GEOGRAPHY. 



67 



ed the Northern, Southern, and Indian 

 oceans. When its waters penetrate into the 

 land, they form what are called gulfs, and medi 

 terranean seas. But without following it 

 through all its windings and divisions, I shall 

 state a few general facts. 



With regard to the depth of this body of 

 water, no certain conclusions have yet been 

 formed. Beyond a certain depth, it has hitherto 

 been found unfathomable. We know, in gene 

 ral, that the depth of the sea increases gradually 

 as wp leave the shore ; but we have reason to 

 believe that this increase of depth continues 

 only to a certain distance. The numerous 

 islands scattered every where through the ocean, 

 demonstrate, that the bottom of the waters, so 

 far from uniformly sinking, sometimes rises 

 into lofty mountains. It is highly probable, that 

 the depth of the sea is somewhat in proportion 

 to the elevation of the land ; for there is some 

 reason to conclude, that the present bed of the 

 ocean formed the inhabited part of the ancient 

 world, previous to the general deluge, and that 

 we are now occupying the bed of the former 

 ocean ; and, if so, its greatest depth will not ex 

 ceed four or five miles ; for there is no moun 

 tain that rises higher above the level of the sea. 

 But the sea has never been actually sounded to 

 a greater depth than a mile and sixty-six feet. 

 Along the coast its depth has always been found 

 proportioned to the height of the shore ; where 

 the coast is high and mountainous, the sea that 

 washes it is deep ; but where the coast is low, 

 the water is shallow. To calculate the quantity 

 of water it contains, we must therefore suppose 

 a medium depth. If we reckon its average 

 depth at two miles, it will contain 296 millions 

 of cubical miles of water. We shall have a 

 more specific idea of this enormous mass of 

 water, if we consider, that it is sufficient to 

 cover the whole globe, to the height of more than 

 eight thousand feet ; and if this water were 

 reduced tc one spherical mass, it would form a 

 globe of more than 800 miles in diameter. 



With regard to its bottom As the sea covers 

 so great a part of the globe, we should, no doubt, 

 by exploring its interior recesses, discover a vast 

 number of interesting objects. So far as the 

 bed of the ocean has been explored, it is found 

 to bear a great resemblance to the surface of the 

 dry land ; being, like it, full of plains, caverns, 

 rocks, and mountains, some of which are abrupt 

 and almost perpendicular, while others rise with 

 a gentle acclivity, and sometimes tower above 

 the water, and form islands. The materials, 

 too, which compose the bottom of the sea, are 

 the same which form the basis of the dry land. 

 It also resembles the land in another remarkable 

 particular ; many fresh springs, and even rivers, 

 rise out of it ; an instance of which appears 

 near Goa, on the western coast of Hindostan, 

 and ia the Mediterranean sea, not far from 

 37 



Marseilles. The sea sometimes assumes dif 

 ferent colour*. The materials which compose 

 its bottom causo it to reflect different hues ia 

 different places ; and its appearance is also 

 affected by the winds and by the sun, while the 

 clouds that pass over it communicate all their 

 varied and fleeting colours. When the sun 

 shines, it is green ; when he gleams through a 

 fog, it is yellow ; near the poles, it is black , 

 while, in the torrid zone, its colour is often 

 brown; and, on certain occasions, it assumes 

 a luminous appearance, as if sparkling with 

 fire. 



The ocean has three kinds of motion. The 

 first is that undulation which is produced by the 

 wind, and which is entirely confined to its sur 

 face. It is now ascertained that this motion 

 can be destroyed, and its surface rendered 

 smooth, by throwing oil upon its waves. The 

 second motion is, that continual tendency which 

 the whole water in the sea has towards the 

 west, which is greater near the equator than 

 towards the poles. It begins on the west side 

 of America, where it is moderate ; but as 

 the waters advance westward, their motion is 

 accelerated ; and, after having traversed the 

 globe, they return, and strike with great vio 

 lence on the eastern shore of America. Being 

 stopped by that continent, they rush, with impe 

 tuosity, into the Gulf of Mexico, thence they 

 proceed along the coast of North America, till 

 they come to the south side of the great bank 

 of Newfoundland, when they turn off and run 

 down through the Western Isles. This motion 

 is most probably owing to the diurnal revolu 

 tion of the earth on its axis, which is in a direc 

 tion contrary to the motion of the sea. The 

 third motion of the sea is the tide, which is a 

 regular swell of the ocean every 12^ hours. 

 The motion is now ascertained to be owing to 

 the attractive influence of the moon, and also 

 partly to that of the sun. There is always a 

 flux and reflux at the same time, in two parts 

 of the globe, and these are opposite to each 

 other ; so that when our antipodes have high 

 water we have the same. When the attractive 

 powers of the sun and moon act in the same 

 direction, which happens at the time of new and 

 full moon, we have the highest, or spring tides; 

 but when their attraction is opposed to each 

 other, which happens at the quarters, we have 

 the lowest, or neap tides. 



Such is the ocean, a most stupendous scene 

 of Omnipotence, which forms the most magnifi 

 cent feature of the globe we inhabit. When 

 we stand on the seashore, and cast our eyes 

 over the expanse of waters, till the sky and the 

 waves seem to mingle, all that the eye can take 

 in at one survey, is but an inconsiderable speck, 

 less than the hundred-thousandth part of the 

 whole of this vast abyss. If every drop of 

 water can be divided into 26 millions of distinct 



