WE have seen that by an invisible, but universal agency, called evaporation, water is constantly ascending alike from the ocean and the land. This invisible vapor being drawn together in the atmosphere again descends, sometimes in gentle and fertilizing showers; or, at others, in deluging torrents, spreading death and destruction in their path.
What a beautiful sight is a spring! Whether gently it oozes from the verdant bank, or gushes furiously from the riven rock. Sometimes it is found hidden away in a retired dell, where its pure murmuring waters flow on, giving birth to mosses, flowering plants, and the richest verdure. Some springs are of great force, bubbling up from the surface of the earth, or from crevices in rocks. More wonderful still, in some places they are found in the sea itself, where immense volumes of pure: fresh water bubble up, even to the surface.
Springs and wells are as ancient as the world. 'The history of not a few may be traced back thousands of years. Every one of my readers will remember the wells and springs of Scripture. How Hagar's heart must have leaped for joy at the sight of the well whose waters saved her cast out and perishing child. Who has not been moved by the touching story of Abraham's servant and the fair damsel Rebekah, at the side of a well? How important they were in the history of Abraham and Isaac. It was at a well that Jacob first saw and loved his Rachel. Who will ever forget that well where the Lord Himself sat, wearied and thirsty, but both of which were soon forgotten in ministering living water to that poor one who found Him there?
In England we value water cheaply, but in hot sandy deserts what a source of life, what a little paradise is produced by a spring! Often it is the only spot in a boundless district giving shade and refreshing water to the tired, famishing traveler. Many thrilling stories have been told of Eastern travelers on their camels, when their water was all exhausted, making desperate efforts to reach some well known spring, arriving only to find the water dried up; and hopeless, to lie down and die.
Do you ask, How are springs formed? Let me try and make this plain to you. Very much of the rain and melted snow soon finds its way by runnels, streams, and rivers, back to the sea; but immense quantities sink into the earth. But such water is not lost. By no means. It may be out of sight, but it is never lost. All that water, after traveling it may be miles and miles, and sinking even deeper than the sea, will somehow or other find its way back again to the surface. You know that most soils and many rocks are pervious, that is, will let water sink through them; sometimes there are crevices or great cracks in rocks. Through these, the underground water will make its way lower and lower.
But soon it will come to a very hard and impervious rock or solid bed of clay, through which it cannot pass. If this be in a hilly country, the water will follow the rock or clay, till it finds surface ground about its own level, and then, it will come bubbling out in a spring.
But underground water will descend below the valleys, or even, as I have said, below the bottom of the sea, and yet at last it also will find its way to the surface again. Let us follow a particular drop of water from the time it sinks into the earth as rain, to the time when, after long journeying up and down in the bowels of the earth, it at last comes to the surface. With other drops it works its way through crevices and tunnels of the rocks, perhaps many thousand feet deep, until it reaches some rock through which it cannot make further way downwards. But all this time it has been followed by other drops, which form an accumulation of water, and press heavily upon it. By this means the pent up water, if it cannot find crevices downwards, may find its way through cracks and passages upwards, and so it will wind up and down till it comes to the surface again, and there it breaks out as a gushing spring.
By this process there is always a vast amount of water accumulated in the bowels of the earth, and these sometimes collect in vast underground reservoirs.
I will now tell you a little of the many kinds of springs that are found.
1.—Perennial. These never cease to flow They may be called living fountains. The longest drought scarcely affects them, and no doubt they come from those vast reservoirs I have just named. Such is the celebrated spring of St. Winifred, at Holywell, in Flintshire, one of the finest in the world. Not less than eighty-four hogsheads, or twenty-one tons of water per minute, rushes from the rock, and in its short course to the sea, of about a mile, turns no fewer than eleven mills. This is but as a drop compared with some springs in foreign countries. There is one at Vaucluse, in France, which sends forth an average of over 9,000 cubic feet of water every minute, sufficient to form a good sized river.
2.—Artesian Wells. These fountains are very ancient, and of great interest. In many parts of the world, even on very low levels, by boring to a great depth through solid rocks, not only are large bodies of water found, but it comes bubbling up to the very surface. They have been long in use at Artois, in France, and hence their name. The explanation of these wells is very simple. In the way I have just described, this water has-found its way from very high ground, it may be immense mountain ranges, hundreds of miles distant. It has got under strata of solid rock, in which no upward cracks could be found. Such is the pressure of the great body of water from the distant hills, or high ground, that the moment that rock is pierced by boring, the water is forced upwards, and would continue to rise, till it reached' the level from which it originally came.
There are many such wells in London. A great supply of the purest water has been obtained for Chicago, in the United States, by this means, and there have been Artesian wells in Stutgart for many hundred years. It will readily be seen how valuable such wells must be in great sandy deserts. Already several have been sunk in the great desert of Sahara, by the French government, some of which give forth over 6,000 gallons of water per minute. Great was the rejoicing when the first was completed, and the water came rushing out of the ground. The poor Arabs sprang in crowds to the spot, bathing themselves in the welcome water, into which mothers dipped their children, and not a few fell on their knees and wept. The time may yet come when great tracts of barren land may be turned into fruitful gardens by this simple means.
3.—Tidal Springs. These are springs that continually ebb and flow, like the tide. The pool of Siloam is a remarkable spring of this kind. Some are to be found in our own country, and many abroad. The cause of these has never been fully explained, and it would take me too long to tell you all the conjectures about them.
4.—Thermal Springs. You have all heard of hot water springs. It is well known that deep down in the earth there is immense heat. Many of these springs are supposed to come from these great depths. We have many in England. I have bathed in those at Buxton, which are exceedingly refreshing, and the warmth of which never varies, day or night, summer or winter. There are others at Stoney Middleton and Matlock. Those in the south of England, especially at Bath, are much warmer. They chiefly abound in countries of extinct or active volcanoes. There are many about Naples, Rome, the Alps, and in Iceland. Indeed, they are found in nearly every part of the globe. On landing on one of the Fiji Islands, the beach was found to be absolutely steaming, and a short distance off were five springs, the waters of which were at boiling point.
5.—Ebullient Springs are the last I shall be able to tell you about. These are sometimes quiet, at others very violent, and send off vast clouds of steam, and throw up their scalding water to a great height. In the Island of St. Michael, one of the Azores, is found a round deep and lovely valley, its sides covered with myrtles, laurels, and mountain grapes, with wheat, Indian corn, and poplars. Here are many boiling fountains, but the chief one is found on a gentle eminence, near a river, and boils with great fury. Many are met with in Iceland. Within a circle of two miles in one district, above a hundred are to be found. One of these, the largest in the world, presents a most magnificent spectacle, an engraving of which, by the kindness of the Editor of "The Leisure Hour," we are able to present to our readers. It is thus described by an eye-witness: "At the distance of several miles, we could see from the clouds of vapor that were rising in the air, the spot where one of the most magnificent scenes in nature is displayed." The great fountain in its quiet state presents the appearance of a large circular mound, formed by the depositions of the fountain. Ascending the mound, a spacious basin is seen, filled with hot water, clear as crystal, and gently bubbling. The basin is about 150 feet round, and when full the water is about four feet deep.
Such is the fountain when asleep! The whole scene changes when it is in action: explosions in the bowels of the earth, like cannons, shake the ground, warning any who are near to escape for their lives; the water commences to boil furiously, and at last, it is suddenly thrown into the air, in a succession of jets, till a magnificent column is sent up to a great height. This is the grandest part of the exhibition. The atmosphere is filled with immense volumes of steam, rolling over each other as they ascend. This has been seen by many travelers, and sometimes the jet will be thrown over 200 feet in height.
Such are some of the wonderful incidents connected with springs. In our next chapter, if the Lord will, we shall come to rapids, rivers and lakes.