—Holmes.
Back of all the work of the rivers from year to year and age to age, there seems always the thought of beauty as well as the thought of use. They are evidently under an eternal law of service, of beauty, and of change.
"The hills are shadows, and they flow
From form to form and nothing stands.
They melt like mists the solid lands;
Like clouds they shape themselves and go."
HIDE AND SEEK IN THE LIBRARY
Isn't Tennyson's "Brook" a beautiful title picture of a baby river and its ways?
Speaking of human nature in rivers and apparent differences in disposition, why is it that some of the rivers of California run right through the mountain ranges from east to west—have evidently cut their way—while others run along, meekly enough, between the ranges? I'm sure from what we have learned about rivers that you can tell how this happened as well as if you had been there when the rivers were made; but if you can't think—after trying real hard—you will find the answer in the Hide and Seek at the end of the next chapter.
Beside being so prominent in the literature of the Bible and so famous in history, the River Jordan is a most curious and interesting stream, and every child should know about it. Here are some of the things you will find: Why it is born partly grown, and doesn't begin as a little stream, like the Mississippi; why it may be said to be in both the tropical and temperate zones[13]; about its two valleys, both of which it uses at the same time.[14]