THE HUMAN SPECIES. 81 



northward, undermining, in its passage, the sea wall, 

 formed of enormous stones, at the port of Caesarea; 

 but farther on, completing, with the sands of Egypt, 

 Alexander's work, at the isthmus of Tyre. Next, at 

 the Colpian Gulf, the foot of Cilician Taurus again 

 turns the current, which now forced in a direction to 

 the west, is broken into several devious branches by 

 Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, the Egean Islands, Sicily, the 

 Peloponnesus, and Italy ; but still, not so entirely, but 

 that it is again recognized in the Tyrhenian Sea, and 

 thence sweeping the deposits of the Rhone along the 

 coast of Gaul ; and, finally, allowing the unevaporated 

 portion to pass out at Calpe, or to resume again a new 

 circular course. * 



* It is the enormous evaporation and the very scanty 

 supply of river water in the Mediterranean, that causes its 

 waters to be deemed even more salt than the ocean. The 

 direction of its currents is traced by the species of fishes, 

 periodically entering the straits, from the west coast of 

 Africa, and in those that remain permanently, either in 

 shore, in soundings, or beyond them. 



