FISHING-GROUNDS 61 



but a little further north, will cross the Great Fisher 

 Bank, which lies in some 38 fathoms of water, and 

 touches the edge of the depression. 



To remember these three sections is to remember the 

 topography of the 134,000 square miles of the North Sea. 

 Let us take the Dogger as a centre. To the south, below 

 an imaginary line drawn from Flamboro' Head and the 

 north of Denmark, all soundings, except those of the 

 Silver Pit, are less than 25 fathoms. There are numerous 

 banks ; on the English side the Sole-pit, the Dowsing- 

 well, Goodwin Sands, the Brown Ridge, &c. ; on the 

 Dutch and Belgian side the Sandetti, the Rujtingen, and 

 the Thornton ; on the Prussian side the Schwartze-Bank, 

 the Borkun-Riff, and the Heligoland-Rucht. To the 

 north of the Dogger, or above the same imaginary line, 

 the depth varies from 25 to 80 and 100 fathoms, without 

 counting the Norwegian dike. Towards the east is the 

 Little Fisher Bank ; towards the north-east is the Great 

 Fisher Bank; towards the north-west is the Long Forties, 

 the Outer Pit of Montrose, &c. 



The Dogger and its northern region belong to the in- 

 shore district. There is sand almost everywhere. Gravels 

 and broken shells mark on the sea-floor the direction of 

 powerful currents. Mud and slime lie in fan-shaped 

 stretches around the estuaries, as well as in the fjords and 

 firths. They are found mixed plentifully with sand in 

 the Danish lagoons ; in Staveningfjord and Lumfjord. 

 The off-shore region is rich in mud, especially the Nor- 

 wegian dike. I need not repeat the general description 

 of the continental plateau ; I refer the reader to that 

 already given. 



IV 



The Banks of Newfoundland are a fluvial formation 

 resting on the American continental plateau. This 



