230 TEE BOTTOM OF THE iSEA. 



feeble hold of the soil or roci^s. This madness of 

 the ocean is man's gain. On the various coasts, and 

 especially in the bays of the ocean, he collects the 

 seaweed which is thrown ashore by each tempest, 

 and even by every tide, in quantities which may be 

 called incalculable, and yet the supply seems never 

 to diminish. There are bays in w hich 30,000 people 

 are sometimes occupied in gathering this spoil. 



Seaweed makes very bad fuel, but it is occasionally 

 used for firing. Its most important use is as manure, 

 or as the raw material of soda, which is extracted 

 from its ashes. A still more curious application of 

 it is made by the Dutch, who use seaweed in con- 

 structing the dams which preserve their lands from 

 the inroads of the sea: thus the ocean itself fur- 

 nishes the materials which are to be opposed to it 

 as an obstacle. Alas! we know too well that the 

 (courageous efforts of the inhabitants of the country 

 must at last fail, and that the sea will again assert 

 its dominion over the earth and the ephemeral works 

 of man ! 



