The Sea and Its Work 



weight of water would naturally effect some 

 amount of destruction; but, there is reason to 

 believe that, in most cases, this would be com- 

 paratively slight. It has been already shown 

 that a river erodes its channel, not so much by its 

 own friction,- as by that of the sedimentary 

 matter which it sweeps along in its course. In 

 like manner, the wear and tear of the waves 

 themselves is insignificant compared with that 

 wrought by the boulders and pebbles, the gravel 

 and sand, which they bring to bear upon the 

 coast. Every wave carries, as it were, a number 

 of stone hammers, with which it bruises and 

 batters the cliffs; and, as this action is persist- 

 ently repeated by wave after wave, the hardest 

 rock is at length forced to yield. 



Almost any part of our coast-line will serve to 

 show the destructive effects of the sea. It is 

 true, the action is much less marked in some 

 directions than in others; while, at certain points, 

 the sea may be engaged, not in destroying, but 

 in actually forming land, by deposition of sedi- 

 mentary matter resulting from the destruction 

 of the shore elsewhere. As a rule, however, 

 abundance evidence of marine waste may be 

 seen on any visit to the seaside. Bays and coves 

 may be hollowed out in one part of the coast, 

 and a headland may be worn away in another: 

 here, caves are being excavated in the base of a 

 cliff; there, tunnels are drilled through some 

 projecting rock; while, in many places, wall-like 

 masses are partially detached from the cliffs so as 

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