ig on MM-"! I II l.l ..KOLOGY PARTI 



though we may have watched it 1- :niliar 



\\itli it under every aspect 



Even more fortunate is the ol>Mt\rt -whoso dwelling 

 lies not only near a river but within reach of the sea. 

 K\en it" the shore be low and sandy, he < an watch the 



I they come tumbling in upon the U-a< 1 

 mark how the colour of the water changes as it drags 

 back the sand in its recoil. The sight of this cea 

 grinding impresses him, as hardly any other scene can 

 do, with the way in which boulders and gravel are 

 reduced to the state of sand and spread over tin- 

 floor, there to lay the foundations of the land of future ages. 

 But should the coast be rocky, he may congratulate himself 

 on having l>een placed in a kind of geological paradise. 

 Scarcely anywhere else will he meet with the same facilities 

 for observation. The beach serves as a platform on which 

 the rocks are exposed for his study, and which is 

 clean for him twice every day by the tides. He may devote 

 himself to the investigation of the rocks themselves, their 

 contents and history, or he may observe the way in which 

 they yield to the attacks made upon them by the sea on one 

 side, and by the air, rain, frost, and springs on the other. 



We may conclude, therefore, that there must IK 

 few parts of the world where some kind of field-geology 

 cannot be pursued. If the beginner who has read enough 

 in the science to make him desirous of becoming hi 

 an observer, finds it hopelessly impossible to extract any 

 information or interest from his surroundings, ru 

 probably be right in suspecting that the fault lies in himself, 

 rather than in them. Perhaps the chapters which follow 

 may suggest some method of overcoming his difficulty. 



