray — admits of no deviation from their visible form in the representation of them. Every point con- nected with the science of perspective is involved in those forms which advance, or retire, with va- rious degrees of progression. The form of objects becomes manifest to vision ; firstly, by the opposition of a different medium. 4. ON FORM. which marks their external boundary : secondly, by those changes in the direction of their surface which do not extend to the limits of the object, but being too sudden and violent for the eye to follow, present projecting outlines upon the body itself : thirdly, by the variations of light and shade, caused by these changes in the direction of the surface : fourthly, by the shadows projected by foreign bodies ; projected shadows being (as has been justly observed by Mr. Harding) very instru- mental in shewing forth the forms of the surfaces on which they are cast : fifthly, by the lines and accidental marks of all kinds, the apparent di- rection of which, is always more or less con- nected with that of the surface on which they are traced. ON THE REFLEXION OP LIGHT, CONSIDERED AS THE MEANS BY WHICH OBJECTS BECOME VISIBLE. Reflexion, which expression generally implies reflexion of light, is the throwing off, in greater or less abundance, from the surface of bodies, of the light which falls upon them ; but as the effects of the process, to which light is thus submitted, are very conspicuous, whereas the process itself, namely, the advance and the return of light, is unperceived, the term reflexion usually implies the effect rather than the process by which it is pro- duced. It may be said that all bodies possess the pro- perty of reflexion, in a greater or less degree, since the most transparent are not traversed by all the light which falls upon them, and none absorb it so completely, that no portion of rays is thrown back. With the exception of certain phenomena of rare occurrence, produced by refraction, it is by the reflexion of light, diversely modified, that all nature, from her rudest and most permanent () ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT. works to her lightest and most transitory effeets, becomes visible. At the same time that light is reflected from the surfaces of bodies, its nature becomes more or less modified ; but these changes belong properly to colour. Under reflexion, I propose to examine those effects which depend rather upon the strength, quality, and direction of the light, with respect to the surfaces it falls upon, than upon its decompo- sition by them. The surfaces of bodies are classed, with respect to the mode in which they reflect light, into rough and polished surfaces. If light be considered in its most attenuated form — that is to say, in dis- tinct rays — it may be said that rough, as well as smooth surfaces, reflect each single ray in an angle equal to that of incidence; but polished surfaces only, throw off a mass of rays in the same form and relative direction as that in which it falls upon them, causing the reflexion of a figure to present the same form as the figure itself. The reflexion which takes place on polished surfaces, reproducing both the form and colour of the neighbouring objects, may be called definite reflexion, to distinguish it from that which takes place on unpolished surfaces, where only a slight modification of colour is caused by the proximity ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT. 7 of a foreign object, without any trace of form ; and which may, therefore, be called indefinite re- flexion. Definite reflexion supposes the colour of the reflecting surface to be subservient to that of foreign objects reflected there ; and when the reflexion is perfect, the material appearance of the reflecting surface is null, and the images re- flected there are all prevalent both as to form and colour. Artificial mirrors are perfect examples of definite reflexion. On a rough surface, where rays from all parts are reflected promiscuously with those from the principal object opposed to it, the intensity of the reflexion is proportionate to the proximity and extent of that object, as it then intercepts a greater portion of foreign rays, which would in- terfere wdth its own. By the removal of the object to a greater distance, the reflexion or tint communicated by it to the opposed surface be- comes proportionately diffused and indistinct; but, at the same time, it extends its influence over a laro;er area. This is the reverse of what takes place in the case of definite reflexion, where the reflected image diminishes in size with the remote- ness of the object. Indefinite reflexion may be made to produce a tolerably distinct image, by excluding all foreign 8 ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT. rays of light from a surface illuminated by a very small opening in a shutter. An inverted and faintly coloured image of the objects without will appear on the surface exposed to the light from the opening; and this, because the rays from every object being concentrated in the small aperture, strike upon the part of the opposed surface, exactly corresponding to the direction in which they arrive, and do not interfere with the image produced by any of the adjoining rays, as is the case when, with a large opening, the rays from every point spread their inlinence indiscriminately over the whole surface. The influence of a neighbouring object is most apparent on a white or colourless surface, and it gradually becomes less apparent, as this surface has a deeper colour. But coloured surfaces reflect with greater purity colours similar to their own, than those which are of an opposite nature. Two warm colours, in juxtaposition, appear to increase the glow ; the blue gains brilliancy by the op- position of a blue surface, exposed to a greater degree of light; the red by that of the red, etc. A reflexion thrown upon a differently coloured ground inclines to the same result as where the two colours are mechanically mixed. The yellow reflexion produces an orange tint on a red ground, and a green tint on a blue one ; but these tints ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT. 9 are far less perfect than those which result from the mechanical mixture of the two colours. Reflected lights are the more apparent, as the body which produces them is more strongly illu- minated, and the surface which reflects them is less so. This is shewn by the camera oscura, where the reflecting surface is a white sheet of paper, placed in the darkest situation possible, and where the reflected objects are visible in proportion as they are more illuminated. The superiority of white surfaces over all others, for receiving reflected images, is shewn by the same experiment. Let us examine the principle of indefinite re- flexion. Rough surfaces present a great number of planes, or facets, at different angles with respect to each other, and reflect, in one single direction only, portions of light equal in extent to each individual plane, of which the rough surface is composed ; and as these planes are disposed at various angles, the light is thrown off by them in almost all directions. Hence it is, that light, reflected by rough surfaces, has a diffused and undefined appearance, and, consequently, conveys no image to the eye. It appears, however, that even rough surfaces throw off rather more light in a direction corresponding with that of inci- 10 ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT. clence, than in any other, which would seem to shew that the mean direction of the facets of which the surface is composed, corresponds with the plane of that surface. If flat bodies, of dif- ferent degrees of roughness, be placed horizontally in a dark room, lighted only by a small opening or window, more light will be seen reflected on their surface by an observer placed opposite to the window, and viewing them at an angle cor- responding to the incidence of the light, than in any other direction, and the quantity of light Avill be proportionate to the degree of roughness of the olijects thus placed ; the smoothest appearing very bright from the opposite direction to that in which the light falls upon them, and very little so in all others : whereas the roughest appear to throw off light in nearly the same quantity, from almost any point. Another thing to be observed is, that surfaces smooth, without being highly polished, reflect objects most distinctly when their direction is oblique : for example, the surface of a slate, of a marble slab, or of a leather covering, although it may not be sufficiently polished to reflect the image of any object, under an obtuse angle of incidence and reflexion, reflects it with more or less distinctness where the -surface alluded to is held in a very oblique direction with respect to ON THE REFLEXION OF LIGHT. 11 the eye, so that the rays from the object form a very acute angle of incidence with the reflecting surface. The eye, then, catches those rays only, which are reflected by the summits of the pro- jections which roughen the surface, the mean direction of which corresponds, more nearly than that of their sides, with the general plane of the surface. The pavement of a church will reflect more light to the observer from a window situated low, than from one above it, although the iiuantity admitted by either into the interior of the liuilding be the same. ON COLOUK. AS ONE OE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BODIES. Objects owe their colour to the decomposi- tion of light, either reflected from their surface, or transmitted through them. With opaque bodies, it is the light reflected which impresses us with their colour : with transparent bodies, it is the transmitted light, or the light which has traversed their substance. Almost all bodies differ with respect to the quantity, as well as to the nature, of the light absorbed and reflected by them. Some reflect, and others absorb, nearly all the light which they receive, indiscriminately ; that is, without causing any separation in its constituent parts. Others divide the light, retain certain portions, and reject others. Hence the variety of colours presented by objects. In order that this may be generally under- stood, it may be well to refer to the composition of the ray of light. Sir Isaac Newton first dis- covered that it was divisible into seven diversely coloured rays ; red, orange, yellow, green, blue. ON COLOUR. 13 indigo, and violet ; which the later discoveries of Sir David Brewster have reduced to three only, red, yellow, and blue. Opaque bodies absorb a portion of these rays, and reflect or re-radiate the remaining portion, which last only transmits to the eye the colour of that body.* The rays thus reflected are comple- mentary to those retained and absorbed. If the body appear red, the yellow and blue colours are absorbed, and the red emitted forth : if it appear yellow, the blue and red are absorbed, and the yel- low emitted ; and an analogous process produces the blue colour. If the body be orange, green, or of any other mixed colour, it is produced by the total absorption of those colours which do not enter into the composition of that which is apparent in the body, and by the partial absorp- tion of those which would be an excess if reflected altogether. Thus, if the object appear green, but imperfectly so, not only the red light is absorbed * The late Professor Daniell seems to have employed the terms re-radintion and secondary radiation synonymously with reflexion. A distinction might easily be drawn between these two terms, by employing the term re-radiation to designate the throwing off of light after a decomposition has taken place, or a part of it has been absorbed, and the term rctlexion when no decomposition has taken place, but the whole of the light has been thrown off unaltered, as is the case with mirrors, or witli white substances. 14 ON COLOUR. by it, but also a certain amount of the blue and yellow, in portions differing according to the ten- dency of the green towards the one or the other of those two colours. Black is produced by the total absorption of all the coloured rays ; white by their total reflexion : a simple but satisfactory demonstration, that the aggregate and complete ray of light is of a white colour. Bodies appear coloured by transmitted light when they are viewed on the opposite side to that on which the light strikes, as is the case with a tluid in a jar or bottle held up to the window, with transparent curtains, with coloured glass, and with the leaves of trees seen underneath. The colour thus shewn is, in general, deeper than that of which reflected light is the agent. The colours apparent on those bodies which the light has traversed, are derived from the same causes as those which characterize the surface of opaque bodies. The colours which have been retained by the transparent media traversed by light, are complementary to those which are trans- mitted. Those bodies or fluids which are per- fectly colourless alone transmit, unaltered, the light which has traversed them. The process by which colour is elicited in bodies, l)oth opaque and transparent, being once understood, little importance seems to attach itself ON COLOUR. 15 to the question, whether or not colour is inherent in those bodies? The subject, however, derives some interest from the opinion of Sir Isaac New- ton, cited by Sir David Brewster and others, that colour is not a property inherent in bodies. The question appears to me to be chiefly one of terms. If by the properties of a body we understand those peculiarities which are unaffected by exter- nal agencies, which resist the influence of every surrounding medium, and remain permanently the same, the colour of bodies, not fulfllling these conditions, could not be considered as a property. But, upon this ground, might it not be questioned, whether other conditions of bodies, such as their transparency or their solidity, which are likewise subjected to external influences, may be fairly termed properties? Throughout all nature, exam- ples are to be found of the consistency of bodies giving way to external influences. The most hard and impervious yield to the effects of heat, but resume their former condition when this agent is removed. Other substances, such as those con- taining albumen, are, on the contrary, hardened by heat, and afterwards maintain that condition un- affected by temperature. The remarkable changes to which water is subject are dependent on the same invisible influence. Other matters coagu- late by the mere influence of the weather, and the 16 ON COLOUR. slightest of foreign impulses will cause certain transparent fluids to concrete, or to crystallize. The decided changes which are caused in the structure or the composition of metallic bodies by galvanism, or by exposure to air and water, might further be adduced, with many other ex- amples to the same effect. Independency of all foreign influences cannot, therefore, be considered as a true test of that which constitutes the pro- perty of a body, or many of the conditions now held to be properties must cease to be considered so. The conditions upon which bodies may be said to claim colour as a property, are similar to those of their other attributes, excepting that they are reversed : instead of being acted upon by foreign agencies, they act themselves upon a subtle and indefinable matter. The fact, that solid homoge- neous bodies, when cut open, or broken to pieces, present, on every surface thus exposed, colours very analogous, if not perfectly similar, may be deduced as a proof that colour is intimately con- nected with the texture, or constituent nature of bodies. If the substance be of a compound character, as granite or other minerals, the vari- ations of colour correspond exactly with those of the substance ; and when the newly exposed surface of a body differs considerably from its ON COLOUR. 17 external and older surface, it is, generally speak- ins:, owins: to some constitutional difference of the external layer ; as when decomposition, or oxida- tion has taken place, or when the surface of an object is glazed, as in earthen- wares. It is by inducing certain conditions of light by artificial means, and not by natural ones, that the inherent colour of bodies may be made to appear different to what it really is. If a coloured body be lighted only by one of the homogeneous rays of which the solar light is composed, that body will lose its colour and become black, if the ray to which it is exposed be of a complimentary and not of a corresponding colour. For instance, as Sir Isaac Newton discovered, a red surface will appear black, if lighted separately, either by the yellow or by the blue ray; and this is from the want of that integral and undivided light which eman- ates from all usual sources, both natural and arti- ficial, endowed with the property necessary for shewing forth every colour possessed by objects. When any extraordinary colour is presented in the effects of nature, the various objects, although they be partially tinged by the light peculiar to this effect, preserve, nevertheless, their character- istic and distinctive colours so far, that they are at once recognised from each other. The light of the moon, the light of a fire, the light of a lamp. c 18 ON COLOUR. and indeed most artificial lights which are not made up with the intention of subverting the appearances of nature, however different and diversified their influence on the appearance of objects, leave, nevertheless, the constitutional co- lour of each discernible. Scarcely does a body emerge from complete darkness but its colour becomes apparent, and that colour remains the same to whatever degree of light the object may be exposed. It must, therefore, be recognised that the principles on which the colour of objects dependtojare in a great measure inaccessible to the agencies by which they are usually surrounded, and are susceptible of being destroyed, or im- paired to any considerable extent, by such cir- cumstances only as science or artifieial means can cause to operate upon them. As far as art is concerned, it is important that objects should be considered to have a colour of their own, in order that this colour, permanent and inherent in the substance, may be more readily distinguishable from those transient and super- ficial tints which result from various effects of light. The term local colour will be used to ex- press the former, and reflected tints to designate the latter. MOUNTAINS. General Remarks. — A mountain, considered geometrically, is a deviation of the earth’s surfaee from the horizontal direction to one more or less inclined. A certain extent of the deviating sur- face seems also to be implied, since a slope, when little protracted, becomes a hill, a hillock, or a mound ; or is comprised in the more general term, eminence. But definition is less precise with respect to the degree of inclination, since a slope, though it be very gradual, does not the less form part of a mountain, if it be continued to any considerable extent. As to the question, whether rapidity of slope has any connexion with the elevation of moun- tains in general examples differ so widely, that it would be difficult to establish any general rule. Perhaps, if a distinction were drawn between the primitive forms of eminences and those which they have since acquired, from the erosion of 20 MOUNTAINS. the sea and torrents, or other casualties, it would be found that, upon the whole, steep slopes and abrupt angles are more common in the loftier than in the inferior classes of elevations ; as may he shewn by a general comparison of the hilly and mountainous districts both of England and of the Continent. The inferior undulations of this country present nowhere considerable slopes equal in steepness to those exhibited by the mountains of Wales or Scotland; nor does any chain in Europe, unless it be perhaps the Py- renees, afford examples of sharp ridges and pointed summits to be compared with those of the Alps. On the other hand, the mountains of Norway afford examples of an abrupt and pre- cipitous form of outline, combined with a less degree of elevation : their sides often present a surface nearly vertical from top to bottom. Some of the valleys of the Jura are also enclosed by abrupt rocks, although the general outline of the chain rises and falls with a gradual curve. Mount Etna, elevated more than 10,000 feet above the sea, rises with a very gradual slope, progressively increasing towards the summit, and is one of the many examples to be met with, where the degree of inclination has more connexion with the cha- racter and structure of a mountain, than with its elevation. MOUNTAINS. 21 Two circumstances characterize eminences ge- nerally, and render them, even in their simplest forms, something more than a change of surface from one direction to another. I allude to gra- vitation, and to the progressive inerease of cold, with increasing distances from the earth’s surface. The existence of large and ponderous masses many thousand feet above the level to which matter naturally sinks, seems to be a violation of the law of gravity ; and it is to this apparent resistance of matter to one of the most general and evident laws to which it is subjected, that are chiefly to be ascribed the impressions of awe and amazement with which these bulwarks of nature are viewed. Their summits, unsupported, would he precipitated into the abyss below. Hence the danger with which the least accessible parts of mountains are eneompassed, and the mysterious delight which associates itself to the perception of it. Thus it is that the law by whieh bodies fall to the earth, gives to elevation a peculiar character ; to mountains, which mark that eleva- tion, a new feature ; and a poetieal tendency to the impressions which their appearance excites. The next point referred to, is the influence which the progressive change of temperature from the lower to the upper regions of the air has on the appearance of hills and mountains. 23 MOUNTAINS. On eminences of the lower order, this influence may be already observed in the vegetation; a visible change in this respect being generally produced by an elevation of from 1000 to 1500 feet. This change of temperature is characterized on the loftier mountains by the phenomena of snow and ice abounding in the height of summer, with many transitions to mark the ascent to this abode of eternal winter. Hence the rills, the waterfalls, and also the avalanches, with their accompanying scenes of devastation. These and many other incidents result from the progressive change of climate which marks each stage of ele- vation above the earth’s surface. Another characteristic of hills and mountains is, that they exhibit to our view the internal structure of the globe. Where there are no mountains, the strata of the earth are hidden from our sight, decked with the verdant mantle of vegetation ; but they have been raised, and ex- hibit, in consequence, a new class of phenomena. The operations of time and of the atmosphere, have produced still further changes. These ele- ments of destruction generally assume in the highlands a more active character : in mountains, the rains are heavier and more tempestuous than on the plains ; the torrents swell more rapidly, and rush with greater violence, scooping out their MOUNTAINS. 23 slopes into ravines, glens, and valleys, and greatly modifying their character and appearance. Next to the differences of climate due to un- equal latitudes, mountains have the greatest share in giving to a country its distinctive character. In the first place, the general outline of a chain, or the leading forms of a group, give marked features to a country. The influence of moun- tains next shews itself on the vegetation, as well as on objects of industry ; but in this respect mountains produce differences between the va- rious parts of the same country, more frequently perhaps than they increase national distinctions; for the limits of states correspond only occa- sionally, and not always, with the great natural boundaries formed by the chains and ridges of mountains. As these extend from one country into another, they communicate similar customs to a portion of either, uniting various and dis- similar nations in the same social habits. On the other hand, notwithstanding these marked differences in the scenery of countries, the origin of which may be traced entirely to mountains, great resemblances may occasionally, or rather frequently, be traced in the details and compo- nent parts of different groups of mountains. A form will now and then strike the eye, closely resembling another in a distant part ; and in 24 MOUNTAINS. the details of the valleys, such as crags, defiles, and cataracts, scenes very similar will appear in countries most remote. Their Influence in the Landscape . — With respect to the picturesque influence of a mountain in a landscape, it may be considered under two points — the undulations of the soil to which it gives rise, and the screen or boundary with which it encompasses the scene. From these various undu- lations of the soil results that diversity of perspec- tive planes which gives expression and character to a scene. The surface of the country is presented to the eye under various degrees of developement, from the rapid foreshortening of objects, to the bird’s-eye view of them, which gives to ascending and descending slopes their peculiar and opposite characters. On declivities, the trees and other objects conceal more of each other than on the plain seen beyond ; whereas, on acclivities, or slopes rising from the observer, they often appear almost at full length, the tops of the foremost concealing only the base of those which succeed at certain intervals. They thus appear to ascend in stages before the observer, instead of vanishing rapidly from him. Considered as boundaries or screens, the in- fluence of mountains is equally important. An MOUNTAINS. 25 outline varied and broken with every possible diversity of shape, is substituted to the uniform dead line of which the horizon of the sea affords an example, and by admitting the sight in parts to the most distant recesses of the scene, and ex- cluding it in others more or less, the form and distribution of the predominant parts of the land- scape become infinitely varied. It is the outline of a mountain which consti- tutes its most important feature, and on which, consequently, its interest as an object chiefly de- pends. The outline or profile of a mountain is determined by that portion of its surface which is parallel to the line of vision ; and when, as is often the case, a more distant part of the moun- tain advances so far as nearly to meet this line, a lateral change in the position of the observer will bring to his view this new portion of the moun- tain, which will now form the outline ; and as certain portions of a mountain’s surface generally project much more than others, it is from certain situations only, where these violent projections appear to form the outline, that the character of the mountain becomes most forcibly expressed. As the traveller again advances, these bold pro- jections gradually sink beneath the mass of the mountain, and its form becomes more tame and insignificant; at length other forms appear, and 26 MOUNTAINS. assume an aspect more and more bold, until he has reached the point where their outline forms the greatest projection. Here, though the fea- tures of the mountain be changed to a degree which may sometimes almost prevent their being recognized, they are again stamped with a decided and picturesque character. It may therefore be well to consider, in drawing the outline of a mountain, that it is not always formed by a por- tion of its surface equally distant from the ob- server, but by the more prominent parts, which successively advance so far as to meet the sky from different parts of the mountain. By pro- ceeding according to this principle, rotundity and depth are given to these important objects in a landscape scene. Forms of Mountains . — Picturesqueness is a point chiefly aimed at in tracing the forms of mountains : the picturesque, unlike the romantic, is a quality which maybe applied to a single outline; whereas a combination of outlines, or an entire scene, can alone suggest the idea of that which is romantic. Picturesqueness in the forms of mountains may be said to flow either from elegance or from bold- ness, or from the combinations of both. Gilpin has tastefully drawn a distinction between ele- gant and inelegant forms of mountains. The latter •4 MOUNTAINS. 27 are more easily defined than the former. Taste will agree in marking, as unpicturesque, a lump or rounded shape, a parallelogram, or a form resembling that of any mean object of art, or of any natural object of a different class ; but were it possible for tastes to agree in determining that which is most picturesque and beautiful, there would be an end to diversity ; the perfection of picturesqueness would be cast from one model, all deviation from which would offend. By exclud- ing, however, from our view those forms which are unpicturesque, those which remain must ne- cessarily possess a general character of pictur- esqueness, not limited to one particular type, but constantly varying — whether it depend upon unity of form, whether upon the combinations of several forms. Any form resulting from an unbroken succes- sion of curves or of straight lines may, in the first place, be marked as objectionable. A curve must be continued from the base to the summit, or, if broken into parts, it must be so by the interming- ling of straight lines and angles. Picturesqueness, in the forms of mountains, results from various and indefinable combinations of straight lines and curves [see plate, fig. 1]. An outline may, how- ever, become successively convex and concave [see 28 MOUNTAINS. fig. 2]. A corresponding inclination of the oppo- site parts of a mountain is bad, unless the coinci- dence be carried throughout, as in the pyramid : the same objection applies to corresponding pro- jections and notches : they should alternate irre- gularly. Vertical lines in mountains should either begin from the summit, or from a considerable distance below it : a short slope on the summit of a mountain, preceding a high precipice, has a bad eifect : the vertieal line may be sometimes seen to extend downwards till it meets the plain at right angles, but the angle is more frequently filled up by an inelined slope, resulting from the shivered fragments fallen from the mountain. The elegance of a mountain seems to be eon- siderably influenced by the apparent balance of its parts : the eye is shocked when the head of a moun- tain is preponderant, as compared with its base. The considerations with respect to a mountain’s balance should even extend to the materials composing it, l)old and abrupt forms being the natural indica- tions of a hard and massive structure. It may be owing to this principle that a mountain, whose side descends abruptly to the plain, is more picturesque than one whose base is turned off with a sudden curve. A bold outline suggests a hard and firm material, consequently greater capability of sup- MOUNTAINS. 29 port; but a curve produced by fallen fragments takes away from this idea. In general, mountains which rise abruptly from a plain, or level valley, have struck me as possessing more grandeur and dignity than those which ascend in slopes from an indeterminate level. A long gentle slope frequently terminates in an abrupt fall, resulting probably from the wearing off of the point by water, or other causes. A mountain rising with a gradual curve from the base to the summit, should terminate either in a sharp or in an angular form [see a and b, fig. 3]. It is displeasing when rounded off, as in fig. 4, and this may perhaps again be traced to the necessity of balance. A line like the curve, becoming pro- gressively steeper, implies increasing adhesiveness and solidity. Why, then, should the lines not be continued until they meet at an acute angle? why compressed and blunted off like a mouldering hillock ? But a square summit [b, fig. 3] shews the primitive form of the rock, firm and unaltered by contingencies of any kind, and, like the peak, forms a fit termination to curved lines gradually approaching to the vertical. The acuminated summit [a, same fig.] often presents itself in nature : it unites simplicity with elegance, but the point should terminate a form 30 MOUNTAINvS. proportionately slender ; a sharp apex planted on the shoulders of a bulky, rounded mass, is un- picturesque ; but forms of this kind seldom occur in nature. The forms which Gilpin condemns are those which are mathematically regular, whimsically grotesque, or those which present a continuity of line without a break, whether they be straight, concave, or convex. The latter yields a very scanty share of picturesque beauty : it produces neither boldness nor elegance, and its use is only in the contrasts which it affords. The straight line appears frequently in the tabular forms of eminences and mountains of an inferior order : its picturesqueness depends prin- cipally upon the manner in which it terminates: it is unpicturesque when its termination is cut off by other slopes, or when it ends in a curve; but it may have a good effect when terminating in an abrupt angle. The concave line is less frequent than the straight line. Examples are to be met with where it is elegant, and where it is the re- verse. Mount Rigi, as seen from Lucerne, con- sists of two curved lines ; one, rising in a long continuous sweep, forms the northern slope of the mountain ; the other, somewhat saddle-shaped, forms the ridge. MOUNTAINS. 31 Generally speaking, simplicity results from lines little interrupted and broken. The danger of monotony grows rather out of the repetition of jagged forms than from the too great extension of lines simple in their nature : [see figs. 5 and 6], irregularity, and variety. The most prevailing feature in the forms of inferior mountains ap- pears to be a succession of short straight lines, forming very obtuse angles where they meet; and though the general outline of a mountain may appear curved or flowing, any portion of the same viewed in detail will appear to consist in straight bits of various lengths, so obtusely united together as scarcely to interfere with the apparent curve of the whole. The irregularities in the slope of a mountain, should be proportionate to the projections and indentations of its summit. If the latter be fretted with minute and numerous peaks, the slope lead- ing to it will naturally be gapped and irregular; 32 MOUNTAINS. but if the summit has but one peak, or present some other bold and simple form, the mountain itself will rise in a plain uniform outline. The cone shape is sometimes associated with the mound or hillock, seldom with the mountain, unless it bear a decidedly Yolcanic character ; it is less picturesque than the pyramid, which occurs on a very large scale. The angular corner is here admirably matched to boldness and simplicity. The Niesen on the Lake of Thun is a noble illus- tration of this form. There are two others on the north of the Gulf of Lepanto ; they rise perfectly detached from the plain of Missolonghi ; their base appears to be cut off by the sea, al- though they are probably a considerable distance from it. The analogy above alluded to between moun- tains and other objects, is not unpleasing when in character; but it becomes insufferable when out of place, and when it has a degrading tendency. We admire the velvet softness of distant wooded eminences — the angular sharpness of the Alpine peaks and obelisks : this is in the usual course of nature. The resemblance to noble objects of art is generally to be met with in such forms as are themselves grand and colossal. A rock resembling a massive bastion crowns a circular mountain near Aussee, in the Salzkammergut. The resemblance MOUNTAINS. 33 is striking, and the thing resembled being a tine object, and quite in its place, has a good effect. It is not so with the rocks of the Traunstein, and other mountains which rise abruptly from the lake of Gmunden ; such is the whimsical grotesqueness of their outline, that at first sight one does not fancy it to belong to rocks of the real height and magnitude which these possess, and unless these mountains are viewed from different points, and their elevation better appreciated, one is apt to go away with the impression, that this extraordinary display of form is but an imitation of grandeur. The summit of the Iloch Schwab, seen from the valley of Weichselboden in Styria, presents naked rocks cut into numerous folds somewhat resem- bling those of drapery. The astonished imagina- tion almost fancies a bad imitation of a mountain cut in board, and with the least degree of sensi- tiveness in point of picturesque purity, is alarmed at the resemblance. Some of the Alpine ridges rearing in succession, point above point, seem to have tented summits, and thus recall images which the tasteful lover of the beautiful hastens to banish from his mind. If the single outline of a mountain admits of considerable variety, a combination of outlines mul- tiplies this variety to an unlimited extent. The in- troduction of a second line mitigates the first, and D u AiOUNTAfNS. il‘ it be extravagantly bold, makes it tolerable by its softening and, as it were, conciliatory influence, in the same manner as in combined melody, a discord- ant note is brought to harmony by the complacency of other notes less harsh, and less remote from the tone of the piece. A rock which, as a single outline, appears forced and unnatural, assumes a character of truth when another line is introduced a degree less bold than itself [fig. 7] ; but the line superadded must not differ so excessively from the first as to lose its congeniality. Its office is to aid the former to bear a character so marked and extraordinary, that it cannot be borne unassisted; or, to establish a connecting link Ijetween two classes of forms, which cannot tolerate each other without the intercession of a third having some tie with both. On the other hand, an outline in- sipidly tame, will gain expression and ease by the addition of a bolder one. The art of thus conciliating forms by their mu- tual influence, depends chiefly on the introduction of each kind in its true place. A sharp ridge or angidar summit may be associated with other hard outlines of a very different character, but not with any softened or blunted form : these can only be brought in by progressive gradation, at a distance, or under different circumstances, as in gentle hills near the foot of bold mountains [see d, fig. 3]. MOUNTAINS. 85 By means of these combinations, the eye may be flattered into consent at almost any union of forms. A line or two adroitly put in will conceal the unsightliness of the most awkward and un- couth outline as seen by itself. In rocks, a slight mark will sometimes be sufficient to point out the continuity of any form in a direction more analo- gous to its first course, than is suggested by the boundary outline of the whole surface ; thus con- siderably mitigating the crudity of the effect. Great picturescpieness seems to arise from the forms of two mountains, very intimately com- bined, so as to have the appearance of one. An instance of this struck me in the valley of Pinzgau. A somewhat dome-shaped mountain, of inconsider- able size, appearing to rest upon an eminence, on one side terminating abruptly, and on the other, rising in one oblique line, forming a bold section of the mountain above. Where two mountains or a group are so combined, that the mind is in doubt whether it be one mountain or more, the imagination seems to delight in the uncertainty, and takes advantage of the pliancy of the mate- rial, to alter, and re-alter, and at last comes to the conclusion the most agreeable to itself with respect to the character of the image before it. Immense assistance is to be derived in the disengaging of a mountain of its heaviness, or of 3G MOUNTAINS. the uniformity of its outline, by giving to differ- ent parts unequal degrees of strength. A single mountain will appear divided into two or several parts, if the outline of each be made successively fainter as it becomes more distant ; and if to the increasing faintness of outline be added the influ- ence of mist, of an illumined atmosphere, or of any other softening principle, the change will be greatly increased. Lights and shadows effectively introduced, afford still further means of shewing forth hidden beauties. Elevation . — In pictures from nature, elevated mountains become interesting, because we know them to be the exact representation of extraordi- nary objects. But in compositions where there is no difficulty whatever in exceeding the bounds of nature with respect to the magnitude and boldness of mountains, their claims to admiration must rest on other merits. As far as imitation goes, no more is required than to fill up correctly the portion of the can- vass where the mountain has been intended to be placed, the influence of distance being duly ac- counted for. The knowledge of the height of a mountain in feet, or in any other such measure, is of very little assistance. The point marked out for the base of the mountain, more or less near MOUNTAINS, .‘57 to the bottom of the picture, according to the obliquity of its vanishing plane, fixes its distance from the observer ; and the relative proportion of the objects on the mountain’s surface, as well as the effect which it produces in the composition, will then prove sufficient, with a little experience, to find the point to wdiich the summit may he carried, without exceeding the natural limits of proportion, or without sacrificing grandeur to probabilities. The artist judges of the elevation of moun- tains, and of their relative distances, in a general and comprehensive manner. He values the in- fluence of the latter on the former, and determin- ing approximately the proportions of the neigh- bouring eminences by the trees and buildings with which they are decorated, he proceeds stage by stage to those more remote. When all minor ob- jects of comparison have vanished, his chief guide in measuring the most distant forms is comparison with the nearer ones, to whose scale they must be duly proportioned ; allowance being made for the intervals of space, as w^ell as for the grossness or transparency of the atmosphere. Elevation being thus modified by distance, the ridge of a chain just appears above the swelling hills by which it is preceded ; wdiilst higher, though further still, appear the snowy summits of a central group. 38 MOUNTiVINS, Illusions with respect to the proportions of mountains sometimes arise from the resemblance which some of their forms, on an extensive scale, bear to the diminutive projections of an inferior class of eminences. Hence the mistakes to which visitors to the Alps and other lofty mountains are frequently exposed ; more especially when a high degree of transparency of the atmosphere decided- ly favours illusions of distance. The elevation of mountains varies in appear- ance with the situation of the observer. A lofty mountain sometimes appears less elevated when he is stationed at its foot, than when he is situ- ated at a greater distance ; Avhereas this does not strike you in an inferior mountain. This may be ascriljed to the effects of foreshortening, whose influence at a given distance from the base is more apparent on the superior than on the in- ferior portion of the same mountain, or on a lofty mountain than on a low one. The subjoined dia- gram shews the relative degree of this foreshort- ening from two different points. MOUNTAINS. 39 When a low mountain is situated between the observer and a loftier one, there is a relative dimi- nution of the former and increase of the latter, as the observer retires to a more distant situation. Thus the more advanced ridges of the Alps ap- pear, from a station comparatively near, to covei' nearly the whole of the more elevated chain be- hind them ; whereas from the Jura, or any other very distant point, they shrink into insignificance before the central Alps, and seem lost in the irre- gularities of their base, the same degree of direct removal causing invariably a greater perspective diminution on near objects than on distant ones. In the same manner, a lofty tower appears to rise the more above the surrounding houses, as the observer withdraws to a more distant point. The elevation of the observer generally adds to the apparent height of a mountain, as his eye then embraces the entire slope of the mountain, which from below appears partly concealed or foreshortened. On the other hand, a gradual rise towards the foot of a mountain has generally the efi'ect of taking off from its apparent elevation. However, the interposition of eminences, and more particularly of clouds, leaving the summit of a lofty mountain to be alone perceived, has some- times a contrary effect; its height is more strik- ing when the imagination has to fill up the space 40 MOUNTAINS. beneath, than when the whole of the mountain is visible. The apparent altitude of a mountain seems to be much influenced by the association of ideas to which peculiar effects give rise. A snowy peak appearing through an opening in the clouds, and reflecting with dim transparency the azure of the sky, seems to derive at once eleva- tion and grandeur, from the association of its bright aerial attendants of mist and cloud. Moonlight has the effect of lowering the appa- rent height of mountains in a remarkable manner, causing those forms which are bold and imposing by daylight, to appear like softened and dimin- ished shadows. This is the more remarkable, as the dim perception of a mountain through a mist generally adds to its apparent height. This oppo- site result cannot therefore be traced to the ab- sence of details, which, by clear daylight, are seen to All up the periphery of the mountain, and which disappear in the gloom of night. The cause may be the same as that which produces the diminutive appearance of shadows and of dark objects, whatever be their nature. Details . — The objects which fill up or embellish the slopes of a mountain differ more or less ac- cording to its elevation, wildness, and situation, from those which form the ornaments of milder MOUNTAINS. 41 and more level scenery. Next to rocks, which form the most characteristic appendages of moun- tains, and which will be described under a sepa- rate head, forests chiefly claim attention on their slopes, since woods generally abound on steep de- clivities, where agricultural labours would not be repaid. It may be remarked, that whilst groves of the loftiest timber do not appear heavy on the brow of the smallest eminence, but are equally adapted to eminences of every scale, shrubs and underwood are but ill suited to the colossal fea- tures of loftier mountains ; their disproportion is too great to add to elevation by contrast, and they appear minute and insignificant. The loftiest firs on an Alpine ridge harmonize with the mag- nitude of the neighbouring objects, and appear as a mark by which may be computed the depth of the precipice which they overhang. Trees are generally of finer growth on hard granite, or calcareous rocks, than on those which are composed of slate and other soft or brittle substance ; the gradual crumbling of the surface, and the slips which frequently occur where the adhesion of the strata is inq^erfect, do not allow time for the vegetation to acquire any degree of magnitude, before the soil on which it has taken root is carried away. Shrubs and underwood chiefly cover the loose and brittle slate on the -12 MOUNTAINS. slopes which border the Rhine below Bingen, whereas on the mountains of the Schwarzwald and Switzerland, the finest woods of beech and fir grow from a thin coating of vegetable earth on a foundation of rock. Full-grown trees are, in- deed, often seen clinging to the bare surface of the rock, with their roots wedged into the crevices. An abrupt rock overhangs the old castle of Ba- den-Baden; out of one of its fissures grows a tree with a massive trunk ; whilst the roots are seen to come out of a cleft three or four yards lower down. In the Ildllenthal, in Styria, the naked trunks of trees may be seen in the crevices of a bluff rock: they do not project beyond its general surface, and resemble statues in their niches. Tints . — Where there are mountains, the tints of distance are brought into bold contact with the sky, and produce contrasts which flat scenes never })resent. But it is when ranges of mountains re- cede avenue-like into a landscape, that the pro- gressive prevalence of the light and aerial tints of distance may be traced from mountain to moun- tain in well-defined gradations. Peculiarities of colour, also, result from a marked and prevailing difference which exists between the vegetation of the mountains and that of the valleys. The pas- tures of the Alps assume a greyish tint in ])ropor“ MOUNTAINS. 1.8 tioii to their elevation. A scanty and parched her- hasfe is mino-led with liroken rocks on the weather- beaten ridges of the Appenines. Heaths abound on dry and barren slopes, and give them a brown- ish hue; whilst the effects of distance and interven- ing atmosphere on the various local tints multiply their shades in rich variety. “ The yellow streams of light, the purple hues and misty azure of the mountains,” says Gilpin, “ are tints rarely perma- nent; but seem to be floating silky colours always in motion, always in harmony, and j)laying with a thousand changeable varieties into each other. The lines and shapes of mountains, features strongly marked, are easily caught and retained ; but these meteor forms, this rich fluctuation of airy hues, offer such a profusion of variegated splendour, that they are continually illuding the eye with breaking into each other, and are lost as it endeavours to retain them.” The mountains of Attica and of the Pelopon- nesus, owe to their carpeting of heaths and flower- ing shrubs the richest crimson and purple hues. These tints impart a delicious softness to the distance, and appear, indeed, to extend their in- fluence to the nearer parts of the scene. Between Epidaurus and Nauplia, a cloudy state of the at- mosphere did not at all interfere Avith these gioAv- ing hues, which appear conseipiently to lie owing 41 MOUNTAINS. chiefly to the warm tints of the vegetation, and partly, to those of the rocks and soil, both perhaps blended and heightened by mutual reflection. In the valley leading to Mount Pentelicus, si- milar tints made their appearance during a mist, such as in more northern countries generally pro- duces cold and raw tints. Owing to the purity which generally prevails in the state of the atmosphere in mountainous regions, the tints which result from the various changes of the weather, as well as from the effects of light and shade at different periods of the day, are peculiarly deep and vivid. The sun as it rises in the morning, or declines towards the horizon, sometimes shines upon the summits of the Alps with extraordinary brilliancy ; and the transition from the illuminated portion to the one in the shade, forms a direct line more or less marked and distinct, according to the distance of the mountain which projects the shadow from those which receive it. A beautiful transition of colours accompanies this effect. From elevated situations, where the eye can reach far and wide, the red glow of sunset may be seen to extend along dift'erent mountains at a corresponding elevation, and its slow ascending motion, as the sun gradually descends, is an im- pressive sight. For effects of this kind on snow- / r- .y f f:-: -> .1* / " 7 I ••‘^A' { ?■<- ~i^M , . Oi i ■> n\. .V tir. t^tf x ;’ . : %■_ f 1 , (. _ ■ _ tniiiitliimino^vs ^kv- ^ a3rga; .*v jjh' . ^ ^ d>t moniiridt^tb^^ »:m'- ■ U- -li 4 iroiJi of ^ • = - ■ f cole! Hs = ■: • ■ - ' “-’ ! ri^iac if; . ■' tlV''.■*V.,;.,.■^;^^■tt k y_ Hiy ly'.-^ ^ ^ ■="^ ■ ?•; ■ ••, V } ’'•*5— Hemi&h -C??,: ':>V Ai-d Midfl.. ' ■ ‘ imf ik»-; d - -. ^' = ^ i, > Oidlifa-. '^i- : ’d -uS- -t v I'MirSf-:'* •: . I n „: ':*■ ■-• MOUNTAINS. 45 dad mountains, see “ Glaciers.” I will here only refer to the dark 2:reyish tint, which snow itself will sometimes put on when in the shadow, and con- trasted with a luminous sky. At an early hour iu the morning the Yungfrau and the Eigers, seen from the environs of Interlaken, appear of a dark cold grey against the bright sky lighted up by the rising sun. Late in autumn, the northern slope of the Yungfrau is in the shade till near mid-day, appearing darkened when the sky is luminous behind. For more special remarks on the tints derived from the atmosphere, see “ Distance.” Remarks on some Chains of Mountains . — The Alps preserve, from the Mediterranean coast to the confines of Carinthia and Styria, a sharpness and boldness in the outline of their peaks and ridges peculiar to this chain. To the north, the mountains seem to have been more convulsed and rent than to the south, where they are more entire, having their sides less broken by precipices. “ Granitic and calcareous mountains present dif- ferences which are easily traced in their general outline. The calcareous mountains have fre- quently on one of their sides a slope, more or less inclined; whereas the other is cut off ab- riqitly, and forms either one huge wall or a sue- 4G MOUNTAINS. cession of walls, separated by ledges or short slopes. In general these stages are not hori- zontal, but inclined in the length of the mountain, with an angle corresponding to its slope ; and their base is frequently imbedded in heaps of minute fragments, successively detached from the superincumbent rock, and forming a steep es- carjiement at the base of the mountain. The granitic mountains are more entire, and present less ditference in the outline of their opposite sides. They do not exhibit those sudden transi- tions from inclined planes to abrupt and lofty precipices ; but, owing to a greater intermingling of both, the mountain acquires forms in most cases less characteristic, although upon the whole they are equally steep. The disintegration of the rock seems to take place in a very dilferent manner : small fragments are not detached, as in the calcareous mountains, from the vertical walls ; but the rock splits up almost indifferently in various parts of the mountain’s surface. Large crevices in the granite, may be observed on the horizontal parts of the mountain, and on its summit. The quadrangular form prevails amongst these masses, and it is retained more or less after they have been precipitated to the foot of the mountain. The heaps of boulders piled one upon another in the valley of Gondo, form a remark- MOUNTAINS, 47 able example of this kind of ruin of the granitic mountain.” -* The Appenines have a more spreading charac- ter than the Alps ; their slopes are less abrupt, and they present in very few instances, summits which might vie iu boldness with those of the Alps ; their ramifications are separated by level and fruitful plains, which cause the groups to ap- pear detached from each other, and present them to view at various distances. The mountains on the east of the Peloponnesus are more contracted together; they do not appear, like the Appenines, at those intervals which give lieauty with distance ; nor do they present that decidedly romantic character which, in the Al})s, compensates for the want of space ; and their liarrenness becomes the more offensive from its being brought close to view. Their summits, ge- nerally round, want that decided and menacing character which alone reconciles the eye to sur- faces entirely denuded. Here and there, however, appear some bold and detached forms of moun- tains with a picturesque effect. The mountains on the coast of Asia Minor, and the adjacent islands, resemble the Appenines on the western coast of Italy, but in appearance * Remarks made by T. Twining, jun., in 184.5. 48 MOUNTAINS. they are more parched. The highest of them have their surfaces broken up into a great many planes, diversely inclined, which has the effect of adding to their apparent altitude. The Fille-fields in Norway, though greatly infe- rior in elevation, bear a characteristic resemblance to the Alps. Their slopes are ecpially precipitous and lofty, and present the most picturesque va- riety of form ; but the towering peaks which, in the Alps, look down as from a different region upon the inferior ridges forming the immediate limits of the valleys, are wanting. The chains which border the Danube, whether in the part of its course above Vienna, whether in Servia or Wallachia, have no dubious claims to the title of mountains : they are bold, lofty, and without those rounded summits to which the eminences of the Rhine often owe the depreciat- ing appellation of hills. The connexion between one of the ramifications of the Alps and the moun- tains of Bohemia, is interrupted only by the course of the Danube, whose gorges in this part are aw- fully wild ; but the great width of the Danube between the Hungarian and Servian shores, ren- ders the scenery here less stern and threatening, although the elevation of the mountains is scarcely inferior. HOCKS. Their Picturesque Character . — Rocks may be said to constitute the wildest portion of a land- scape scene ; their presence precluding most of those enlivening embellishments which are the result of human labour. Their characteristic crudity is however so often modified and soft- ened by accidental combinations, that they lose a great deal of their native wildness : an unculti- vated waste may appear more barren, a shagged weather-beaten forest more dreary, than the rock whose brow is o’ershadowed with verdant shrubs, and whose foot is bathed by the sparkling stream. The character of rocks, therefore, such as the artist would select, and such as Nature often offers to his choice, is in a high degree romantic. The size and threatening forms of rocks, ren- der them most fit objects for exciting impressions of awe and terror : they also dispose the mind, 50 ROCKS. more readily than other parts of the landscape scene, to wild and fanciful reveries. Throughout the vegetable kingdom, the purpose which attaches itself to the particular appearance of every object which the eye there perceives, becomes a check to the wanderings of the imagination, and keeps it within certain bounds. But with respect to the fantastic and ever-varying forms of rocks, the observer receives and expects no immediate ex- planation ; and his unbounded fancy construes each form in the manner the most suited to the disposition of his mind. The imagination is thus easily led to associate and confound together the works of nature and art ; transforming pinnacles of rocks into turrets and battlements, ledges into terraces, and caves into porticoes. Blair intro- duces the wildness of rocks as a proof that irre- gularity is productive of the sublime : “ A great mass of rocks thrown together by the hand of Nature with wildness and confusion, strike the mind with more grandeur than if they had been adjusted to one another with the most accurate symmetry.” Form and Disposition . — If we consider the form and disposition of rocks in a })hysical point of view, it may be observed that their surface, taken as a whole, generally approaches, more or less. ROCKS. 51 to the perpendicular ; such parts as are level, or nearly so, being covered with vegetation.* On the other hand, the exterior masses fall from want of support when they project consider- ably beyond the vertical line; unless in some par- ticular cases, when the hardness of the rock, or the disposition of the strata, causes the superior beds to overhang in an unusual degree.f The impending position of rocks sometimes results also from the support afforded by natural pillars, as in caverns, where the binding principle of the arch sometimes makes up for the want of solidity in the texture of the rock. Generally speaking, the projections and cavi- * Exceptions . — In some parts of Sweden, the bare surliice of the granite presents itself, to a considerable extent, so perfectly on a level with the surface of the country, as to form at intervals a natural pavement to the road. On the Alpine passes, also, the rocks present sometimes a considerable extent of surface, nearly horizontal ; the severity of the climate preventing their being covered with vegetation. t This effect is most visible in cliffs either composed of chalk or clay. By the latter, not only ordinary clay is to be understood, but those varieties also which enter into the composition of the red sandstone, oolitic, liassic, and freshwater formations, and which, when exposed to the action of the waves, become rounded on all their projections, and are generally undermined to a con- siderable extent, so that the upper portions of these cliffs project considerably (in many cases) beyond the base. — C. Moxon. 52 ROCKS. ties presented by the surface of rocks are angu- lar and rugged ; the effects of sudden and forced separation of the masses being quite as apparent as the more gradual influence of the weather. The edges of rocks are, however, a little blunted, or rounded off, on the sea coast, by the wear of the waves. But the softening of the edges, by the action of the sea, is less apparent than might be expected, on rocks of a firm texture, and is limited to the parts continually washed by the waves : the influence of the spray is slight, and, at a distance, limestone or granite appears to preserve a bold and angular outline down to the water. The deep and confined channel of a torrent in the Salzburg Alps, called Seissenberger Klam, has been scooped by the water into sinuous and winding forms, with here and there projecting ridges and partitions, which cause the stream to deviate from its course in abrupt angles. The edges are rounded off more or less, and the rock is smooth, but not polished, where it has been worn by the water; but the great abundance of moisture causes the surface to reflect light as a mirror, to a certain extent. The colour of the rock is of a whitish grey, with very little mixture of l)rown. The total absence of vegetation in the more sheltered parts, and its sudden appearance ROCKS. 53 where light and air are admitted, form a point connected with the growth of plants, which it may be useful for artists to attend to. The influence of the weather shews itself on inland rocks of a loose texture, as, for instance, on pebble and sand rocks, where the effects of piece-meal disintegration are more rapid than those produced by sudden convulsions. But even the rocks which have been slowly worn into their present shape, generally shew a certain degree of firmness in their outline, so that, in the execution of them, freedom and decision of touch are never entirely misplaced. There is something peculiar in the sandstone formations : they do not appear to have been carved out of the bulk of the mountain by the wear of time, or by the violent separation of the parts : neither have they the appearance of frag- ments brought from afar, and scattered over the surface of the country — strangers to the soil which supports them ; but their appearance in- dicates something between ; their grotesque pro- jections seem to be isolated, as at Tunbridge Wells and Brimham, from the strata to which they belong ; yet they adhei’e to it by a base or pedestal, more or less secure. The stratification of rocks presents itself under the greatest variety of forms, whether it be in the ROCKS. r)4 magnitude, the disposition, or the distinctness of the stratified beds. At times, the layers appear on so reduced a scale, as to become objects of detail in the bank or broken fragments which form the foreground of a picture.* Elsewhere they appear on a distant mountain and charac- terise its general appearance ; and the vegetation itself serves, in many cases, to shew the inclina- tion and alternations of the beds. An instance of this presents itself on the southern slope of Mount Rigi, where firs, pasture, and rock alternate with each other, from the verge of the mountain to the beginning of the gentle and luxuriant slope which forms its base. Sometimes the stratification of rocks presents sudden transitions from one form to another. In the Hunnenflue, valley of Lauterbrunnen, the * The different degrees of hardness which characterize certain minerals entering into the constitution of rocks and mountains, account for the ])rojection of narrow bands of some of the members of the formations prevalent in a mountain district, as they resist ihe action of the atmosjdierc longer than the body of the rock itself, and do not disintegrate so rapidly as it does. In the new red sandstone in particular, this phenomenon may be observed — the thin bands of clay slate projecting considerably in exposed situ- ations, whilst the rock itself presents all those peculiarities which arc obviously the result of a progi’essive, although slow disintegra- tion. — C. Moxon. ROCKS. 55 same rock whose regular quadrangles appear to have been the work of the mason’s hand, pre- sents, on another of its faces, the most extraordi- nary contortions and zigzag forms.^ A similar transition from regular to broken and promiscuous forms of stratification is observ- able in a small lateral valley near Ischel. At times the stratified beds are closely united, and marked only by a seam of a different colour : elsewhere they are divided by fissures and gap- ing clefts, or by the projection of one bed beyond the other. I have seen rocks chipped and cracked in so irregular a manner, as to obliterate almost all traces of stratification ; thus a chain of moun- tains on the confines of Illyria and Italy is com- posed of whitish rocks, which perplex the eye with innumerable cavities and projections, into which their surface has been most unaccountably distorted. Sometimes rocks present fissures in a trans- * t^lierever the internal structure of mountains or hills pre- sents these phenomena to view, the external form bears, in a greater or less degree, the evidences of a less quiet dej)osition than where the stratification is horizontal or even in its charactei*. It always implies the agency of force, and therefore is always attended by those signs which are not to be mistaken as such, and which arc clearly the results of sudden changes in the modus opernndi . — C. Moxon. 56 ROCK.S verse direction, or perpendicular to that of the stratified beds : but an over-scrupulous attention to the minute particulars connected with the stratification of rocks would be injurious to the l)oldness of form and freedom of execution, of which in some of their combinations they admit so large a share. It is not, however, necessary that the stratified forms should always be avoided, in order to maintain variety ; * they sometimes * In illustration of this remark, a reference to the stratified cliffs of Hunstanton, in Norfolk, is not out of place: the sti’atifica- tion is regular, composed of a series of green sand, red marl, and chalk, with a slight dip, so that the different strata are not on the same level with the eye at all points of sight, but as the escarp- ments and projections of the cliffs are irregular, so do the lines of stratification and the alternations of colour contribute, in an emi- nent degree, to the variety of the scene, which would not be found in a line of coast free from these particular circumstances of strati- fication and colour. — C. Moxon. ROCKS. 57 present a degree of decision and character which becomes an advantage when faithfully imitated. Truth to Nature is a sort of spell which renders agreeable to the eye that which would other- wise he offensive. If we draw the forms of rocks without attending to this principle — that is, with- out observing what is natural, as well as agreeable to the eye, — we are apt to produce a number of short irregular lines, the combination of which produces reduplication, and not variety. This last quality is obtained rather by approaching to sym- metry, than by entirely avoiding it. Two or three lines may be traced almost parallel to each other, if they be of unequal length, and present here and there some slight deviations or interruptions. The curved, or flowing lines, similar to the folds of drapery, which are sometimes met with in rocks, the symmetry of basaltic columns, as well as that most regular form of stratification which, but for its magnified scale, would resemble brick- work, may be introduced into a picture without bad effect, provided they be representations of Nature. But, in this last case, the regular divi- sions should be kept subdued, and be little con- spicuous ; whilst a few strong marks, or a gleam of light on some projecting part, should break the mass, and give it a picturesque character. As the causes which determine the forms of 58 ROCKS. rocks are in many cases very apparent, by di- recting our attention to them we shall be able, with greater certainty, to represent various rocks in their true character. The influence of existing agencies appears to depend as well on the dispo- sition as on the adhesiveness of the strata. Deep furrows have in some parts been hollowed out at the natural divisions of the beds. When these, however, are disposed horizontally, they appear to be less broken and indented than when they are upright, with their edges projecting from the surface of the hills.* In this case, the softer in- tervening portions having been gradually removed by the rains, the harder ones project boldly in the form of ridges, and sometimes of isolated crags, examples of which occur in the mountains border- ing the Rhine, and in the valley of the Birse, in the Jura. The bays and promontories of the sea coast exhibit, on a large scale, the unequal resistance which various formations present to the wear and tear of the waves and tides, according to their greater or less degree of durability. When the rock is hard, as on the north, and part of the south coast of Devonshire, there is no very sud- * This mode of occurrence is rare, and always the result of violence. — C. Moxon. ROCKS. 59 deii transition in the general form of the moun- tains, with the decline of their outline towards the sea ; whereas in those parts where the eminences are composed of softer materials, they are cut off abruptly, their flank forming sometimes a right angle with the ridge. Where the rocks unite firmness and elevation, they generally advance into the sea, often headed by reefs, detached fragments, or islets. The cliffs in the immediate reach of the waves are torn and scooped into forms which the most sportive imagination could hardly invent. The Alps form, as they stretch out southwards into the Mediterranean, wild and fantastic coast scenery. The islands of Hieres, which may be considered as the last ramifications of this chain, are interspersed with needles and bluff rocks, whose appearance is full of threaten- ing dangers. Some of the arches formed by tides and waves, on the southern coast of Devonshire, are of con- siderable elevation, their summit appearing to rise above the action of the sea. The light of the sky seen through them, has at times a very singular effect, and may, at a distance, be easily mistaken for the sail of a coasting vessel. I have observed the light appearing through one of these singular excavations on the coast near Teignmouth to re- semble a sloo}) at anchor near the shore, with its HOCKS. ()() white sail unfurled against the dark rock, until I came near to the object which gave rise to the deception. The pictures in which similar excavations and grottoes have been represented, generally bear the blame which so frequently attaches itself to every thing that is not common, that they appear unna- tural ; but, in fact, the frequency of similar scherzi in the works of nature completely justifies their introduction, provided they possess the character which marks each of them in a peculiar manner, according to the causes which produced them. On the more sheltered parts of the same coast, I observed on a cliff composed of sandstone, that the effects produced by the erosion of the sea were more regular. A succession of small caves, with narrow entrances, opened on a level with the beach. Elsewhere small cavities, similar to Gothic niches, were ranged within reach of the dash of the waves, by which they were apparently produced; whilst the alternations of the strata were marked by horizontal furrows, adding to the very artificial appearance of these interesting marks of the sea’s regular action imprinted on the cliff. Inland caves appear to owe their formation, in a great measure, to the water, of which they frequently form the subterraneous channel. These / 1 / H . T. del . On Stone 'hjW L alton . HOCHFLUE ON THE ASCENT OF THE RLGI. - HnlTm aji Id. &, "Walton litlio gr apier s . m ■s:^ ^ -vr '•: -X. X-. . i v* -: ■ . ^ . ■ /I . i :>L ^ -t, - * 1 ^ - ;■■' i r'vV ,5 V ■ ;,_ r= i. . .. ■ fv. •.:. ' ,-■ . ' . - T** I H * /- 8S I •/ sjj^ JjT"^ ■ .- - • :-■ * - ' p’"- -■- ! i !