and on (he EncroQcliment<i of the Sea on the Land. 415 



attention to the coast of England, which, with tlie opposite 

 tiljores of Holland and Fiance, form the ai)ioes of the German 

 Of-ean and the; British Channel. Fiom the more soft and yield- 

 ing matters of svhicli these shores are formed, jjarticularly thase 

 of Englnnd, which are at the same time exposed to the violent 

 attacks of the sea in storms from the north-east and south- 

 western directions, the uastini'; efiects of the sea are altogether 

 so verv remarkable, that it. may in general be affirmed that these 

 shores are in a prngiessive state of waste. Beginning with the 

 porth-ea>tern coast, examples of thi", will s'.iggest themselves to 

 the recollection of those who arc accjuainted with the shores of 

 Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire ; us at Holy Island, 

 for exaiuplc, and the shores near Bamhorongli Castle, where 

 the sea has n^ade considera!)le inroads upon the land, in the re- 

 collection of the ])resent inhabitants of that neighbourhood. 

 Tvnemouth Castle, situated at the entrance of the river Tyne, 

 which now in a manner overhangs the sea, had formerly a con- 

 siderable extent of land beyond it. Tyncmonth head, being 

 composed of a soft sand-stone, is gradually worn away by the 

 action of the sea and the effects of the weather ; and every sea- 

 son f:UIs down in such quantities, that the degradation is quite 

 observable to tlie inhabitants of the town of Tynemouth. Upow 

 the southern side of the entrance to the river Tyne many acres 

 of land have been washed away from the extensive el)l» called 

 the Middens ; and the same has haj)pened along the whole shores 

 of the countv of Durham, particularly between the rivers Tyne 

 and Weir, where the coast is chiefly composed of a soft friable 

 limestone : and indeed the land is obviously in a state of waste 

 all the way to the Tees. On the sovithern side of the great 

 sand -i)aid<s, forming the mouth of the Tees, we enter upon the 

 coast of Yorkshire, which extends to the estuary of the river 

 {lumber, being upwards of a hundred miles. This coast consist* 

 chiefly of sandstone and chalk-hills, and exposes a precipitotw 

 face to the sea, which is acting upon it, and in many places pro- 

 ducing its rapid destruction : — of this many examples are fa- 

 miliar to tho're on the spot, particularly in t\\c neighbourhood of 

 Whitl)vand Scarborougli. For a few miles ijoth on the northern 

 and southern side of Flamborough-head lighthouse, the section 

 of the coast is almost p>erpendicular, and consists of chalk inter- 

 mixed with portions of clay. At the eastern extremitv, or pitch 

 of the head, the chalky cliif is about seventy feet in heiglit : from 

 tliis point the coast declines all the way to the town of Bridling- 

 ton, and from thence to Dimblcington cliff, near the entrance to 

 the Humber, it is a low sandy shore. From what has been already 

 stated of the effects of the sea upon the hard or more compact 

 «hores of Scotland, it is easy to imagine what its operation must 



be 



