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7Valleys in the midst of mountains receive a very large proportion of rain, and from the closeness of their woods, as well from the shade which the trees afford, added to the snow, which so long remains on them, allow it to percolate through their strata, and thus arrive at the foot of the mountain, when, issuing forth, it becomes the source of a river. On the contrary, in a champaign country, much water will not probably be found; or if it should, it will not be wholesome, because the great power of the sun, unobstructed by shade, attracts and carries off all humidity from the plains; and were even the water to appear, the air would attract and dissipate the lightest, subtlest, and wholesomest parts, and leave the heaviest, most unpleasant, and most unwholesome in the spring.
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