234 HISTORY OF 



pests, it is no small obstacle that can confine 

 its rage ; and for this reason we see the boldest 

 shores projected against the deepest waters ; all 

 less impediments having long before been sur- 

 mounted and washed away. Perhaps, of all the 

 shores in the world, there is not one so high as 

 that on the west of St Kilda, which, upon a late 

 admeasurement,* was found to be six hundred 

 fathom perpendicular above the surface of the 

 sea. Here, also, the sea is deep, turbulent, and 

 stormy ; so that it requires great force in the 

 shore to oppose its violence. In many parts of 

 the world, and particularly upon the coasts of 

 the East Indies, the shores, though not high 

 above water, are generally very deep, and conse- 

 quently the waves roll against the land with great 

 weight and irregularity. This rising of the waves 

 against the shore, is called by mariners, the surf 

 of the sea ; and in shipwrecks is generally fatal 

 to such as attempt to swim on shore. In this 

 case, no dexterity in the swimmer, no float he 

 can use, neither swimming girdle nor cork jacket 

 will save him ; the weight of the superincumbent 

 waves break upon him at once, and crushes him 

 with certain ruin. Some few of the natives, how- 

 ever, have the art of swimming and navigating 

 their little boats near those shores, where an Eu- 

 ropean is sure of instant destruction. 



In places where the force of the sea is less vio- 

 lent, or its tides less rapid, the shores are gene- 

 rally seen to descend with a more gradual decli- 



* Description of St Kilda. 



