248 



NATURE FOK ITS OWN SAKE 



Livable 

 lands. 



The 



marshes. 



heaval of a low-lying shore or by the gain of silt 

 washed down to the shore by the rivers some- 

 thing won from the sea either by upheaval or 

 accretion. Holland is an exceptional illustra- 

 tion of a marine plain reclaimed from the sea 

 by human ingenuity aiding the favorable drift 

 of sand into dunes along the coast ; the State of 

 New Jersey, or at least a part of it, is an illus- 

 tration of a gradual upheaval that has placed 

 the plain above sea-level. I do not know the 

 geological formation of the east coast of Eng- 

 land, but I suppose it to be a plain similar in 

 origin to that of New Jersey. These tracts now 

 lie above inundation, and are broken by low 

 hills, stretches of meadow and timber, and slow- 

 winding streams. They make the arable and 

 the livable portions of the globe, and in many re- 

 spects they are the most picturesque portions. 

 The flat horizon lines, the great sky depths, the 

 feeling of space, the expanse of light and color 

 in the sky, are all features that are not im- 

 pressive at first, but soon become attractive and 

 finally most lovable. 



The lands subject to flooding by high tides 

 (perhaps the coastal plains of the future, now in 

 process of formation), called marshes and mead- 

 ows, are common enough along every coast 



