THE USEFULNESS OF EARTHQUAKES. 239 



once towns of note upon the Humber, are now only 

 recorded in history ; and Ilavensperg was at one time 

 a rival of Hull, and a port so very considerable in 

 134:2, that Edward Baliol and the confederated Eng- 

 lish barons sailed from hence to invade Scotland ; and 

 Henry IY., in 1399, made choice of this port to land 

 at, to effect the deposal of Richard II. ; yet the whole 

 of this has since been devoured by the merciless 

 ocean ; extensive sands, dry at low water, are to be 

 seen in their stead." The same writer also describes 

 Spurn Point as shaped like a sickle, and the land to 

 the north, he says, was " perpetually preyed on by the 

 fury of the German Sea, which devours whole acres at 

 a time." 



The decay of the shores of Norfolk and Suffolk 

 is also remarkably rapid. Sir Charles Lyell relates 

 some facts which throw an interesting light on the 

 ravages which the sea commits upon the land here. 

 It was computed that when a certain inn was built at 

 Sherringham, seventy years would pass before the sea 

 could reach the spot ; " the mean loss of land being 

 calculated from previous observations to be somewhat 

 less than one yard annually." But no allowance had 

 been made for the fact that the ground sloped from the 

 sea. In consequence of this peculiarity, the waste be- 

 came greater and greater every year as the cliff grew 

 lower. " Between the years 1824 and 1829, no less 

 than seventeen yards were swept away ; " and when 



