416 On the Bed of the German Ocean and British Channel, 



be on the line of coast jn<;t described : accordinglv, the inha- 

 bitants at Flamboroue;h-head, and indeed all along the York- 

 shire coast, are toj often kept in mind of this by the removal of 

 their landu'.aiks and inc'osnies ; and there are many traditions 

 of churches, houses, and whole fields having been overrnn bv the 

 sea in the neighbourhood of Hornsea, Kihisea, and the Spurn- 

 point light-hon:5es on the northern side of the Hnmber. The 

 widely extended mouth of this estuary, and the manner in which 

 it is cimil)ered with sand-banks off the coast at Clea and Salt- 

 fieet in Lincolnshire, and indeed the appearance of the coast all 

 the way to Boston, shows that much of the land has been swal- 

 lowed up or overrun by the sea ; of which there are many stri- 

 king proofs, both of ancient and modern occurrence. 



The same remarks arc also applicable to the great ebb, called 

 the JVash, forming the entrance or navigation to the harbours of 

 Boston and Lynn. Here it would appear that the sea has 

 made a breach through the chalk hills, which are observable on 

 each side of the Wash, in the counties of Lincoln and Norfolk, 

 where it is obvious that the land has at one time extended further 

 into the sea, and is at present undergoing the process of actual 

 waste. Perhaps evidence of this may also be drawn from the 

 works of William of Malmesbury, who represents the whole of 

 the fens of Lincoln to have been in a state of high cultivation in 

 the eleventh century. But certaiidy a most unequivocal proof of 

 •this is atTo'.ded from the discovery of Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. 

 Joseph Correa, mentioned in the S9th volume of the Philoso- 

 phical Transactions, of the remains of a sub-marine forest on 

 this coast, now several fathoms under water, whore the roots, 

 boles, and branches of trees, particularly of the birch, of large 

 size, v>ere discovered. From the account of the fishermen of 

 this coast, these appearances are to be seen for many miles along 

 the shore in the form of a range of small islets: and trees have 

 been often found, the timber of which was so fresh as to be fit 

 for ceconomical purposes. The inhabitants of the country like- 

 wise rejjresent, that at one time the parish-church stood greatly 

 within the present sea-mark, and that the walls of houses, of a 

 former village, have been seen at low ebbs ; and they allege, 

 that even the clock of the present parish church, is the same that 

 wa'i in the church the foundations of which are now overflowed. 

 It seems therefore probable, that the present state of the fen 

 country arises from the encroachments of the sea, occasioned by 

 the silting or filling up to a certain degree of the alveus or bed 

 of the German ocean, rather than from the gradual retreat or 

 subsiding of the waters of the ocean ; and that the sea, not- 

 withstanding some anomalous instances of recession which shall 

 afterwards be noticed, is invariably trenching upon the land. 



rrocet'ding 



