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 BRIEF CONTENTS v

Brief Contents
Contents vi

Preface xvi

The Geographer’s Toolkit.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PART I ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEMS: Weather and Climate

CHAPTER 1 Portrait of the Atmosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
CHAPTER 2 Seasons and Solar Energy.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
CHAPTER 3 Water in the Atmosphere.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
CHAPTER 4 Atmospheric Circulation and Wind Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
CHAPTER 5 The Restless Sky: Storm Systems and El Niño. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
CHAPTER 6 The Changing Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

PART II THE BIOSPHERE AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF LIFE

CHAPTER 7 Patterns of Life: Biogeography.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
CHAPTER 8 Climate and Life: Biomes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
CHAPTER 9 Soil and Water Resources.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
CHAPTER 10 The Living Hydrosphere: Ocean Ecosystems.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

PART III TECTONIC SYSTEMS: Building the Lithosphere

CHAPTER 11 Earth History, Earth Interior.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
CHAPTER 12 Drifting Continents: Plate Tectonics.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
CHAPTER 13 Building the Crust with Rocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
CHAPTER 14 Geohazards: Volcanoes and Earthquakes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

PART IV EROSION AND DEPOSITION: Sculpting Earth’s Surface

CHAPTER 15 Weathering and Mass Movement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
CHAPTER 16 Flowing Water: Fluvial Systems.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
CHAPTER 17 The Work of Ice: The Cryosphere and Glacial Landforms.. . . . . . . . . . . 544
CHAPTER 18 Water, Wind, and Time: Desert Landforms.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
CHAPTER 19 The Work of Waves: Coastal Landforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Appendices A-1

Glossary G-1

Further Readings FR-1

Indices I-1

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 vi CONTENTS

Contents PART I
ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEMS:
Preface xvi Weather and Climate
(Courtesy of Anthony Koppers, Seamount

(© Andy Rouse/naturepl.com/NaturePL)
Catalog (http://earthref.org))

The Geographer’s Toolkit 2 C H APT E R 1

GT.1 Welcome to Physical Geography! 4 Portrait of the Atmosphere 34

What Is Physical Geography? 4 THE HUMAN SPHERE: Wyoming’s Air Pollution Problem 36
Scales of Inquiry 5
• Spatial Scale: Perspective in Space 6 1.1 Composition of the Atmosphere 37
• Temporal Scale: Time as a Perspective 7 Gases in the Atmosphere 37
About the Metric System 7 Gas Sources and Sinks 37
Aerosols in the Atmosphere 38
GT.2 The Physical Earth 8
Matter and Energy 8 1.2 The Weight of Air:
Earth’s Shape 8 Atmospheric Pressure 38
• Rotation 10 • Relief and Gravitation 10 Air Pressure 38
Earth Systems 10 Air Density and Pressure 39
• The Atmosphere 10 • The Biosphere 11
• The Lithosphere 11 • The Hydrosphere 11 Measuring Air Pressure 39
The Structure of Living Physical Geography 11 1.3 The Layered Atmosphere 40
• Part I: Atmospheric Systems: Weather and Climate 12
• Part II: The Biosphere and the Geography of Life 13
Layers Based on Temperature 40
• Part III: Tectonic Systems: Building the Lithosphere 13 The Weather Layer: The Troposphere 41
• Part IV: Erosion and Deposition: Sculpting Earth’s Surface 14 A Protective Shield: The Stratosphere 43
GT.3 Mapping Earth 15 The Mesosphere and Thermosphere 44
The Geographic Grid 16 The Ionosphere: Nature’s Light Show 44
• Latitude 16 • Longitude 16 • Using the Geographic Grid 18
1.4 Air Pollution 45
Maps 19
Primary Pollutants 45
Map Scale: How Far Is It? 20 • Carbon Monoxide 45 • Sulfur Dioxide 46
• Types of Map Scales 20 • Lines on the Map: Contour Lines 22 • Nitrogen Dioxide 46 • Volatile Organic Compounds 47
GT.4 Imaging Earth 23 Secondary Pollutants 47
Satellite Imagery 23 Particulate Matter 47
Radar and Sonar 25 Factors That Affect Air Pollutant Concentrations 48
Geographic Information Systems 26 The Clean Air Act 48

GT.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The Scientific Method and 1.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Refrigerators and Life
Easter Island 27 on Earth 50
Easter Island: The Scientific Method Applied 27 A Landmark Paper and an International Protocol 51
• 1. Observation: Stone Statues 27 • 2. Question: How Were Effects of a Thinning Ozonosphere 52
the Statues Moved across the Island? 28 • 3. Collect Data: • Human Health 52 • Plants 53
Pollen 28 • 4. Hypothesis: Log Rollers 28 • 5. Test the
Hypothesis: Log Rollers Do Work 28 • 6. Further Inquiry:
A Crisis Averted 53
Collapse of Society 29 CHAPTER 1 Exploring with Google Earth 54
How Is a Hypothesis Different from a Theory? 29
CHAPTER 1 Study Guide 55
THE GEOGRAPHER’S TOOLKIT Study Guide 30

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 CONTENTS vii

(2014 3TIER by Vaisala)

(Beyond/SuperStock)
Global Horizontal Irradiance (W/m2)

165 200 235

C HAPT E R 2 C H APT E R 3

Seasons and Solar Energy 58 Water in the Atmosphere 92

THE HUMAN SPHERE: People and the Seasons 60 THE HUMAN SPHERE: Evaporation and the Great Lakes 94
2.1 The Four Seasons 61 3.1 The Hydrologic Cycle and Water 95
What Causes Seasons? 61 States of Water: Solid, Liquid, and Gas 95
Migration of the Subsolar Point 62 The Hydrologic Cycle: Water on the Move 96
How Does Earth’s Tilt Affect Day Length? 64 Properties of Water 96
• Day Length on an Equinox 64 • Day Length on the December Latent Heat of Water: Portable Solar Energy 97
Solstice 64 • Day Length on the June Solstice 65
3.2 Atmospheric Humidity 99
2.2 Temperature and Heat 66
The Heat-Index Temperature 99
What Is Temperature? 66
The Many Names for Humidity 100
What Is Heat? 67 • Vapor Pressure 100 • Specific Humidity 100
How Heat Moves 67 • Relative Humidity 100 • The Dew Point 102

2.3 Surface Temperature Patterns 68 3.3 Lifting Air: Atmospheric Stability 103
Average Annual Temperature Patterns 68 Rising Air is Cooling Air:
• Elevation: Colder in the Mountains 69 • Latitude: Colder near The Adiabatic Process 104
the Poles 69 Forming Clouds: The Lifting
Patterns of Seasonality 69 Condensation Level 105
• What Causes the Continental Effect? 70 • Ocean Currents and
Seasonality 73 • Prevailing Wind and Seasonality 73
Three Scenarios for Atmospheric Stability 106
Four Ways to Lift Air and Form Clouds 107
2.4 The Sun’s Radiant Energy 75 • Convective Uplift 107 • Orographic Uplift 107
Photons and Wavelengths 75 • Frontal Uplift 107 • Convergent Uplift 108
Earth’s Important Wavelengths: Ultraviolet, Visible, 3.4 Cloud Types 108
and Infrared 76
• Ultraviolet Radiation 76 • Visible Radiation: Light 76 Cloud Classification 108
• Infrared Radiation 77 • Fog 111

2.5 Earth’s Energy Budget 77 3.5 Precipitation: What Goes Up . . . 111

The Great Balancing Act 81 Making Rain: Collision and Coalescence 111
The Global Heat Engine 83 Making Snow: The Ice-Crystal Process 111
Four Types of Precipitation 113
2.6 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The Rising Solar Hail Formation 113
Economy 84
The Goal: 15 Terawatts 84 3.6 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Clouds and Climate 116
The Decentralized Approach 85 Clouds and Temperature 116
The Centralized Approach 85 Cloud Feedbacks 117
• Stratus Clouds 117 • Cirrus Clouds 118
CHAPTER 2 Exploring with Google Earth 87
CHAPTER 3 Exploring with Google Earth 119
CHAPTER 2 Study Guide 88
CHAPTER 3 Study Guide 120

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 viii CONTENTS

(© A. T. Willett/Alamy)
(NASA/JPL)

C HAPT ER 4 C H APT E R 5

Atmospheric Circulation THE RESTLESS SKY:

and Wind Systems 124 Storm Systems and El Niño 158
THE HUMAN SPHERE: China’s Dust Storms 126 THE HUMAN SPHERE: The EF5 Tornado 160
4.1 Measuring and Mapping the Wind 127 5.1 Thunderstorms 161
Measuring the Wind 127 Single-Cell Thunderstorms 163
Mapping the Wind 129 Multicell Thunderstorms 163
Supercell Thunderstorms 164
4.2 Air Pressure and Wind 129
Thermal Pressure 129 5.2 Thunderstorm Hazards: Lightning and
Dynamic Pressure 130 Tornadoes 165
Wind Speed and Direction 130 Lightning 165
• Pressure-Gradient Force 130 • Visualizing the Pressure • What Causes Lightning? 165 • Staying Safe in Lightning 166
Gradient: Isobars 131 • Coriolis Force 132 • Friction Force 133 Tornado! 166
Cyclones and Anticyclones 133 • Tornado Geography 168 • Warning the Public,
Saving Lives 169
4.3 Global Atmospheric Circulation Patterns 134
Global Pressure Systems 134 5.3 Nature’s Deadliest Storms: Hurricanes 169
Global Surface Wind Patterns 136 What Is a Hurricane? 169
Upper-Level Winds 137 Why Are Hurricane Winds So Fast? 171
Seasonal Shifts of Global Pressure 139 Stages of Hurricane Development 172
The Influence of Landmasses 139 Hurricane Geography 174
Why Are Hurricanes Dangerous? 174
4.4 Wind Systems: Sea Breezes to Gravity Winds 142
Sea and Land Breezes 142 5.4 Midlatitude Cyclones 177
The Asian Monsoon 142 Anatomy of a Midlatitude Cyclone 177
Valley and Mountain Breezes 146 Effects of Midlatitude Cyclones on Weather 177
Chinook and Foehn Winds 146 Life Cycle of a Midlatitude Cyclone 177
Santa Ana Winds 147 5.5 El Niño’s Wide Reach 180
Katabatic Winds 148 El Niño’s Global Influence 180
4.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Farming the Wind 148 El Niño Development 180
Converting the Wind to Electricity 148 5.6 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Are Atlantic Hurricanes
The Geography of Wind 150 a Growing Threat? 183
Storing Wind Power 150 Hurricane Activity 183
• Hydrogen Storage 151 • Underground and
Climate Change and Hurricanes 184
Reservoir Storage 151
Environmental Impacts of Wind Power 151 CHAPTER 5 Exploring with Google Earth 185
• Birds and Bats 151 • Wumps and NIMBYs 152
CHAPTER 5 Study Guide 186
The Energy Mix 152
CHAPTER 4 Exploring with Google Earth 153
CHAPTER 4 Study Guide 155

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 CONTENTS ix

PART II
THE BIOSPHERE AND
THE GEOGRAPHY OF LIFE
(© Ashley Cooper/Age Fotostock Inc.)

(© Philippe Michel/age fotostock)

C HAPT E R 6 C H APT E R 7

The Changing Climate 190 PATTERNS OF LIFE: ­Biogeography 222

THE HUMAN SPHERE: The Greenland Norse 192 THE HUMAN SPHERE: Exotic Invaders 224
6.1 The Climate System 193 7.1 Biogeographic Patterns 225
Climate Change 194 Global Patterns of Biodiversity 225
Climate Forcing and Feedbacks 195 • The Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient 226 • Biogeographic
Patterns among Islands 227 • Migration 227
6.2 Trends, Cycles, and Anomalies 196 Patterns of Biodiversity Resulting from Evolution 228
Climate Trends: A Long, Slow Cooling 196 • Observations That Support the Theory of Evolution 228
• Patterns of Convergence 229 • Patterns of Divergence 230
Climate Cycles: A Climate Roller Coaster 196 • Biogeographic Regions 231
• Glacial and Interglacial Periods 196
• Milankovitch Cycles 197 7.2 Setting the Boundaries: Limiting Factors 231
Climate Anomalies: Random Events 198 Physical Limiting Factors 232
• Changes in the Sun’s Output 199 • Volcanic Eruptions 199 • Light 232 • Temperature 232 • Water 233
• Changes in the Ocean Conveyor Belt 199
Biological Limiting Factors 234
Reading the Past: Paleoclimatology 200 • Predation 234 • Competition 236 • Mutualism 236
6.3 Carbon and Climate 202 7.3 Moving Around: Dispersal 237
The Long-Term Carbon Cycle 202 Barriers to Dispersal 237
• The Role of Weathering and Erosion 202 • The Role of
Photosynthesis 202 Colonization and Invasion 238
The Short-Term Carbon Cycle 203 7.4 Starting Anew: Ecological Disturbance and
Human Modification of the Carbon Cycle 203 Succession 239
6.4 Climate at the Crossroads 204 Ecological Disturbance 239
The Warming Atmosphere 205 Ecological Succession: The Return of Life 240
Comparing Today with the Last 800,000 Years 206 7.5 Three Ways to Organize the Biosphere 241
Is the Warming Trend Natural? 207 The Trophic Hierarchy 241
A Strange New World 209 The Taxonomic Hierarchy 243
• Positive Changes 209 • Shifting Physical Systems 209 • How Scientific Names Work 243 • Common Names and
Computers and Climate Projections 213 Scientific Names 244
The Spatial Hierarchy 244
6.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Stabilizing Climate 214
Twenty-Five Billion Metric Tons 214 7.6 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Journey of the
Addressing the Problem 214 Coconut 247
• International Response 215 • National Response 215 Coconut Dispersal 247
• Local Response 215 • Individual Response 216
Human Migration and Coconut Dispersal 248
CHAPTER 6 Exploring with Google Earth 217 Artificial Selection 248
CHAPTER 6 Study Guide 217 CHAPTER 7 Exploring with Google Earth 250
CHAPTER 7 Study Guide 250

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 x CONTENTS
(© Bill Bachmann/age fotostock)

(© Morales/age fotostock)
C HAPT ER 8 C H APT E R 9

CLIMATE AND LIFE: Biomes 254 Soil and Water Resources 294
THE HUMAN SPHERE: Terraforming Earth 256 THE HUMAN SPHERE: The Collapse of the Maya 296
8.1 Climates and Biomes 257 9.1 The Living Veneer: Soils 297
Soil Characteristics 297
8.2 Low-Latitude Biomes 259
Soil Formation Factors 299
Tropical Rainforest 259 • Climate 299 • Parent Material 299 • Organisms 299
• Human Footprint 262 • Topography and Moisture 300 • Time 301
Tropical Seasonal Forest 264 Soil Erosion 301
• Human Footprint 264
Naming Soils: Soil Taxonomy 303
Tropical Savanna 264
The Importance of Soils to People 305
8.3 Midlatitude and High-Latitude Biomes 268 • Medicines 305 • Mitigation of Climate Change 305
• Water Purification 305
Temperate Grassland 268
• Human Footprint 270 9.2 The Hidden Hydrosphere: Groundwater 306
The Mediterranean Biome 270 Surface Water and Drought 306
• Human Footprint 271
What Flows Below: Groundwater 306
Temperate Deciduous Forest 271
• Human Footprint 274 Porosity and Permeability 307
Temperate Rainforest 274 Groundwater in Aquifers 307
• Human Footprint 277 • Groundwater Movement 308 • The Height of the Water
Table 308 • Hydraulic Pressure and the Potentiometric
Boreal Forest 277 Surface 309
• Human Footprint 277

8.4 Biomes Found at All Latitudes 277 9.3 Problems Associated with Groundwater 312
Too Much Too Fast: Groundwater Overdraft and Mining 312
Montane Forest 277 • Groundwater Overdraft 312 • Groundwater Mining 313
• Human Footprint 277
Groundwater Pollution 314
Tundra 281
• Human Footprint 282 9.4 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Water Resources under
Desert 283 Pressure 318
• Human Footprint 283
Water Footprints 318
8.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The Value of Nature 285 The Global Reach of Virtual Water 319
Habitat and Species Loss 286 The Future of Water 319
The Value of Natural Biomes 286
CHAPTER 9 Exploring with Google Earth 321
CHAPTER 8 Exploring with Google Earth 288 CHAPTER 9 Study Guide 322
CHAPTER 8 Study Guide 290

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 CONTENTS xi

PART III
TECTONIC SYSTEMS:
Building the Lithosphere
(© Reinhard Dirscherl/WaterFrame/

(© Sami Sarkis/Photographer’s
Choice RF/Getty Images)
Getty Images)

C HAPT E R 1 0

THE LIVING HYDROSPHERE: C H APT E R 1 1

Ocean Ecosystems 326 Earth History, Earth Interior 362

THE HUMAN SPHERE: Coastal Dead Zones 328 THE HUMAN SPHERE: The Anthropocene 364
10.1 The Physical Oceans 329 11.1 Earth Formation 365
The Five Oceans 329 Formation of Stars and Planets 365
Layers of the Ocean 330 Formation of the Atmosphere and Oceans 366
Water Pressure 332 11.2 Deep History: Geologic Time 368
Seawater Chemistry 332 The Principle of Uniformitarianism 368
• Salinity 332 • Ocean Acidity 333
How Do Scientists Date Earth Materials? 368
Surface Ocean Currents 334
Seafloor Topography 334 11.3 Anatomy of a Planet: Earth’s Internal
10.2 Life on the Continental Margins 335 Structure 371
How Do Scientists Know What Is Inside Earth? 371
Coral Reefs 335
• Threats to Coral Reefs 336 • The Value of Coral Reefs 338 Earth’s Interior Layers 372
• The Core 373 • The Mantle 374 • The Lithosphere 375
Mangrove Forests 339
Plates of the Lithosphere 376
Seagrass Meadows 340
Estuaries 341 11.4 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Earth’s Heat and the
Kelp Forests 342 Biosphere 377
Beaches and Rocky Shores 343 Lessons from Mars 377
The Outer Core and Life 377
10.3 Life in Polar Waters 344
Tectonism, Oceans, and Climate 379
The Importance of Phytoplankton 344
Phytoplankton in Polar Waters 345 CHAPTER 11 Exploring with Google Earth 380
10.4 Life in Open Waters 345 CHAPTER 11 Study Guide 381
Layers of Light: Daily Vertical Migrations 346
Trans-Ocean Migrations 346
Life in the Deep 346
Biological Islands: Seamounts and Hydrothermal Vents 347
Reaping the Bounty: Industrial Fishing 349
10.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The Problem with Plastic 351
What Happens to Plastic in the Oceans? 351
How Does Plastic in the Oceans Pose a Problem? 353
Fixing the Problem 353
CHAPTER 10 Exploring with Google Earth 355
CHAPTER 10 Study Guide 356

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 xii CONTENTS

(© Mannfred Gottschalk/Lonely
Planet Images/Getty Images)
(© Design Pics Inc./Alamy)

C HAPT ER 1 2 C H APT E R 1 3

DRIFTING CONTINENTS: Building the Crust with Rocks 416

Plate Tectonics 384 THE HUMAN SPHERE: People and Rocks 418
THE HUMAN SPHERE: Life on Earth’s Shifting Crust 386 13.1 Minerals and Rocks: Building Earth’s
12.1 Continental Drift: Wegener’s Theory 387 Crust 419
Mineral Classes in Rocks 419
12.2 Plate Tectonics: An Ocean of Evidence 389 Rocks 420
Plate Tectonics: The Current Model 391 The Geography of Outcrops 421
How Do We Know Where the Plate Boundaries Are? 392 The Rock Cycle 421
How Do the Plates Move? 392
How Fast Do the Plates Move? 393 13.2 Cooling the Inferno: Igneous Rocks 422
Why Is the Theory of Plate Tectonics Important? 393 How Do Rocks Melt? 422
Igneous Rock Formations 423
12.3 Plate Boundary Landforms 393 Igneous Rock Categories 425
Divergent Plate Boundaries 394
• Mid-Ocean Ridges 394 • Rifting 394 13.3 Layers of Time: Sedimentary Rocks 425
Convergent Plate Boundaries 396 Sedimentary Rock Categories 426
• Subduction 396 • Types of Subduction 397 The Three Most Common Sedimentary Rocks 427
• Collision 398 • Accreted Terranes 398
Economically Significant Sedimentary Rocks 428
Transform Plate Boundaries 400 • Buried Sunshine: Coal 428 • Petroleum 428
Active and Passive Continental Margins 402 • Evaporites 430
Windows to the Past: Fossils 431
12.4 Hot Spots, Folding and Faulting, and
Mountain Building 402 13.4 Pressure and Heat: Metamorphic Rocks 432
Hot Spots 402 Tectonic Settings of Metamorphism 432
Bending and Breaking: Folding and Faulting 404 Metamorphic Rock Categories 432
• Folded Landforms 406 • Block Landforms 406
Orogenesis: Tectonic Settings of Mountains 407
13.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Fracking for Shale
Gas 434
12.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The Tibetan Plateau, How Fracking Works 434
Climate, and People 409 Fracking Fluid 435
Tectonically Driven Climate Change 409 Drinking Water 436
Anthropogenic Climate Change 410 Air Pollution and Climate Change 436
Glaciers and Food Security 410 Summing Up: The Pros and Cons 436
CHAPTER 12 Exploring with Google Earth 411 CHAPTER 13 Exploring with Google Earth 438
CHAPTER 12 Study Guide 412 CHAPTER 13 Study Guide 439

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 CONTENTS xiii

PART IV
EROSION AND DEPOSITION:
Sculpting Earth’s Surface
Picture Library/Age Fotostock Inc.)
(© Last Refuge/Robert Harding

Geographic Society/Corbis)
(© Luis Argerich/National
C HAPT E R 1 4 C H APT E R 1 5

GEOHAZARDS: Volcanoes Weathering and

and Earthquakes 442 Mass Movement 478
THE HUMAN SPHERE: Deadly Ocean Waves 444 THE HUMAN SPHERE: Weathering Mount Rushmore 480
14.1 About Volcanoes 445 15.1 Weathering Rocks 481
Three Types of Volcanoes 445 Physical Weathering 481
What Do Volcanoes Make? 446 Chemical Weathering 482
• Molten Rock: Lava 447 • Blown into the Air: Pyroclasts and Differential Weathering 483
Gases 448 • After the Lava Cools: Volcanic Landforms 451
15.2 Dissolving Rocks: Karst Landforms 485
14.2 Pele’s Power: Volcanic Hazards 452
Karst Processes 485
Two Kinds of Eruptions: Effusive and Explosive 452
A Riddled Surface: Karst Topography 486
Ranking Volcanic Eruption Strength 453
A Hidden World: Subterranean Karst 490
The Two Greatest Threats: Lahars and Pyroclastic Flows 453
• Torrents of Mud: Lahars 453 • Blazing Clouds: Pyroclastic 15.3 Unstable Ground:
Flows 454
Mass Movement 491
Can Scientists Predict Volcanic Eruptions? 456
Why Mass Movement Occurs 491
The Pacific Ring of Fire 457
Types of Mass Movements 492
14.3 Tectonic Hazards: Faults and • Soil Creep 493 • Slumps 494 • Flows and Landslides 494
• Avalanches 496 • Rockfall 499
Earthquakes 458
Faulting and Earthquakes 458 15.4 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Deadly Mass Movements 500
• Three Types of Faults 459 • How Do Faults Generate Causes of Deadly Mass Movements 500
Earthquakes? 460 • What Are Foreshocks and
Aftershocks? 460
Assessing the Risk 501
Geographic Patterns of Earthquakes 460 CHAPTER 15 Exploring with Google Earth 503
14.4 Unstable Crust: Seismic Waves 461 CHAPTER 15 Study Guide 504
Detecting Earthquakes 461
Ranking of Earthquake Strength 462
• Earthquake Intensity 462 • Earthquake Magnitude 464
• What Do Magnitude Numbers Mean? 464
Living with Earthquakes 465
• Saving Lives 466 • Predicting Earthquakes 466

14.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The World’s Deadliest

Volcano 468
The Waking Giant 468
Tambora’s Wide Reach 469
• The Year without a Summer 469 • Crop Failure 469
• Typhus Outbreak 470 • Indian Monsoon 470

CHAPTER 14 Exploring with Google Earth 471

CHAPTER 14 Study Guide 473

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 xiv CONTENTS
(EROS Center, U.S. Geological Survey)

(© Dr. Juerg Alean/Science Source)

C HAPT ER 1 6 C H APT E R 1 7

FLOWING WATER: THE WORK OF ICE: The Cryosphere

Fluvial Systems 508 and Glacial Landforms 544
THE HUMAN SPHERE: People and Floodplains 510 THE HUMAN SPHERE: The Mammoth Hunters 546
16.1 Stream Patterns 511 17.1 Frozen Ground: Periglacial Environments 547
Drainage Basins 511 Permafrost 547
Stream Order and Stream Permanence 514 Periglacial Features 549
• Stream Permanence 514 • Anthropogenic Intermittent
Streams 515 17.2 About Glaciers 550
What Is a Glacier? 551
16.2 Downcutting by Streams: Fluvial Erosion 516
Flowing Ice 552
The Volume of Water: Stream Discharge 517
Inputs and Outputs: Glacier Mass Balance 553
The Work of Water: Stream Load 519
Two Types of Glaciers 556
Stream Grading and Stream Gradient 520
Icebergs 556
Carving Valleys and Canyons 521
Points of Resistance: Knickpoints 523 17.3 Carving by Ice: Glacial Erosion 557
Lifting Streams: Stream Rejuvenation 523 Grinding Rocks: Plucking and Abrasion 558
• Antecedent and Superimposed Streams 525 Transporting Rocks: Ice and Glacial Streams 559
• Stream Piracy 525
Erosional Landforms 560
16.3 Building by Streams: Fluvial Deposition 526 • Cirques and Tarns 560 • Arêtes, Cols, and Horns 561
• Glacial Valleys and Paternoster Lakes 561 • Drowned Glacial
Dropping the Load: Stream Sorting 526 Valleys: Fjords 563 • Climate and Glacial Landforms 563
Places of Deposition 526
Stream Meanders and Floodplains 528 17.4 Building by Ice: Glacial Deposits 564
The End of the Line: Base Level 530 Deposits by Alpine Glaciers 564
Deposits by Ice Sheets 564
16.4 Rising Waters: Stream Flooding 532 Glacial Dust: Loess 568
Flash Floods 532
Seasonal Floods 533 17.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Polar Ice Sheets and Sea
Controlling the Waters 534 Level 568
The Greenland Ice Sheet Is Changing 568
16.5 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Dam Pros and Cons 534 Recent Changes in Antarctica 570
The Pros of Dams 534 How Much Will Sea Level Rise? 571
The Cons of Dams 536
Taking the Good with the Bad 537
CHAPTER 17 Exploring with Google Earth 572
CHAPTER 17 Study Guide 574
CHAPTER 16 Exploring with Google Earth 538
CHAPTER 16 Study Guide 540

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 CONTENTS xv

(Ben Pipe/Robert Harding World Imagery/

(Per-Andre Hoffmann/Picture Press/
Getty Images)

Getty Images)
C HAPT E R 1 8 C H APT E R 1 9

WATER, WIND, AND TIME: THE WORK OF WAVES:

Desert Landforms 578 Coastal Landforms 606
THE HUMAN SPHERE: Flooding in the World’s Driest Place 580 THE HUMAN SPHERE: Mavericks 608
18.1 Desert Landforms and Processes 581 19.1 Coastal Processes: Tides, Waves, and
Weathering in the Desert 583 Longshore Currents 609
Sculpting with Wind: Aeolian Processes 583 Tidal Rhythms 609
• Sand Dunes 586 • Singing Sand 586 Coastal Waves 610
• Desertification and Stabilizing Dunes 587
Coastal Currents 613
Sculpting with Water: Fluvial Processes 588
• Fluvial Erosion 588 • Fluvial Deposition 589 19.2 Coastal Landforms: Beaches and Rocky
18.2 Desert Landscapes 589 Coasts 614
Regs: Stony Plains 589 Beaches 616
• Beach Landforms 616 • Human Modification of Beaches 620
Ergs: Sand Seas 590
Rocky Coasts 622
Mesa-and-Butte Terrain 591
Inselbergs: Island Mountains 593 19.3 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES The Sisyphus Stone of
Basin-and-Range Topography 595 Beach Nourishment 625
Badlands 596 CHAPTER 19 Exploring with Google Earth 627
18.3 GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES Shrinking Desert CHAPTER 19 Study Guide 628
Lakes 596
Asia’s Aral Sea 596
The Loss of Owens Lake 596
Saving Mono Lake 599
Appendices A-1
CHAPTER 18 Exploring with Google Earth 600
Glossary G-1
CHAPTER 18 Study Guide 602
Further Readings FR-1
Indices I-1

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 xv i PREFACE

Preface
Living Physical Geography:
The Big Picture
We are all living physical geography. Weather and climate strongly influence
where we live and the types of crops farmers can grow. Almost half the world’s
population lives within 150 km (93 mi) of the coast, mostly in large cities
situated in bays and estuaries at the mouths of major rivers. Floods and
drought, cold snaps and heat waves, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, soil
development and landslides all influence human beings. Physical geography
is now more relevant to society than ever. Changes in air quality and climate,
losses of habitat and species, soil and water resource demands, and burgeon-
ing renewable energy technologies are all topics that are in the news daily
and are all central to the science of physical geography.
The idea for this book originated with my desire to highlight the relevance
of physical geography to students’ daily lives and to address the most press-
ing environmental and resource issues that people face today. Living Physical
Geography is unique in that it emphasizes how people change, and are changed
by, Earth’s physical systems. This approach creates a student-friendly context
in which to understand Earth systems science and reveals the connections
between Earth and people.
Three major themes are woven throughout this book:

1. Earth is composed of interacting physical systems. The atmosphere,

the biosphere, water, and Earth’s crust are major physical systems that
interact with and affect one another. Energy from the Sun and energy
from Earth’s interior change these systems.

2. Earth is always changing. The physical Earth is in a constant state

of change on many different time scales. The weather changes within
minutes, tides ebb and flow over hours, rivers shift their channels
across centuries, and over millions of years species evolve, mountains
grow and are worn down, and whole continents move.

3. The influence of people is important. Earth’s land surface, atmosphere,

life, and oceans are extensively changed by people. It is not possible to
study modern physical geography without considering the influences
of human activity.

There are other important themes that also provide the foundation for and
enliven the study of physical geography in this book:

Spatial and temporal relationships underpin geographic thinking. Geographers

often ask why things occur where they do and how they change through time.
For example, why do deserts and rainforests occur where they do? How long
have they been in their present locations? How are they changing now? Living
Physical Geography examines Earth’s physical features and processes through
the lens of geographic space and time.

People depend on Earth’s natural resources. From the energy we use, to the
materials in the things we acquire, to the food we eat, people depend on
natural resources from Earth’s physical systems.

People are influenced by physical geography. Volcanic eruptions and earth-

quakes, the development of rich agricultural soils with river flooding, severe

Gervais_FM_i-xxviii+1_hr3_pv3.0.1.indd 16 12/4/14 5:47 PM

 PREFACE xvii

weather and climate change, storm protection of coastal cities by wetlands,

freshwater supplies from groundwater and streams are a few examples of
physical phenomena that influence the lives of people.

Science is driven by people. Scientific inquiry in the Earth sciences is driven by

a fundamental curiosity about how the natural world works.

The Structure of
Living Physical Geography
Living Physical Geography is divided into four main parts, focusing on the at-
mosphere, the biosphere, the building up of the lithosphere, and the wearing
down of the lithosphere. Each part focuses on the flow and work of energy. Solar
energy drives processes in the atmosphere, in the biosphere, and in the wearing
down of the lithosphere. Earth’s internal heat energy drives processes that build
the lithosphere. Figure GT.11 (found on page 12), reprinted here, illustrates the
book’s organization.

PART I PART II
Atmospheric Systems: Weather and Climate The Biosphere and the Geography of Life
Chapter 1 Portrait of the Atmosphere Chapter 7 Patterns of Life: Biogeography
Chapter 2 Seasons and Solar Energy Chapter 8 Climate and Life: Biomes
Chapter 3 Water in the Atmosphere Chapter 9 Soil and Water Resources
Chapter 4 Atmospheric Circulation and Wind Systems Chapter 10 The Living Hydrosphere: Ocean Ecosystems
Chapter 5 The Restless Sky: Storm Systems and El Niño
Chapter 6 The Changing Climate

PART IV PART III

Erosion and Deposition: Sculpting Earth’s Surface Tectonic Systems: Building the Lithosphere
Chapter 15 Weathering and Mass Movement Chapter 11 Earth History, Earth Interior
Chapter 16 Flowing Water: Fluvial Systems Chapter 12 Drifting Continents: Plate Tectonics
Chapter 17 The Work of Ice: The Cryosphere and Glacial Landforms Chapter 13 Building the Crust with Rocks
Chapter 18 Water, Wind, and Time: Desert Landforms Chapter 14 Geohazards: Volcanoes and Earthquakes
Chapter 19 The Work of Waves: Coastal Landforms

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 xv i i i PREFACE

Part I: Atmospheric Systems: Weather and Climate

All meteorological phenomena are powered by the Sun. For example, wind
is solar powered because it derives its energy from the unequal heating of
Earth’s surface by the Sun. Similarly, rainfall is the result of evaporation of
water from the oceans by the Sun.

Part II: The Biosphere and the Geography of Life

Solar energy fuels the biosphere. Life on Earth obtains its energy from the
Sun (with the exception of the organisms around some hydrothermal vents
on land and in the deep ocean). Plants convert solar energy to chemical en-
ergy. When plants are eaten, their chemical energy flows into the organism
consuming them.

Part III: Tectonic Systems: Building the Lithosphere

Earth’s internal heat energy (geothermal energy) lifts, buckles, and breaks
the crust. Earth’s internal heat also creates new rocks and moves the plates
of the lithosphere, forming mountains, valleys, volcanoes, and ocean basins.

Part IV: Erosion and Deposition: Sculpting Earth’s Surface

Solar energy sculpts the lifted crust. Sunlight evaporates water into the at-
mosphere. That water subsequently falls to the ground as precipitation, then
returns to the oceans through flowing streams and flowing glaciers. These
streams and glaciers erode the crust, reducing its height and smoothing it.

Living Physical Geography features discussion of the hydrosphere through-

out the text as it naturally occurs rather than treating it as a separate entity.
For example, water runs through and influences nearly all of Earth’s physical
systems, including the atmosphere, ecosystems and biomes, fluvial and glacial
systems, and the crust’s groundwater. Additionally, Living Physical Geography
devotes an entire chapter to the oceans by examining their physical structure
and the geographic patterns of life found in them.
The contents of this book follow a logical sequence, but each instructor
approaches the discipline in a different way and may present topics in a dif-
ferent order. For this reason, each chapter is largely self-contained and makes
cross-references to key information in other chapters only when needed.

Living Physical Geography: Innovations

Living Physical Geography was written to help instructors teach physical
geography more effectively. In addition to emphasizing the interactions be-
tween physical geography and people, Living Physical Geography offers the
following structural innovations:

• Humidity is covered before atmospheric pressure and wind. The release

of heat energy through condensation drives many atmospheric phe-
nomena and the winds they produce. The wind generated by hurricanes,
for example, is the result of condensation of water vapor into liquid
water in the atmosphere. To understand why a hurricane’s winds are
so strong, it is necessary to first understand the role of water vapor’s
latent heat. In this book, atmospheric weather systems are arranged
by their spatial scales, from localized mountain breezes to the continent-
wide Asian monsoon.

• Köppen climate types are covered alongside biomes. In most physical

geography textbooks, Köppen climate types and biomes are covered in

Gervais_FM_i-xxviii+1_hr3_pv3.0.1.indd 18 12/4/14 5:47 PM

 PREFACE xix

two separate chapters. Living Physical Geography avoids this redundancy

by combining these two compatible topics. In doing so, it establishes
the natural link between climate and biomes and illustrates the inter-
connections of physical geography.

• The theory of plate tectonics undergirds all of Part III. Plate tectonics
is covered before the topics of mountain building and rock formation,
along with geohazards like earthquakes and eruptions, because all these
geophysical phenomena are best contextualized within the paradigm
of plate tectonics.

• Chapter 6, “The Changing Climate,” is devoted to a scientific examina-

tion of climate change. Climate change is perhaps the fastest-moving
topic in physical geography. The material presented in this book rep-
resents the most up-to-date examples, scientific research, and data on
climate. Most students are deeply interested in climate change, and this
chapter helps them to understand the current scientific consensus on
this important topic and develop independent conclusions based on
scientific data.

• Four chapters are devoted to the biosphere. The geography of the bio-
sphere, including life in the oceans, receives extended coverage in Living
Physical Geography.The theme of how people have changed the biosphere
runs throughout Part II, “The Biosphere and the Geography of Life.”

• A full chapter is devoted to the geography of life in the oceans. The

physical and biological oceans are highly relevant to physical geogra-
phy. Recent exploration and discoveries have improved scientific un-
derstanding of marine life, but scientists still know relatively little about
the oceans. Chapter 10, “The Living Hydrosphere: Ocean Ecosystems,”
reflects recent advances in scientific knowledge of marine ecosystems
and an awareness of the most pressing marine environmental issues.

Living Physical Geography Is Written for a Variety

of Ways Students Learn
Living Physical Geography is written to engage students and hold their inter-
est, especially those with little background in the Earth sciences. It uses a
variety of learning tools to accommodate the different ways that students
learn.
The art program and photography support the written text. Many figures
illustrate processes in a step-by-step sequence. Basic geographic concepts,
such as geographic scale and physical systems, are repeatedly developed
throughout the book, reinforcing for students the major themes in physical
geography.

Living Physical Geography Is an Integrated Textbook/

Media Learning Solution
Living Physical Geography is an integrated learning system that combines a
textbook with digital media to enhance the teaching and learning of physical
geography. The following media components are part of this integrated system:

Exploring with Google Earth

Google Earth is an important pedagogical tool in Living Physical Geography.
An “Exploring with Google Earth” activity appears at the end of each chapter.
The .kml files required to complete these activities are available on LaunchPad.

Gervais_FM_i-xxviii+1_hr3_pv3.0.1.indd 19 12/4/14 5:47 PM

 Although they take on many shapes and sizes, extinct
Volcanoes shape Earth’s crust. They can pour cubic most volcanoes can be categorized as either A volcan
kilometers of lava onto Earth’s surface to build new stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, or cinder for tens
islands and landmasses. They form beautiful snow- cones. and can
capped peaks that have inspired humans for gen- A stratovolcano, or composite volcano, is a large, stratov
erations, and they provide nutrient-rich soils that potentially explosive, cone-shaped volcano com- (or com
plants thrive in. Volcanoes can also be extremely posed of alternating layers of lava and pyroclasts. large, p
xx PREFACE dangerous and cause catastrophic loss of human Pyroclasts, or pyroclastic materials, encompass
cone-sh
compos
life. any fragmented solid material that is ejected from layers o
Active volcanoes—those that have erupted in a volcano. Pyroclasts range in size from ash—pul-
pyrocla
the last 10,000 years and could erupt again—pose verized rock particles and solidified droplets of (or pyro
the greatest danger to human life. Volcanoes that lava that form a fine powder—to large boulders. Any frag
have not erupted for 10,000 years or more, but could Stratovolcanoes are the most conspicuous type of that is e
awaken again, are considered dormant or inactive. volcano. Their cones can tower over landscapes, ranging
An extinct volcano is one that has not erupted for as shown in Figure 14.2. large bo
Students benefit from using Google Earth because it familiarizes them ash (vo
tens of thousands of years and can never erupt A shield volcano is a broad, domed volcano
with the spatial relationships of physical andagain.
cultural features of Earth, viv- formed from many layers of fluid basaltic lava Fine vol
consisti
idly illustrating the spatial perspective that is essential to geography. Using particle
droplets
these exercises, students will be able to quickly navigate to and interpret
shield
physical phenomena such as Mount Fuji, the Grand Canyon, the fjords of A broad
Greenland, the sand seas of Algeria, and the glaciers
F I G U R Eof New
1 4. 2 AZealand.
stratovolcano:(Answers
Mount Fuji. (A) The interior structure of a stratovolcano consists formed
basaltic
of a central vent, surrounded by alternating layers of lava flows and pyroclasts. The solidified lava holds the
to the Exploring with Google Earth questions pyroclastic
are available in the Instructor’s
material together, allowing stratovolcanoes to develop steep slopes. Magma travels up from the
Manual.) reservoir (magma chamber) beneath the volcano through the vent, and to the summit crater. (B) Mount Fuji,
an active stratovolcano, has a symmetrical conical profile typical of stratovolcanoes. It reaches a height of
Animations and Videos 3,775 m (12,387 ft). (B. © Takeshi.K/Flickr/Getty Images)
Animations are available for key
­figures throughout the book. The Animation
Stratovolcano
animations show the movement and formation Pyroclasts
http://qrs.ly/s93vzwq
development of select physical geog-
raphy phenomena. For example, the Crater
Mongol

formation of a stratovolcano as it grows

Lava
by adding layers of ash and lava flows Layers of lava China
and pyroclasts
is animated to enhance student learn-
ing of this process. Vent

These animations are accessible

through LaunchPad, where they are
accompanied by questions that as-
sess students’ understanding of the
Magma chamber
concepts. The animations are also
available for immediate access with
a smartphone using QR (Quick
Response) codes that appear next
to the relevant figures.
A B
A library of short videos is also
available. This collection is designed
to support and further develop selected
topics in each chapter. Select videos are conveniently accessible through QR
Gervais_c14_442-476hr10_pv8.0.1.indd 445

codes in each chapter. The complete collection is also available, along with
assessment questions, on LaunchPad.

Learning Tools
The learning tools in Living Physical
Geography have been carefully de-
signed to provide a multimedia, mul-

1
timodal approach to the teaching and

Portrait of learning of physical geography.

Chapter Opener
the Atmosphere with Chapter Outline
© Andy Rouse/naturepl.com/NaturePL

Each chapter begins with a two-page

Chapter Outline image or photo that relates to the con-
1.1 Composition of the Atmosphere tents of the chapter. Each image is
1.2 The Weight of Air: Atmospheric Pressure briefly described, and reference to the
1.3 The Layered Atmosphere appropriate section within the chap-
1.4 Air Pollution ter is provided to stimulate students
1.5 Geographic Perspectives: to seek further information about the
Refrigerators and Life on Earth image. A brief chapter outline allows
the reader to preview the chapter’s
contents.

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 PREFACE xxi

“Living Physical Geography” Questions

LIVING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
The chapter opener also includes a set of “Living Physical
Geography” questions. This feature is designed to stimulate ††What causes seasons?
interest in the chapter material by asking questions that ††Does it snow in Hawai‘i?
students may already have. Each question is repeated at the ††Why are the sky blue and grass green?
place in the chapter where students will find the answer. Brief ††Why does the wind blow?
versions of the answers to each question are provided at the
end of the chapter.

The Big Picture

At the
444beginning of •each
PART III chapter,
TECTONIC a brief BUILDING
SYSTEMS: description
THEinLITHOSPHERE
a color band orients
students to the chapter’s main themes in one or two sentences.

THE BIG PICTURE Earth’s hot interior and its moving crust create
volcanoes and earthquakes. These phenomena shape the surface of the
crust and present hazards for people.

LEARNING
Learning Goals GOALS After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
At the
14.16start
0 of each
¥ PART chapter, aSYSTEMS:
I • ATMOSPHERIC
Describe list
three main of learning
types WEATHER goals
AND
of volcanoes is provided.
CLIMATE
and Each numbered
major landforms associated with each.
section of the chapter begins with a repetition of the relevant learning goal.
14.2 ¥ Explain the hazards volcanoes pose and which geographic areas are most at risk.
These learning goals break each chapter down into manageable units while
14.3
helping ¥BIG
THEinstructors
PICTURE
Explain what
focus The
causes
on Sun’s
the unequal
earthquakes.
learning heatingthat
outcomes of Earth’s surfacetocauses
are important them.
seasonal
14.4 and regional
¥ Describe temperature
the types of seismic differences and by
waves produced global atmospheric
earthquakes, how earthquakes are ranked, and
movement.
whatSunlight provides
can be done a promising
to reduce source of
our vulnerability to clean energy.
earthquakes.
14.5 ¥ Assess the potential links between large PART
volcanic eruptions,
II • THE BIOSPHERE Earth’s
AND THE physical
GEOGRAPHY OF LIFE
224 systems, and people.
LEARNING GOALS After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
2.1 ¥ Explain what causes seasons and give the major characteristics of the four seasons.
THE BIG PICTURE Geographic patterns of life are determined by natural

THE HUMAN SPHERE: Deadly Ocean Waves

2.2 ¥ Understand the difference between temperature factors
and heat.
and by human activities. The biosphere can be organized by flows
2.3 ¥ of energy
Describe Earth’s surface temperature patterns and and matter,
explain what by genetic similarities among organisms, and by
causes them.
2.4 ¥ ecological units of life.
Describe solar energy and its different wavelengths.
2.5 ¥ Explain Earth’s energy budget and why the atmosphere circulates.
JUST BEFORE 8:00 A.M. ONLEARNING
DECEMBERGOALS
26, 2004,
After the seafloor
reading this chapter,off
you the
will becoast
able to: of the island of Sumatra, in
2.6 ¥ Assess the role of sunlight as a clean energy source.
7.1  Identify and explain major geographic patterns of life on Earth.
Indonesia, was thrust upward 5 m (16 ft) in a magnitude 9.1 earthquake. This earthquake was the third stron-
7.2  Discuss factors that limit the geographic ranges of organisms.
gest in recorded history. The movement of organisms
7.3  Explain how the seafloor heaved
expand their an estimated
geographic ranges. 30 km3 (7.2 mi3) of seawater
THE HUMAN SPHERE: People and the Seasons
tsunami
A large ocean wave triggered by an earthquake or other natural
7.4 that
upward, creating a series of waves radiated
Discuss across disturbance
the role of ecological
7.5
the Indian
and Ocean.
the return Such large disturbance.
of life following ocean waves triggered
 Describe three approaches to organizing the biosphere.
disturbance of the ocean floor are called tsunamis.
7.6  Assess the relationship between people and the coconut palm and apply that knowledge to other
E 2.1 Stonehenge. Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, SEASONS organisms
MARK THE RHYTHMS
by people. OF LIFE. For many, spring and
by FIGUR
The anHuman
earthquake Sphere
or other used
England, was built between 3000 and 2000 BCE. The exact purpose summer are traveled
In the open ocean, the waves at nearly the speed of a jetliner
natural disturbance. a time of rebirth and growth, while fall and the harvest What is a tsunami?*
Each chapter
of Stonehenge opens
is uncertain, with
but its(800 areaaligned
stoneskm/h section
or 500 mph),
to mark the but
are they went
times of largely
maturity, undetected
achievement, and thebecause theywork.
reward for hard had a
Atitled
used “The
hazard for
geohazard
changing position
observation
posed
of the Sun across the year, so it most likely was
Human Sphere.”
of theby
to people This(the
wavelength
astronomical seasons. open-
(© Daviddistance
Nunuk/All
Winter brings
between wave THE HUMAN SPHERE: Exotic Invaders
a conclusion
crests) ofandhundreds
rest, and the
ofcycle begins again
kilometers. Thus, the thousands of boats in
Canada Photos/Getty Images) come spring.
ing story briefly explores
the physical Earth. the relation-
the Indian Ocean did not detect the waves as they passed underneath.
The
F IGU seasonal
R E 7.1 A Nile rhythmThe
perch. ofnon-native
the planetNile runs deep in many cultures
NON-NATIVE (or exotic) organisms are those that have been moved outside their
ship between people and a physical atperch has inflicted serious ecological
middle and high latitudes. As the
damage
Many ofwaves
in Lake approached
our activities
original and holidays
geographic rangeshallow
mark water,
by people. Some however,
non-native organisms the wave-
cause eco-
Victoria. It preys on the lake’s native cichlid fish and has
seasonal events. Harvest logical
times and damage
periods by preying on or taking resources in their new ranges from
of significance
phenomenon or process. The key goals
15° W
driven about 300
lengths
0°
cichlid species
decreased
to extinction or near-
and the height of the waves grew up to 15 m
F IGU R E 1 4.1 Banda Aceh. A French military helicopter extinction. Nile perch grow to nearly 2 m (6.5 ft) and can
in many religious festivals are closely
native organisms (those that were there originally). In many areas where non-
linked with seasons.
weigh 200 kg (440 lb).
(50 ft) high in some regions. Some coastal areas even experienced
natives are successful, their natural predators are missing. For example, the Nile
(© Walter Astrada/AFP/Getty Images)

of thisthe
surveys feature are to
destruction illustrate
in Banda the im- on January 14, Are there any connections you can trace between your
Aceh, Indonesia, perch (Lates niloticus) (Figure 7.1), which was inten-

at aboutcultural30 m (100 ft)Earth’s

waves. The waves devastated coastal areas along
Africa the
Northern
2005. The 2004
portance tsunami surged
of people across the
to physical crowded city
geog- United
Ireland upbringing and seasons? tionally brought into Lake Victoria in eastern
in the 1950s as a food resource for local communities,
60 km/h (35 mph), far faster than a person can run.IrelandAbout
Kingdom
170,000 Most locations on Earth’s surface
Indian Ocean, particularly in regions are affected by
has hadnearest the earthquake.
significant negative Most
effects on native fish
raphy and to demonstrate the relevance (© Joel Saget/ meteorological seasons, the changes in temperaturespecies
people died in Banda Aceh on the day of the tsunami. or in the lake.
ATLANTIC Salisbury
of the city of Banda Aceh, on Sumatra (Figure
non-native14.1), was destroyed.
of physical
Images)geography to students’ daily precipitation over the year. Some regions on the planet, Today, species are implicated in ex-
AFP/Getty OCEAN Plain tinctions worldwide. About 50,000 non-native species
such as northern In response
North Americato andthis catastrophe,
Eurasia, experience thehave Indian Ocean Tsunami
lives. Some examples of the Human extreme seasonality. Other regions, such
Warning System, similar to one already active as the lowland
been introduced into the United
States in
Chad
Sudan
the not
(although Pacific Ocean,
all of them are

Sphere topics include air pollution in

South
tropics, experience subtle and almost imperceptible changes over harmful). Among the U.S. states, Hawai‘i
Sudan
Ethiopia

was developed and activated in June of 2006.

the course of the year in temperature and rainfall.
Cell-phone
has a particularly
Democratic
Republic
users
serious problem
Kenya withcan
0°

Wyoming, Asian dust storms, EF5 tor- All locations onaccess a freeastronomical
Earth experience app that seasons,
is connected
changes to the detection
Congo

native
Lake Victoria
non-native organisms. Hawai‘i has no
of the
Tanzania
reptiles (such assystem
snakes andand

nadoes, non-native species, tsunamis,

Angola
Zambia
in the positions of provides the Sun andreal-time stars in the sky through lizards), no native amphibians (such
and the year.
15° N

data warnings. It asisfrogs),

hoped that with this
Mozambique
Zimbabwe
Madagascar
Namibia
no native parrots, no native
The Gregorian calendar is used internationally and coincides closely
weathering on Mount Rushmore, and system in place,
with the changing position of the Sun. As shown in Figure 2.1,
another catastrophic loss of life can be avoided.
ants, and only one native mammal—a
bat. Today, Hawai‘i has many non-native organisms
collecting mammoth remains from some ancient cultures built lasting monuments This chapter
that served focuses
introduced
as on geologic
by people, hazards,
including escaped or geo-
garden plants,
wild pigs, piranhas, game, bass, trout, chickens, rats,
thawing permafrost. calendars to mark key events of the astronomical
China
hazards: hazards seasons. presented to people by the physical
In this chapter we first explore the cause of seasons. We then
examine solar energy, Earth’s energy budget, and
Earth. Examples of geohazards include volcanic erup-
India GEOGRAPHIC
Thailand
global
15° N
patterns. Thetions,
surface temperatureVietnam earthquakes,
Geographic and
PERSPECTIVES tsunamis. We first examine
Perspectives at the end
BAY OF of the chaptervolcano
Cambodia explores the role ofas
types sunlight
well as the behavior of volcanoes
BENGAL
as a means of addressing climate change.
Gervais_c07_221-253hr8_pv4.1.1.indd 224
Malaysia
12/2/14 10:11 AM

and the hazards they present. We next explore earth-

0° Banda Aceh
INDIAN Indonesia
quakes and the dangers they pose for people. Finally,
OCEAN we take a look at the global reach of large volcanic
*Answers to the Living Physical Geography questions are found on page 475.
90° E 105° E 120° E
eruptions and their effects on human societies.
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 xxii PREFACE

CHAPTER 7 • PATTERNS OF LIFE: BIOGEOGRAPHY 247

GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES
7.6 Journey of the Coconut
 Assess the relationship between people and the coconut palm and
apply that knowledge to other organisms used by people.

Many people associate the coconut (Cocos nucifera) FI G U R E 7. 31 Coconut range map. The Pacific variety of coconut palm
with food or with a tropical vacation getaway. The probably originated somewhere in southeastern Asia and spread throughout the
coconut is certainly an important Geographic Perspectives
food, and it is an tropical Pacific and Indian oceans. The Indian variety probably originated in India
icon of tropical paradise. But it also illuminates and spread throughout the Indian and Atlantic oceans.
Each chapter concludes with a section titled “Geographic Perspectives.” These
many fascinating principles of biogeography.
Geographers are interested in sections areare
where things mini-case studies that show students how to think like geogra-
and why they are where they are. phers.
No oneSome
knowstopics explored in the Geographic Perspectives sections are
Original centers
for certain where the coconut palm originated.
renewable wind and solar energy, the functional valueof domestication of plant dispersal,
Today, the tree has a pantropical distribution, mean-
strategies
ing that it is found throughout all to address climate change, the pros and cons of fracking for natu-
coastal tropical
and cons of damsI non

et y
ral gas,
regions. But where did it first evolve? Howthedidpros
it d i a rivers, the consequences of rising sea
n v

ari
come to be spread across the tropics? ari
level, and the importance of soils. Geographic e t y Perspectives encourage critical

nv
Genetic evidence suggests that the coconut palm Pa c i fi c va r i e t y
va r i e t y

Ind i a
thought and
arose some 11 million years ago in the vicinity of assessment in four ways: Pa c i f i c
the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines,
and New Guinea. Wild coconuts were1. By providing context for and developing a broader understanding of
domesticated
by people as they began to grow it as a food thesource;
material presented in the chapter
that is, it was genetically modified by its interactions
with people. Today there are two major 2. varieties
By illustrating
of the connections among seemingly disparate topics within
the coconut palm, indicating that it was domesticated
a chapter and across chapters
in two different areas: once near India, producing
the Indian variety, and once near Indonesia, pro-
3. By providing instructors with self-contained, manageable units that they
ducing the Pacific variety (Figure 7.31).
can use toter,
facilitate theirinteaching
plants disperse a variety of and
ways, stimulate
from being classroom discussion
Coconut Dispersal blown on the wind, to being transported in the
But how did the4. By presenting
coconut a balanced
dis- digestive viewtooffloating
tracts of animals, contemporary
in water. As environmental issues
Why do perse across the tropicalto encourage
oceans showncritical discussion,
in Figure reflection,
7.32, coconuts and independent conclusions
are hydrochores
coconuts float? from where it first arose? As and are well adapted to disperse by floating in
Scientific
we have learned Inquiry
in this chap- water.
Each chapter has a feature titled “Scientific Inquiry” that reveals why scien-
tists do what they do, how they assess what they know, and how they collect
FI G URE 7. 32 The coconut seed. (A) The coconut seed is surrounded by layers of waterproof
andand
barriers: an outer skin, a fibrous husk, interpret
a shell. The scientific data.
inner endosperm, The goal
or “meat,” of sweet
contains this freshwater.
feature is to dispel the percep-
(B) Coconuts can float in salt water for months and still germinate if washed up on a distant beach.
(© Darryl Torckler/The Image Bank/Getty Images)
228 PART II • THE BIOSPHERE AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF LIFE

Skin
F I G U R E 7.4 SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY: How do scientists track animal movement? Different animals require
different means of tracking. GPS is important in many, but not all, tracking methods. (Butterfly, © Will & Deni McIntyre/Photo Researchers/Getty Images;
Husk fish, Eric Orbesen/NOAA Fisheries; goose, © FLPA/Mark Newman/age fotostock; wolf, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildife.)

GPS technology is too heavy Birds and small fish can be fitted
Shell for insects. This simple with GPS archival tags that record
plastic tag is 2% of this data for a year or more. These tags
monarch butterfly’s (Danaus record data such as changing light
Endosperm plexippus) weight. Scientists levels and day length. For birds,
rely on people who find the the tag is glued to the feathers
tagged butterfly to return
and will fall off when the bird
A the tag by mail to theB
molts (replaces its feathers).
address shown on the tag,
These archival tags do not
indicating where and when
the butterfly was captured. transmit information, so the
animal must be recaptured and the
tag must be removed.

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Radio collars used on large mammals

transmit the GPS coordinates of the
moving animals to satellites continuously.
In December 2011, the male offspring of
Pop-Up Satellite Archival Tags (PSATS) are used on large marine this female gray wolf (Canis lupus), also
migratory animals such as sea turtles, seals, whales, and fish. After a radio-collared, was tracked as he entered
set time, the tag detaches from the animal, floats to the surface, and California to become the first known wolf
transmits the data it has recorded to an orbiting satellite. in that state since 1924.

requirements. Before the development of GPS birds in Malaysia and Indonesia. In 1859, Darwin
technology, the migration patterns of many animals and Wallace proposed what would become known
were poorly understood or unknown. Figure 7.4 as the theory of evolution.
details applications of GPS and other techniques
used in tracking animal movement today. Observations That Support the
Theory of Evolution
Patterns of Biodiversity Resulting The theory of evolution is based on three observations:
from Evolution
• First, in nature, more offspring are produced
Gervais_FM_i-xxviii+1_hr3_pv3.0.1.indd 22 Many interesting biogeographic patterns reveal the 12/4/14 5:47 PM
than the environment can support. Because of
underlying process of evolution at work. Evolution
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
 When the passengers were taking their seats, and Ethelberta was
thinking whether she might not after all enter a second-class with
Cornelia instead of sitting solitary in a first because of an old man's
proximity, she heard a shuffling at her elbow, and the next moment
found that he was overtly observing her as if he had not done so in
secret at all. She at once gave him an unsurprised gesture of
recognition. 'I saw you some time ago; what a singular coincidence,'
she said.
'A charming one,' said Lord Mountclere, smiling a half-minute
smile, and making as if he would take his hat off and would not
quite. 'Perhaps we must not call it coincidence entirely,' he
continued; 'my journey, which I have contemplated for some time,
was not fixed this week altogether without a thought of your
presence on the road-hee-hee! Do you go far to-day?'
'As far as Caen,' said Ethelberta.
'Ah! That's the end of my day's journey, too,' said Lord
Mountclere. They parted and took their respective places, Lord
Mountclere choosing a compartment next to the one Ethelberta was
entering, and not, as she had expected, attempting to join her.
Now she had instantly fancied when the viscount was speaking
that there were signs of some departure from his former respectful
manner towards her; and an enigma lay in that. At their earlier
meetings he had never ventured upon a distinct coupling of himself
and herself as he had done in his broad compliment to-day-if
compliment it could be called. She was not sure that he did not
exceed his license in telling her deliberately that he had meant to
hover near her in a private journey which she was taking without
reference to him. She did not object to the act, but to the avowal of
the act; and, being as sensitive as a barometer on signs affecting
her social condition, it darted upon Ethelberta for one little moment
that he might possibly have heard a word or two about her being
nothing more nor less than one of a tribe of thralls; hence his
freedom of manner. Certainly a plain remark of that sort was exactly
what a susceptible peer might be supposed to say to a pretty
woman of far inferior degree. A rapid redness filled her face at the
thought that he might have smiled upon her as upon a domestic
whom he was disposed to chuck under the chin. 'But no,' she said.
'He would never have taken the trouble to follow and meet with me
had he learnt to think me other than a lady. It is extremity of
devotion-that's all.'
It was not Ethelberta's inexperience, but that her conception of
self precluded such an association of ideas, which led her to dismiss
the surmise that his attendance could be inspired by a motive
beyond that of paying her legitimate attentions as a co-ordinate with
him and his in the social field. Even if he only meant flirtation, she
read it as of that sort from which courtship with an eye to
matrimony differs only in degree. Hence, she thought, his interest in
her was not likely, under the ordinary influences of caste feeling, to
continue longer than while he was kept in ignorance of her
consanguinity with a stock proscribed. She sighed at the anticipated
close of her full-feathered towering when her ties and bonds should
be uncovered. She might have seen matters in a different light, and
sighed more. But in the stir of the moment it escaped her thought
that ignorance of her position, and a consequent regard for her as a
woman of good standing, would have prevented his indulgence in
any course which was open to the construction of being
disrespectful.
Valognes, Carentan, Isigny, Bayeux, were passed, and the train
drew up at Caen. Ethelberta's intention had been to stay here for
one night, but having learnt from Lord Mountclere, as previously
described, that this was his destination, she decided to go on. On
turning towards the carriage after a few minutes of promenading at
the Caen station, she was surprised to perceive that Lord
Mountclere, who had alighted as if to leave, was still there.
They spoke again to each other. 'I find I have to go further,' he
suddenly said, when she had chatted with him a little time. And
beckoning to the man who was attending to his baggage, he
directed the things to be again placed in the train.
Time passed, and they changed at the next junction. When
Ethelberta entered a carriage on the branch line to take her seat for
the remainder of the journey, there sat the viscount in the same
division. He explained that he was going to Rouen.
Ethelberta came to a quick resolution. Her audacity, like that of a
child getting nearer and nearer a parent's side, became wonderfully
vigorous as she approached her destination; and though there were
three good hours of travel to Rouen as yet, the heavier part of the
journey was past. At her aunt's would be a safe refuge, play what
pranks she might, and there she would to-morrow meet those
bravest of defenders Sol and Dan, to whom she had sent as much
money as she could conveniently spare towards their expenses, with
directions that they were to come by the most economical route,
and meet her at the house of her aunt, Madame Moulin, previous to
their educational trip to Paris, their own contribution being the value
of the week's work they would have to lose. Thus backed up by Sol
and Dan, her aunt, and Cornelia, Ethelberta felt quite the reverse of
a lonely female persecuted by a wicked lord in a foreign country. 'He
shall pay for his weaknesses, whatever they mean,' she thought;
'and what they mean I will find out at once.'
'I am going to Paris,' she said.
'You cannot to-night, I think.'
'To-morrow, I mean.'
'I should like to go on to-morrow. Perhaps I may. So that there is
a chance of our meeting again.'
'Yes; but I do not leave Rouen till the afternoon. I first shall go to
the cathedral, and drive round the city.'
Lord Mountclere smiled pleasantly. There seemed a sort of
encouragement in her words. Ethelberta's thoughts, however, had
flown at that moment to the approaching situation at her aunt's
hotel: it would be extremely embarrassing if he should go there.
'Where do you stay, Lord Mountclere?' she said.
Thus directly asked, he could not but commit himself to the name
of the hotel he had been accustomed to patronize, which was one in
the upper part of the city.
 'Mine is not that one,' said Ethelberta frigidly.
No further remark was made under this head, and they conversed
for the remainder of the daylight on scenery and other topics, Lord
Mountclere's air of festivity lending him all the qualities of an
agreeable companion. But notwithstanding her resolve, Ethelberta
failed, for that day at least, to make her mind clear upon Lord
Mountclere's intentions. To that end she would have liked first to
know what were the exact limits set by society to conduct under
present conditions, if society had ever set any at all, which was open
to question: since experience had long ago taught her that much
more freedom actually prevails in the communion of the sexes than
is put on paper as etiquette, or admitted in so many words as
correct behaviour. In short, everything turned upon whether he had
learnt of her position when off the platform at Mayfair Hall.
Wearied with these surmises, and the day's travel, she closed her
eyes. And then her enamoured companion more widely opened his,
and traced the beautiful features opposite him. The arch of the
brows-like a slur in music-the droop of the lashes, the meeting of
the lips, and the sweet rotundity of the chin-one by one, and all
together, they were adored, till his heart was like a retort full of
spirits of wine.
It was a warm evening, and when they arrived at their journey's
end distant thunder rolled behind heavy and opaque clouds.
Ethelberta bade adieu to her attentive satellite, called to Cornelia,
and entered a cab; but before they reached the inn the thunder had
increased. Then a cloud cracked into flame behind the iron spire of
the cathedral, showing in relief its black ribs and stanchions, as if
they were the bars of a blazing cresset held on high.
'Ah, we will clamber up there to-morrow,' said Ethelberta.
A wondrous stillness pervaded the streets of the city after this,
though it was not late; and their arrival at M. Moulin's door was
quite an event for the quay. No rain came, as they had expected,
and by the time they halted the western sky had cleared, so that the
newly-lit lamps on the quay, and the evening glow shining over the
river, inwove their harmonious rays as the warp and woof of one
lustrous tissue. Before they had alighted there appeared from the
archway Madame Moulin in person, followed by the servants of the
hotel in a manner signifying that they did not receive a visitor once a
fortnight, though at that moment the clatter of sixty knives, forks,
and tongues was audible through an open window from the
adjoining dining-room, to the great interest of a group of idlers
outside. Ethelberta had not seen her aunt since she last passed
through the town with Lady Petherwin, who then told her that this
landlady was the only respectable relative she seemed to have in the
world.
Aunt Charlotte's face was an English outline filled in with French
shades under the eyes, on the brows, and round the mouth, by the
natural effect of years; she resembled the British hostess as little as
well could be, no point in her causing the slightest suggestion of
drops taken for the stomach's sake. Telling the two young women
she would gladly have met them at the station had she known the
hour of their arrival, she kissed them both without much apparent
notice of a difference in their conditions; indeed, seeming rather to
incline to Cornelia, whose country face and homely style of clothing
may have been more to her mind than Ethelberta's finished
travelling-dress, a class of article to which she appeared to be well
accustomed. Her husband was at this time at the head of the table-
d'hote, and mentioning the fact as an excuse for his non-
appearance, she accompanied them upstairs.
After the strain of keeping up smiles with Lord Mountclere, the
rattle and shaking, and the general excitements of the chase across
the water and along the rail, a face in which she saw a dim reflex of
her mother's was soothing in the extreme, and Ethelberta went up
to the staircase with a feeling of expansive thankfulness. Cornelia
paused to admire the clean court and the small caged birds sleeping
on their perches, the boxes of veronica in bloom, of oleander, and of
tamarisk, which freshened the air of the court and lent a romance to
the lamplight, the cooks in their paper caps and white blouses
appearing at odd moments from an Avernus behind; while the
prompt 'v'la!' of teetotums in mob caps, spinning down the staircase
in answer to the periodic clang of bells, filled her with wonder, and
pricked her conscience with thoughts of how seldom such
transcendent nimbleness was attempted by herself in a part so
nearly similar.
 34. THE HOTEL BEAU SEJOUR AND
SPOTS NEAR IT
The next day, much to Ethelberta's surprise, there was a letter for her
in her mother's up-hill hand. She neglected all the rest of its contents
for the following engrossing sentences:-

'Menlove has wormed everything out of poor Joey, we find, and your
father is much upset about it. She had another quarrel with him, and then
declared she would expose you and us to Mrs. Doncastle and all your friends.
I think that Menlove is the kind of woman who will stick to her word, and
the question for you to consider is, how can you best face out any report of
the truth which she will spread, and contradict the lies that she will add
to it? It appears to me to be a dreadful thing, and so it will probably
appear to you. The worst part will be that your sisters and brothers are
your servants, and that your father is actually engaged in the house where
you dine. I am dreadful afraid that this will be considered a fine joke for
gossips, and will cause no end of laughs in society at your expense. At any
rate, should Menlove spread the report, it would absolutely prevent people
from attending your lectures next season, for they would feel like dupes,
and be angry with theirselves, and you, and all of us.

'The only way out of the muddle that I can see for you is to put some
scheme of marrying into effect as soon as possible, and before these things
are known. Surely by this time, with all your opportunities, you have been
able to strike up an acquaintance with some gentleman or other, so as to
make a suitable match. You see, my dear Berta, marriage is a thing which,
once carried out, fixes you more firm in a position than any personal brains
can do; for as you stand at present, every loose tooth, and every combed-out
hair, and every new wrinkle, and every sleepless night, is so much took away
from your chance for the future, depending as it do upon your skill in
charming. I know that you have had some good offers, so do listen to me,
and warm up the best man of them again a bit, and get him to repeat his
words before your roundness shrinks away, and 'tis too late.

'Mr. Ladywell has called here to see you; it was just after I had heard
that this Menlove might do harm, so I thought I could do no better than send
down word to him that you would much like to see him, and were wondering
sadly why he had not called lately. I gave him your address at Rouen, that
he might find you, if he chose, at once, and be got to propose, since he is
better than nobody. I believe he said, directly Joey gave him the address,
that he was going abroad, and my opinion is that he will come to you,
because of the encouragement I gave him. If so, you must thank me for my
foresight and care for you.

'I heave a sigh of relief sometimes at the thought that I, at any rate,
found a husband before the present man-famine began. Don't refuse him this
time, there's a dear, or, mark my words, you'll have cause to rue it-unless
you have beforehand got engaged to somebody better than he. You will not if
you have not already, for the exposure is sure to come soon.'

'O, this false position!-it is ruining your nature, my too thoughtful

mother! But I will not accept any of them-I'll brazen it out!' said
Ethelberta, throwing the letter wherever it chose to fly, and picking it
up to read again. She stood and thought it all over. 'I must decide to
do something!' was her sigh again; and, feeling an irresistible need
of motion, she put on her things and went out to see what resolve
the morning would bring.
No rain had fallen during the night, and the air was now quiet in a
warm heavy fog, through which old cider-smells, reminding her of
Wessex, occasionally came from narrow streets in the background.
Ethelberta passed up the Rue Grand-Pont into the little dusky Rue
Saint-Romain, behind the cathedral, being driven mechanically along
by the fever and fret of her thoughts. She was about to enter the
building by the transept door, when she saw Lord Mountclere coming
towards her.
Ethelberta felt equal to him, or a dozen such, this morning. The
looming spectres raised by her mother's information, the wearing
sense of being over-weighted in the race, were driving her to a
Hamlet-like fantasticism and defiance of augury; moreover, she was
abroad.
'I am about to ascend to the parapets of the cathedral,' said she,
in answer to a half inquiry.
'I should be delighted to accompany you,' he rejoined, in a
manner as capable of explanation by his knowledge of her secret as
was Ethelberta's manner by her sense of nearing the end of her
maying. But whether this frequent glide into her company was
meant as ephemeral flirtation, to fill the half-hours of his journey, or
whether it meant a serious love-suit-which were the only alternatives
that had occurred to her on the subject-did not trouble her now. 'I
am bound to be civil to so great a lord,' she lightly thought, and
expressing no objection to his presence, she passed with him
through the outbuildings, containing Gothic lumber from the
shadowy pile above, and ascended the stone staircase. Emerging
from its windings, they duly came to the long wooden ladder
suspended in mid-air that led to the parapet of the tower. This being
wide enough for two abreast, she could hardly do otherwise than
wait a moment for the viscount, who up to this point had never
faltered, and who amused her as they went by scraps of his
experience in various countries, which, to do him justice, he told
with vivacity and humour. Thus they reached the end of the flight,
and entered behind a balustrade.
'The prospect will be very lovely from this point when the fog has
blown off,' said Lord Mountclere faintly, for climbing and chattering
at the same time had fairly taken away his breath. He leant against
the masonry to rest himself. 'The air is clearing already; I fancy I
saw a sunbeam or two.'
'It will be lovelier above,' said Ethelberta. 'Let us go to the
platform at the base of the fleche, and wait for a view there.'
'With all my heart,' said her attentive companion.
They passed in at a door and up some more stone steps, which
landed them finally in the upper chamber of the tower. Lord
Mountclere sank on a beam, and asked smilingly if her ambition was
not satisfied with this goal. 'I recollect going to the top some years
ago,' he added, 'and it did not occur to me as being a thing worth
doing a second time. And there was no fog then, either.'
'O,' said Ethelberta, 'it is one of the most splendid things a person
can do! The fog is going fast, and everybody with the least artistic
feeling in the direction of bird's-eye views makes the ascent every
time of coming here.'
'Of course, of course,' said Lord Mountclere. 'And I am only too
happy to go to any height with you.'
'Since you so kindly offer, we will go to the very top of the spire-
up through the fog and into the sunshine,' said Ethelberta.
Lord Mountclere covered a grim misgiving by a gay smile, and
away they went up a ladder admitting to the base of the huge iron
framework above; then they entered upon the regular ascent of the
cage, towards the hoped-for celestial blue, and among breezes
which never descended so low as the town. The journey was
enlivened with more breathless witticisms from Lord Mountclere, till
she stepped ahead of him again; when he asked how many more
steps there were.
She inquired of the man in the blue blouse who accompanied
them. 'Fifty-five,' she returned to Lord Mountclere a moment later.
They went round, and round, and yet around.
'How many are there now?' Lord Mountclere demanded this time
of the man.
'A hundred and ninety, Monsieur,' he said.
'But there were only fifty-five ever so long ago!'
'Two hundred and five, then,' said the man. 'Perhaps the mist
prevented Mademoiselle hearing me distinctly?'
'Never mind: I would follow were there five thousand more, did
Mademoiselle bid me!' said the exhausted nobleman gallantly, in
English.
'Hush!' said Ethelberta, with displeasure.
'He doesn't understand a word,' said Lord Mountclere.
They paced the remainder of their spiral pathway in silence, and
having at last reached the summit, Lord Mountclere sank down on
one of the steps, panting out, 'Dear me, dear me!'
Ethelberta leaned and looked around, and said, 'How
extraordinary this is. It is sky above, below, everywhere.'
He dragged himself together and stepped to her side. They
formed as it were a little world to themselves, being completely
ensphered by the fog, which here was dense as a sea of milk. Below
was neither town, country, nor cathedral-simply whiteness, into
which the iron legs of their gigantic perch faded to nothing.
'We have lost our labour; there is no prospect for you, after all,
Lord Mountclere,' said Ethelberta, turning her eyes upon him. He
looked at her face as if there were, and she continued, 'Listen; I
hear sounds from the town: people's voices, and carts, and dogs,
and the noise of a railway-train. Shall we now descend, and own
ourselves disappointed?'
'Whenever you choose.'
Before they had put their intention in practice there appeared to
be reasons for waiting awhile. Out of the plain of fog beneath, a
stone tooth seemed to be upheaving itself: then another showed
forth. These were the summits of the St. Romain and the Butter
Towers-at the western end of the building. As the fog stratum
collapsed other summits manifested their presence further off-
among them the two spires and lantern of St. Ouen's; when to the
left the dome of St. Madeline's caught a first ray from the peering
sun, under which its scaly surface glittered like a fish. Then the mist
rolled off in earnest, and revealed far beneath them a whole city, its
red, blue, and grey roofs forming a variegated pattern, small and
subdued as that of a pavement in mosaic. Eastward in the spacious
outlook lay the hill of St. Catherine, breaking intrusively into the
large level valley of the Seine; south was the river which had been
the parent of the mist, and the Ile Lacroix, gorgeous in scarlet,
purple, and green. On the western horizon could be dimly discerned
melancholy forests, and further to the right stood the hill and rich
groves of Boisguillaume.
Ethelberta having now done looking around, the descent was
begun and continued without intermission till they came to the
passage behind the parapet.
Ethelberta was about to step airily forward, when there reached
her ear the voices of persons below. She recognized as one of them
the slow unaccented tones of Neigh.
'Please wait a minute!' she said in a peremptory manner of
confusion sufficient to attract Lord Mountclere's attention.
A recollection had sprung to her mind in a moment. She had half
made an appointment with Neigh at her aunt's hotel for this very
week, and here was he in Rouen to keep it. To meet him while
indulging in this vagary with Lord Mountclere-which, now that the
mood it had been engendered by was passing off, she somewhat
regretted-would be the height of imprudence.
'I should like to go round to the other side of the parapet for a few
moments,' she said, with decisive quickness. 'Come with me, Lord
Mountclere.'
They went round to the other side. Here she kept the viscount and
their suisse until she deemed it probable that Neigh had passed by,
when she returned with her companions and descended to the
bottom. They emerged into the Rue Saint-Romain, whereupon a
woman called from the opposite side of the way to their guide,
stating that she had told the other English gentleman that the
English lady had gone into the fleche.
Ethelberta turned and looked up. She could just discern Neigh's
form upon the steps of the fleche above, ascending toilsomely in
search of her.
'What English gentleman could that have been?' said Lord
Mountclere, after paying the man. He spoke in a way which showed
he had not overlooked her confusion. 'It seems that he must have
been searching for us, or rather for you?'
'Only Mr. Neigh,' said Ethelberta. 'He told me he was coming here.
I believe he is waiting for an interview with me.'
'H'm,' said Lord Mountclere.
'Business-only business,' said she.
'Shall I leave you? Perhaps the business is important-most
important.'
'Unfortunately it is.'
'You must forgive me this once: I cannot help-will you give me
permission to make a difficult remark?' said Lord Mountclere, in an
impatient voice.
'With pleasure.'
'Well, then, the business I meant was-an engagement to be
married.'
 Had it been possible for a woman to be perpetually on the alert
she might now have supposed that Lord Mountclere knew all about
her; a mechanical deference must have restrained such an illusion
had he seen her in any other light than that of a distracting slave.
But she answered quietly, 'So did I.'
'But how does he know-dear me, dear me! I beg pardon,' said the
viscount.
She looked at him curiously, as if to imply that he was seriously
out of his reckoning in respect of her if he supposed that he would
be allowed to continue this little play at love-making as long as he
chose, when she was offered the position of wife by a man so good
as Neigh.
They stood in silence side by side till, much to her ease, Cornelia
appeared at the corner waiting. At the last moment he said, in
somewhat agitated tones, and with what appeared to be a renewal
of the respect which had been imperceptibly dropped since they
crossed the Channel, 'I was not aware of your engagement to Mr.
Neigh. I fear I have been acting mistakenly on that account.'
'There is no engagement as yet,' said she.
Lord Mountclere brightened like a child. 'Then may I have a few
words in private-'
'Not now-not to-day,' said Ethelberta, with a certain irritation at
she knew not what. 'Believe me, Lord Mountclere, you are mistaken
in many things. I mean, you think more of me than you ought. A
time will come when you will despise me for this day's work, and it is
madness in you to go further.'
Lord Mountclere, knowing what he did know, may have imagined
what she referred to; but Ethelberta was without the least proof that
he had the key to her humour. 'Well, well, I'll be responsible for the
madness,' he said. 'I know you to be-a famous woman, at all events;
and that's enough. I would say more, but I cannot here. May I call
upon you?'
'Not now.'
'When shall I?'
 'If you must, let it be a month hence at my house in town,' she
said indifferently, the Hamlet mood being still upon her. 'Yes, call
upon us then, and I will tell you everything that may remain to be
told, if you should be inclined to listen. A rumour is afloat which will
undeceive you in much, and depress me to death. And now I will
walk back: pray excuse me.' She entered the street, and joined
Cornelia.
Lord Mountclere paced irregularly along, turned the corner, and
went towards his inn, nearing which his tread grew lighter, till he
scarcely seemed to touch the ground. He became gleeful, and said
to himself, nervously palming his hip with his left hand, as if previous
to plunging it into hot water for some prize: 'Upon my life I've a
good mind! Upon my life I have!. . . . I must make a straightforward
thing of it, and at once; or he will have her. But he shall not, and I
will-hee-hee!'
The fascinated man, screaming inwardly with the excitement,
glee, and agony of his position, entered the hotel, wrote a hasty
note to Ethelberta and despatched it by hand, looked to his dress
and appearance, ordered a carriage, and in a quarter of an hour was
being driven towards the Hotel Beau Sejour, whither his note had
preceded him.
 35. THE HOTEL (continued), AND
THE QUAY IN FRONT
Ethelberta, having arrived there some time earlier, had gone
straight to her aunt, whom she found sitting behind a large ledger in
the office, making up the accounts with her husband, a well-framed
reflective man with a grey beard. M. Moulin bustled, waited for her
remarks and replies, and made much of her in a general way, when
Ethelberta said, what she had wanted to say instantly, 'Has a
gentleman called Mr. Neigh been here?'
'O yes-I think it is Neigh-there's a card upstairs,' replied her aunt.
'I told him you were alone at the cathedral, and I believe he walked
that way. Besides that one, another has come for you-a Mr.
Ladywell, and he is waiting.'
'Not for me?'
'Yes, indeed. I thought he seemed so anxious, under a sort of
assumed calmness, that I recommended him to remain till you came
in.'
'Goodness, aunt; why did you?' Ethelberta said, and thought how
much her mother's sister resembled her mother in doings of that
sort.
'I thought he had some good reason for seeing you. Are these
men intruders, then?'
'O no-a woman who attempts a public career must expect to be
treated as public property: what would be an intrusion on a
domiciled gentlewoman is a tribute to me. You cannot have celebrity
and sex-privilege both.' Thus Ethelberta laughed off the awkward
conjuncture, inwardly deploring the unconscionable maternal
meddling which had led to this, though not resentfully, for she had
too much staunchness of heart to decry a parent's misdirected zeal.
Had the clanship feeling been universally as strong as in the
Chickerel family, the fable of the well-bonded fagot might have
remained unwritten.
Ladywell had sent her a letter about getting his picture of herself
engraved for an illustrated paper, and she had not replied,
considering that she had nothing to do with the matter, her form and
feature having been given in the painting as no portrait at all, but as
those of an ideal. To see him now would be vexatious; and yet it
was chilly and formal to an ungenerous degree to keep aloof from
him, sitting lonely in the same house. 'A few weeks hence,' she
thought, 'when Menlove's disclosures make me ridiculous, he may
slight me as a lackey's girl, an upstart, an adventuress, and hardly
return my bow in the street. Then I may wish I had given him no
personal cause for additional bitterness.' So, putting off the fine lady,
Ethelberta thought she would see Ladywell at once.
Ladywell was unaffectedly glad to meet her; so glad, that
Ethelberta wished heartily, for his sake, there could be warm
friendship between herself and him, as well as all her lovers, without
that insistent courtship-and-marriage question, which sent them all
scattering like leaves in a pestilent blast, at enmity with one another.
She was less pleased when she found that Ladywell, after saying all
there was to say about his painting, gently signified that he had
been misinformed, as he believed, concerning her future intentions,
which had led to his absenting himself entirely from her; the remark
being of course, a natural product of her mother's injudicious
message to him.
She cut him short with terse candour. 'Yes,' she said, 'a false
report is in circulation. I am not yet engaged to be married to any
one, if that is your meaning.'
Ladywell looked cheerful at this frank answer, and said tentatively,
'Am I forgotten?'
'No; you are exactly as you always were in my mind.'
'Then I have been cruelly deceived. I was guided too much by
appearances, and they were very delusive. I am beyond measure
glad I came here to-day. I called at your house and learnt that you
were here; and as I was going out of town, in any indefinite
direction, I settled then to come this way. What a happy idea it was!
To think of you now-and I may be permitted to-'
'Assuredly you may not. How many times I have told you that!'
'But I do not wish for any formal engagement,' said Ladywell
quickly, fearing she might commit herself to some expression of
positive denial, which he could never surmount. 'I'll wait-I'll wait any
length of time. Remember, you have never absolutely forbidden my-
friendship. Will you delay your answer till some time hence, when
you have thoroughly considered; since I fear it may be a hasty one
now?'
'Yes, indeed; it may be hasty.'
'You will delay it?'
'Yes.'
'When shall it be?'
'Say a month hence. I suggest that, because by that time you will
have found an answer in your own mind: strange things may happen
before then. "She shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not
overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them;
then shall she say, I will go and return to my first"-however, that's
no matter.'
'What-did you-?' Ladywell began, altogether bewildered by this.
'It is a passage in Hosea which came to my mind, as possibly
applicable to myself some day,' she answered. 'It was mere impulse.'
'Ha-ha!-a jest-one of your romances broken loose. There is no law
for impulse: that is why I am here.'
Thus fancifully they conversed till the interview concluded. Getting
her to promise that she would see him again, Ladywell retired to a
sitting-room on the same landing, in which he had been writing
letters before she came up. Immediately upon this her aunt, who
began to suspect that something peculiar was in the wind, came to
tell her that Mr. Neigh had been inquiring for her again.
 'Send him in,' said Ethelberta.
Neigh's footsteps approached, and the well-known figure entered.
Ethelberta received him smilingly, for she was getting so used to
awkward juxtapositions that she treated them quite as a natural
situation. She merely hoped that Ladywell would not hear them
talking through the partition.
Neigh scarcely said anything as a beginning: she knew his errand
perfectly; and unaccountable as it was to her, the strange and
unceremonious relationship between them, that had originated in
the peculiar conditions of their first close meeting, was continued
now as usual.
'Have you been able to bestow a thought on the question between
us? I hope so,' said Neigh.
'It is no use,' said Ethelberta. 'Wait a month, and you will not
require an answer. You will not mind speaking low, because of a
person in the next room?'
'Not at all.-Why will that be?'
'I might say; but let us speak of something else.'
'I don't see how we can,' said Neigh brusquely. 'I had no other
reason on earth for calling here. I wished to get the matter settled,
and I could not be satisfied without seeing you. I hate writing on
matters of this sort. In fact I can't do it, and that's why I am here.'
He was still speaking when an attendant entered with a note.

'Will you excuse me one moment?' said Ethelberta, stepping to the window
and opening the missive. It contained these words only, in a scrawl so
full of deformities that she could hardly piece its meaning together:-

'I must see you again to-day unless you absolutely deny yourself to me,
which I shall take as a refusal to meet me any more. I will arrive,
punctually, five minutes after you receive this note. Do pray be alone if
you can, and eternally gratify,-Yours,

'MOUNTCLERE.'

'If anything has happened I shall be pleased to wait,' said Neigh,

seeing her concern when she had closed the note.
 'O no, it is nothing,' said Ethelberta precipitately. 'Yet I think I will
ask you to wait,' she added, not liking to dismiss Neigh in a hurry;
for she was not insensible to his perseverance in seeking her over all
these miles of sea and land; and secondly, she feared that if he were
to leave on the instant he might run into the arms of Lord
Mountclere and Ladywell.
'I shall be only too happy to stay till you are at leisure,' said Neigh,
in the unimpassioned delivery he used whether his meaning were a
trite compliment or the expression of his most earnest feeling.
'I may be rather a long time,' said Ethelberta dubiously.
'My time is yours.'
Ethelberta left the room and hurried to her aunt, exclaiming, 'O,
Aunt Charlotte, I hope you have rooms enough to spare for my
visitors, for they are like the fox, the goose, and the corn, in the
riddle; I cannot leave them together, and I can only be with one at a
time. I want the nicest drawing-room you have for an interview of a
bare two minutes with an old gentleman. I am so sorry this has
happened, but it is not altogether my fault! I only arranged to see
one of them; but the other was sent to me by mother, in a mistake,
and the third met with me on my journey: that's the explanation.
There's the oldest of them just come.'
She looked through the glass partition, and under the arch of the
court-gate, as the wheels of the viscount's carriage were heard
outside. Ethelberta ascended to a room on the first floor, Lord
Mountclere was shown up, and the door closed upon them.
At this time Neigh was very comfortably lounging in an arm-chair
in Ethelberta's room on the second floor. This was a pleasant enough
way of passing the minutes with such a tender interview in prospect;
and as he leant he looked with languid and luxurious interest
through the open casement at the spars and rigging of some luggers
on the Seine, the pillars of the suspension bridge, and the scenery of
the Faubourg St. Sever on the other side of the river. How languid
his interest might ultimately have become there is no knowing; but
there soon arose upon his ear the accents of Ethelberta in low
distinctness from somewhere outside the room.
'Yes; the scene is pleasant to-day,' she said. 'I like a view over a
river.'
'I should think the steamboats are objectionable when they stop
here,' said another person.
Neigh's face closed in to an aspect of perplexity. 'Surely that
cannot be Lord Mountclere?' he muttered.
Had he been certain that Ethelberta was only talking to a stranger,
Neigh would probably have felt their conversation to be no business
of his, much as he might have been surprised to find her giving
audience to another man at such a place. But his impression that the
voice was that of his acquaintance, Lord Mountclere, coupled with
doubts as to its possibility, was enough to lead him to rise from the
chair and put his head out of the window.
Upon a balcony beneath him were the speakers, as he had
suspected-Ethelberta and the viscount.
Looking right and left, he saw projecting from the next window
the head of his friend Ladywell, gazing right and left likewise,
apparently just drawn out by the same voice which had attracted
himself.
'What-you, Neigh!-how strange,' came from Ladywell's lips before
he had time to recollect that great coolness existed between himself
and Neigh on Ethelberta's account, which had led to the reduction of
their intimacy to the most attenuated of nods and good-mornings
ever since the Harlequin-rose incident at Cripplegate.
'Yes; it is rather strange,' said Neigh, with saturnine evenness.
'Still a fellow must be somewhere.'
Each then looked over his window-sill downwards, upon the
speakers who had attracted them thither.
Lord Mountclere uttered something in a low tone which did not
reach the young men; to which Ethelberta replied, 'As I have said,
Lord Mountclere, I cannot give you an answer now. I must consider
what to do with Mr. Neigh and Mr. Ladywell. It is too sudden for me
to decide at once. I could not do so until I have got home to
England, when I will write you a letter, stating frankly my affairs and
those of my relatives. I shall not consider that you have addressed
me on the subject of marriage until, having received my letter, you-'
'Repeat my proposal,' said Lord Mountclere.
'Yes.'
'My dear Mrs. Petherwin, it is as good as repeated! But I have no
right to assume anything you don't wish me to assume, and I will
wait. How long is it that I am to suffer in this uncertainty?'
'A month. By that time I shall have grown weary of my other two
suitors.'
'A month! Really inflexible?'
Ethelberta had returned inside the window, and her answer was
inaudible. Ladywell and Neigh looked up, and their eyes met. Both
had been reluctant to remain where they stood, but they were too
fascinated to instantly retire. Neigh moved now, and Ladywell did
the same. Each saw that the face of his companion was flushed.
'Come in and see me,' said Ladywell quickly, before quite
withdrawing his head. 'I am staying in this room.'
'I will,' said Neigh; and taking his hat he left Ethelberta's
apartment forthwith.
On entering the quarters of his friend he found him seated at a
table whereon writing materials were strewn. They shook hands in
silence, but the meaning in their looks was enough.
'Just let me write a note, Ladywell, and I'm your man,' said Neigh
then, with the freedom of an old acquaintance.
'I was going to do the same thing,' said Ladywell.
Neigh then sat down, and for a minute or two nothing was to be
heard but the scratching of a pair of pens, ending on the one side
with a more boisterous scratch, as the writer shaped 'Eustace
Ladywell,' and on the other with slow firmness in the characters
'Alfred Neigh.'
 'There's for you, my fair one,' said Neigh, closing and directing his
letter.
'Yours is for Mrs. Petherwin? So is mine,' said Ladywell, grasping
the bell-pull. 'Shall I direct it to be put on her table with this one?'
'Thanks.' And the two letters went off to Ethelberta's sitting-room,
which she had vacated to receive Lord Mountclere in an empty one
beneath. Neigh's letter was simply a pleading of a sudden call away
which prevented his waiting till she should return; Ladywell's, though
stating the same reason for leaving, was more of an upbraiding
nature, and might almost have told its reader, were she to take the
trouble to guess, that he knew of the business of Lord Mountclere
with her to-day.
'Now, let us get out of this place,' said Neigh. He proceeded at
once down the stairs, followed by Ladywell, who-settling his account
at the bureau without calling for a bill, and directing his portmanteau
to be sent to the Right-bank railway station-went with Neigh into the
street.
They had not walked fifty yards up the quay when two British
workmen, in holiday costume, who had just turned the corner of the
Rue Jeanne d'Arc, approached them. Seeing him to be an
Englishman, one of the two addressed Neigh, saying, 'Can you tell
us the way, sir, to the Hotel Bold Soldier?'
Neigh pointed out the place he had just come from to the tall
young men, and continued his walk with Ladywell.
Ladywell was the first to break silence. 'I have been considerably
misled, Neigh,' he said; 'and I imagine from what has just happened
that you have been misled too.'
'Just a little,' said Neigh, bringing abstracted lines of meditation
into his face. 'But it was my own fault: for I ought to have known
that these stage and platform women have what they are pleased to
call Bohemianism so thoroughly engrained with their natures that
they are no more constant to usage in their sentiments than they
are in their way of living. Good Lord, to think she has caught old
Mountclere! She is sure to have him if she does not dally with him so
long that he gets cool again.'
'A beautiful creature like her to think of marrying such an
infatuated idiot as he!'
'He can give her a title as well as younger men. It will not be the
first time that such matches have been made.'
'I can't believe it,' said Ladywell vehemently. 'She has too much
poetry in her-too much good sense; her nature is the essence of all
that's romantic. I can't help saying it, though she has treated me
cruelly.'
'She has good looks, certainly. I'll own to that. As for her romance
and good-feeling, that I leave to you. I think she has treated you no
more cruelly, as you call it, than she has me, come to that.'
'She told me she would give me an answer in a month,' said
Ladywell emotionally.
'So she told me,' said Neigh.
'And so she told him,' said Ladywell.
'And I have no doubt she will keep her word to him in her usual
precise manner.'
'But see what she implied to me! I distinctly understood from her
that the answer would be favourable.'
'So did I.'
'So does he.'
'And he is sure to be the one who gets it, since only one of us can.
Well, I wouldn't marry her for love, money, nor-'
'Offspring.'
'Exactly: I would not. "I'll give you an answer in a month"-to all
three of us! For God's sake let's sit down here and have something
to drink.'
They drew up a couple of chairs to one of the tables of a wine-
shop close by, and shouted to the waiter with the vigour of persons
going to the dogs. Here, behind the horizontal-headed trees that
dotted this part of the quay, they sat over their bottles denouncing
womankind till the sun got low down upon the river, and the houses
on the further side began to be toned by a blue mist. At last they
rose from their seats and departed, Neigh to dine and consider his
route, and Ladywell to take the train for Dieppe.
While these incidents had been in progress the two workmen had
found their way into the hotel where Ethelberta was staying. Passing
through the entrance, they stood at gaze in the court, much
perplexed as to the door to be made for; the difficulty was solved by
the appearance of Cornelia, who in expectation of them had been for
the last half-hour leaning over the sill of her bed-room window,
which looked into the interior, amusing herself by watching the
movements to and fro in the court beneath.
After conversing awhile in undertones as if they had no real right
there at all, Cornelia told them she would call their sister, if an old
gentleman who had been to see her were gone again. Cornelia then
ran away, and Sol and Dan stood aloof, till they had seen the old
gentleman alluded to go to the door and drive off, shortly after
which Ethelberta ran down to meet them.
'Whatever have you got as your luggage?' she said, after hearing
a few words about their journey, and looking at a curious object like
a huge extended accordion with bellows of gorgeous-patterned
carpeting.
'Well, I thought to myself,' said Sol, ''tis a terrible bother about
carrying our things. So what did I do but turn to and make a carpet-
bag that would hold all mine and Dan's too. This, you see, Berta, is a
deal top and bottom out of three-quarter stuff, stained and
varnished. Well, then you see I've got carpet sides tacked on with
these brass nails, which make it look very handsome; and so when
my bag is empty 'twill shut up and be only a couple of boards under
yer arm, and when 'tis open it will hold a'most anything you like to
put in it. That portmantle didn't cost more than three half-crowns
altogether, and ten pound wouldn't ha' got anything so strong from a
portmantle maker, would it, Dan?'
 'Well, no.'
'And then you see, Berta,' Sol continued in the same earnest tone,
and further exhibiting the article, 'I've made this trap-door in the top
with hinges and padlock complete, so that-'
'I am afraid it is tiring you after your journey to explain all this to
me,' said Ethelberta gently, noticing that a few Gallic smilers were
gathering round. 'Aunt has found a nice room for you at the top of
the staircase in that corner-"Escalier D" you'll see painted at the
bottom-and when you have been up come across to me at number
thirty-four on this side, and we'll talk about everything.'
'Look here, Sol,' said Dan, who had left his brother and gone on to
the stairs. 'What a rum staircase-the treads all in little blocks, and
painted chocolate, as I am alive!'
'I am afraid I shall not be able to go on to Paris with you, after all,'
Ethelberta continued to Sol. 'Something has just happened which
makes it desirable for me to return at once to England. But I will
write a list of all you are to see, and where you are to go, so that it
will make little difference, I hope.'
Ten minutes before this time Ethelberta had been frankly and
earnestly asked by Lord Mountclere to become his bride; not only so,
but he pressed her to consent to have the ceremony performed
before they returned to England. Ethelberta had unquestionably
been much surprised; and, barring the fact that the viscount was
somewhat ancient in comparison with herself, the temptation to
close with his offer was strong, and would have been felt as such by
any woman in the position of Ethelberta, now a little reckless by
stress of circumstances, and tinged with a bitterness of spirit against
herself and the world generally. But she was experienced enough to
know what heaviness might result from a hasty marriage, entered
into with a mind full of concealments and suppressions which, if told,
were likely to stop the marriage altogether; and after trying to bring
herself to speak of her family and situation to Lord Mountclere as he
stood, a certain caution triumphed, and she concluded that it would
be better to postpone her reply till she could consider which of two
courses it would be advisable to adopt; to write and explain to him,
or to explain nothing and refuse him. The third course, to explain
nothing and hasten the wedding, she rejected without hesitation.
With a pervading sense of her own obligations in forming this
compact it did not occur to her to ask if Lord Mountclere might not
have duties of explanation equally with herself, though bearing
rather on the moral than the social aspects of the case.
Her resolution not to go on to Paris was formed simply because
Lord Mountclere himself was proceeding in that direction, which
might lead to other unseemly rencounters with him had she, too,
persevered in her journey. She accordingly gave Sol and Dan
directions for their guidance to Paris and back, starting herself with
Cornelia the next day to return again to Knollsea, and to decide
finally and for ever what to do in the vexed question at present
agitating her.
Never before in her life had she treated marriage in such a terribly
cool and cynical spirit as she had done that day; she was almost
frightened at herself in thinking of it. How far any known system of
ethics might excuse her on the score of those curious pressures
which had been brought to bear upon her life, or whether it could
excuse her at all, she had no spirit to inquire. English society
appeared a gloomy concretion enough to abide in as she
contemplated it on this journey home; yet, since its gloominess was
less an essential quality than an accident of her point of view, that
point of view she had determined to change.
There lay open to her two directions in which to move. She might
annex herself to the easy-going high by wedding an old nobleman,
or she might join for good and all the easy-going low, by plunging
back to the level of her family, giving up all her ambitions for them,
settling as the wife of a provincial music-master named Julian, with a
little shop of fiddles and flutes, a couple of old pianos, a few sheets
of stale music pinned to a string, and a narrow back parlour, wherein
she would wait for the phenomenon of a customer. And each of
these divergent grooves had its fascinations, till she reflected with
regard to the first that, even though she were a legal and
indisputable Lady Mountclere, she might be despised by my lord's
circle, and left lone and lorn. The intermediate path of accepting
Neigh or Ladywell had no more attractions for her taste than the fact
of disappointing them had qualms for her conscience; and how few
these were may be inferred from her opinion, true or false, that two
words about the spigot on her escutcheon would sweep her lovers'
affections to the antipodes. She had now and then imagined that her
previous intermarriage with the Petherwin family might efface much
besides her surname, but experience proved that the having been
wife for a few weeks to a minor who died in his father's lifetime, did
not weave such a tissue of glory about her course as would resist a
speedy undoing by startling confessions on her station before her
marriage, and her environments now.