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SECT. XXIX. If the Earth were mathematically round, the Rains would feldom fall where they were wanted.

Now, if what has been faid before be not fufficient to convince our unhappy Atheist, let him ftop here a little, and seriously reflect with himfelf, after what manner thofe Countries that lofe their Moisture by fo violent and continual a Heat (and which are therefore fo dry and fo barren) can be brought into a Condition to fupport their Inhabitants with Meat and Drink: And in cafe he could order Matters as he thought fit, what Methods would he take, conftantly to provide the fame with a fufficient Quantity of Water from the Heavens, and to collect the Vapours in that vaft Ocean of Air, and make them defcend upon those Parts of the Earth only where they are chiefly wanted. And that we may not give him the Trouble of charging his Imagination therewith; let him but fay, whether he fhould not efteem that Man as a very understanding Perfon, who had invented a way, which as long as Heaven, Earth, and Sea remain as they are, will always be useful, and whereby thofe dry and uninhabitable Countries might be fo well water'd, as to be equal in Fruitfulness to any others.

SECT. XXX. Convictions upon Occafion thereof.

To give an Inftance of fuch a Cafe; Let a Man caft his Eyes only upon the Inland of St. Thomas, which is under the Line, or upon that of St. Helena, lying between the Tropics, where the Heat of the Sun is exceeding ftrong; fince all the Vapours that afcend from the furrounding Seas, feem to be more likely to fall down again directly into VOL. II.

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the fame, than upon either of these Islands, the folid Parts of which reflect the Rays of the Sun with greater Force than the fluid Parts of the Sea Can any one think, that it happens without the wife Design of the Creator, that there are high Mountains found upon those Islands, where thefe Vapours are collected in fo vaft a Quantity, that they are capable of rendring whole Brooks and Rivers fufficient to provide Drink for Animals, Nourishment for Plants, and Fertility to the Earth, in fuch burning Regions, in great Abun

dance?

-SECT. XXXI. Mountains ferve to collect WarryVapours from the Air.

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Now, that all that is here faid is true, (whatever different Sentiments fome People may conceive about the Mountains) can be proved by a Cloud of Witneffes, as well as Trials and Experiments.

Let us only peruse the Description of the Inland of St. Thomas, in the little Atlas of Mercator, in which we fhall find thefe Words; In the Middle of this Ifland there is a Mountain very full of Woods, and continually cover'd with fuch thick Clouds, that from the faid Woods there proceed Streams and Brooks fufficient to water all the Sugar in the Plantations; and, which is very remarkable, when the Sun is at the higheft, this Mountain is moftly cover'd with Clouds.

The fame Thing is related by Mr. Robbe in his Geography, concerning the Inland Madagascar, viz. that notwithstanding that it is fo fcituated, as to -be expofed to the strongest Heat of the Sun, which as at St. Thomas's, is twice a Year perpendicular -over the Heads of the Inhabitants; and one would therefore be apt to think, that every Thing is deftroyed with Heat and Drought, yet in the mid

dle thereof, there are a great many Mountains and Woods, from whence many Rivers are obferved to run on all fides.

I find the fame noted by Mr. Warren, or rather in his Extract in the Act. Lipf. 1691. p. 98. That the Clouds and Fogs hanging over and about the Mountain, called the Pike of Teneriffe, do run down every Day about Noon, in fo vaft a Quantity, that they do abundantly supply the Place of great Rains, which ne→ ver fall upon other Parts of that Ifland.

To inftance in no more; that this is a useful Phænomenon in Nature, may appear from the ge neral Geography of Varenius, tap. 9. §. 9. who propofes this Queftion, Why there are often obferved Rains, Fogs and Snows upon the Tops of Mountains, whilft in the adjacent Valleys the Weather is bright and clear, and none of these Meteors are to be found? And then he proceeds to fay; This is confirmed by fuch as have travelled over the Mountains in Afia, Peru, and other Countries, viz. That they frequently obferved Rain, Snow, and thick Fogs upon the Tops of thofe Mountains, but when they defcended into the Valleys, they met with nothing but fair Weather: We find the Same Sometimes in the Mountains of our own Country. Accordingly, Mr. Tsbrantz Ides, obferved in a cer tain District upon the Frontiers of China, that the Clouds fhewed themfelves over the Mountains, but not farther.

SECT. XXXII. Fountains and Rivers proceed from Mountains.

MOREOVER, that Fountains and Rivers proceed from that Collection of Vapours which is continually made upon Mountains, is very learnedly proved by that great Mathematician Dr. Halley, whofe Differtation thereupon has been publifhed in the Phil. Tranfactions, Numb. 189. the Substance

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Subftance whereof is briefly as follows; This Speculation about Fountains is by no means a bare Suppofition, but is founded upon Experience; to the acquiring of which, my stay at the Island of St. Helena (which is likewife under the Torrid Zone, and one of the hotteft Parts of the Earth) gave me an Opportunity; where, upon the Top of a Mountain about 2400 Foot above the Sea, the Vapours and Dews of the Night, even when the Sky was clear, defcended fo thick and fo faft, that I was forced every Quarter of an Hour to wipe the Glafs of my Telescope, and my Paper was in a moment fo damp, that it would not bear Ink. From whence one may conclude how great a Quantity of Water must be collected upon thofe Mountains in a very short Space of Time, which are much higher and larger than this is; and which are obferved to run in a long Ridge, fo long as to fill whole Countries, such as the Pyrenæan Mountains, thofe of the Alps, the Apennine and the Carpathian, in Europe; the Taurus, Caucafus, Imaus, and others, in Afia; the Atlas, the Mountains of the Moon, and many more that have no Name, in Africa; from whence proceed the Rivers of Nile, Niger and Zaire in America the Andas, and the Apalatian Mountains, each of which do far exceed the common Heighth to which Vapours of themfelves do afcend, and upon the top of which the Air is fo cold and rarified, that it can fupport very few of the Vapours floating in it, and which are driven thither by the Winds.

SECT. XXXIII. The Furnishing us with Springs and Rivers is a principal Ufe of Mountains.

THE above-named Gentleman is of Opinion, and that not without weighty Reasons too, that one of the chiefeft Ufes of Mountains is to collect the Vapours in the Air, and to turn them afterwards into Fountains or Springs, then into Brooks,

and laft of all into Rivers, and fo to tranfmit them from their refpective Heighths.

I fhall not here enumerate the Difficulties that are proved by the faid Dr. Halley, to ftand in the way of those that pretend to deduce the Origin of Rivers from other Causes Wherefore he feems to lay down the aforefaid, as almost the only ones. And it fuffices for our Purpose, that tho' there were any others, yet thefe at leaft may be esteem-: ed fome of the chiefeft. I have dwelt the longer upon this Matter, because it seems to ferve for a great Proof of the Wisdom of the Creator to fuch as will confider the whole without Prejudice.

SECT. XXXIV. Convictions from the foregoing?! Obfervations:

Now, if there fhould still remain any of those unhappy Perfons, who endeavour to maintain that every Thing has acquired its Form from neceffary Caufes, or mere Chance, upon the following or the like Hypothefes; namely, that so many and fuch amazing great Bodies as the Mountains, are of no ufe at all; and who, if they had had ther fashioning the Globe of the Earth, according to their own Humours, they would have made it without them, and have given it a perfect round Figure, without the leaft Inequalities: Let them but once feriously confider the above-mention'd Experiments, and from thence learn, First, the great Neceffity of these protuberant Parts of the Earth; without which the Globe would altoge-? ther, or at least in a very great meafure, beldes prived of Rivers, Things fo ufeful, and which: are fuch great and noble Tokens of the Goodness of our Creator. And Secondly, Let them ask. themselves, whether they muft not be convinced thereby, that thofe fpeak nothing but the Truth,

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