J']0 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



lefs. Dampier, an Englifh Navigator, has, indeed, 

 obferved, that Seas which wafli fteep coafts are 

 much deeper ; and that along flat fhores their 

 depth is fmall; but this flriking difference is uni- 

 verfally obfervable, that along flat coafts, the bed 

 of the Sea is much more inclined than the foil of 

 the adjoining Continent, and that along high lands, 

 fometimes, no bottom is to be found. 



This clearly demonftrates, therefore, that the 

 beds of the Seas were hollowed out exprefsly to 

 contain them. The declivity of their excavations 

 has been regulated by laws infinitely wife; for if 

 it were the fame with that of the adjacent Lands, 

 the billows of the Sea, whenever the wind blew to- 

 ward the fliore, however lightly, would confider- 

 ably encroach on -the Land. This aAually hap- 

 pens in the cafe of ftorms and extraordinary tides, 

 the waves overflow their ufual bounds; for then, 

 meeting a declivity fiat and gentle, compared to 

 that of their bed, they fometimes inundate the 

 Land to the diflance of feveral leagues. This hap- 

 pens, from time to time, in the ifland of Formofa, 

 the natural ramparts of which, fuch as the man- 

 glier, the inhabitants, it is probable, formerly de- 

 llroyed. Holland, for nearly a fimilar reafon, is 

 expofed to inundations, becaufe it has encroached 

 on the very bed of the Sea, 



It 



