BABBLING BEACHES 



" By the wisdom of Nature it has been appointed that more 

 pleasure may be taken in small things than in great." — Ruskin. 



On a breezy day, when the sun scorches the sand and 

 the wind continuoush' sweeps off the dry surface, and 

 your ears detect the musical sound accompanying the 

 process — vague as the visible part of it is blurred and 

 misty — then it is that you are made aware of the 

 agencies by which time creates geographical differences. 

 Precipitated at the apex of the spit, the sand as it sinks 

 tints the verge of the sea, while the lighter spoil, leaves 

 and wisps of seaweed, trip off on independent voyage. 

 The current from the south pares the spit, preserving 

 its shapeliness. The ebb from the bay maintains the 

 fluent inner curve. The dry wind, the current with its 

 northerly set, and the ebb in conjunction, push the spit 

 to the north, and as the sand advances, vegetation 

 consolidates the work. Then comes the season of 

 northerly winds, when the apex of the spit is forced 

 backwards and outwards into a brief but graceful 

 flourish, in the bight of which small boats may nestle, 

 though the seas roar and show white teeth a few yards 

 awa3^ Since the winds of the north are less in duration 

 and persistency than those from the south and east, 

 the tendenc}^ of the spit — in defiance of the yearly set- 

 back — is to the north. Driftwood, logs, and huge trees 

 T^ith bare, branchless limbs become stranded, to dry 



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