646 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



is raised above the deep bottom of the open North Sea, 

 very much like a high table-land. In this table-land 

 valleys, varying in depth and width, have been cut out 

 between the islands and the mainland. At high water the 

 entire floor is covered, but at the end of the ebb tide very 

 much of this table-land lies dry above the surface of the sea. 

 These stretches of sea-bottom which thus become dry are 

 termed " Watten ' : (plains or flats), and from these 

 " Watten " this archipelago has received the name of 

 "Wattenmeer" (sea-flats). The water, which during the 

 ebb tide runs off from the flats, flows in both shallow and 

 deep channels, called by the sailors " Leien " and " Tiefen," 

 partly in a northerly, partly in a southerly direction, into 

 the open sea, until the incoming flood-tide, which flows in 

 from both sides twice daily, stops the ebbing water and 

 turns it back. The water now rises once more. The 

 Leien and Tiefen can no longer hold it, and it pours over 

 their banks and over the flats, finally flooding them to such 

 a depth that small vessels can pass over places where only 

 a few hours before men and waggons might travel with 

 perfect safety. 



. Along the entire German coast, from Rom 

 in the north, upon the Danish border, to Borkum in the 

 west, near the islands of Holland, the sea is of a similar 

 character. Thus, before the mouth of the Elbe, from 

 Cuxhafen to the island of Neuwerk, the sea-bottom is laid 

 bare with every ebbing of the tide, for a breadth of 7 to 8 

 kilometers. At such times one can reach the island on 

 foot, on horseback, or with a waggon. In passing over 

 this flat one finds himself at such times on a level with the 

 sails of vessels which are passing by upon the sea, and 

 along the border of the retreating waters and the emerging 

 sea-bottom one sees scattered flocks of sea-birds hunting 



