River Features Defined, with a List of Water's Actions
Caverns, wells, ponds, springs and the crossing of rivers, followed by a list of motions
A full page of prose continues the book of waters by defining features of rivers and their beds. Caverns are hollows like ovens driven deep beneath the bank, where whirling water keeps enlarging them; wells are the sudden depths of rivers; ponds hold drained or rain water over impermeable beds; chasms are further sudden depths, and springs and bubblings mark where water is born. It closes with a list of the actions of water, from up-leaping and circulation to hollowing-out, percussion and descent.
On this page
Caverns, wells, ponds and chasms of rivers
Caverns are like ovens entering deep beneath the bank, in which the waters strongly whirl and always enlarge them. Wells are the sudden depths of rivers. Ponds are receptacles of drained or rain water whose beds are so watertight and dense that the earth can neither drink nor dry them. Chasms are likewise places of sudden depth.
Springs, submersion and the crossing of rivers
Bubblings-up and springings are births of water: one comes from below upward, the other has only a transverse motion, falling from some grotto. To submerge means things that go beneath the water. The intersection of waters occurs when one river cuts across another. A closing list runs from up-leaping, circulation and revolution to hollowing-out, percussion, ruining and descent.