THE SEA AND ITS SFOlLS. 241 



in digging their roads, canals, and tunnels, study the 

 deposits now in course of actual formation, whilst coral 

 reefs, sponges, and oyster-banks will cover the edifices 

 of which we are now so proud. 



Without descending to any great depth, we may 

 see even near the surface and the coast, in the midst 

 of reefs which seem to permit man to penetrate the 

 oceanic waste but to forbid his return, submarine life 

 conspire with the waters to bury out of sight the 

 evidences of the destruction they have wrought. 

 The nations would be rich if the sea did not levy a 

 heavy tribute upon them. But the sea only corrodes 

 and wastes the spoil it seizes ; the abundance of 

 oceanic life engulfs it a second time. Molluscs, bar- 

 nacles, and seaweed very readily attach themselves 

 to bodies plunged into the sea. Ships which make 

 long voyages sometimes become loaded with so enor- 

 mous a cargo of shells and barnacles, that they re- 

 semble floating aquarii, and lose much of their speed. 

 The work of the sea is incessant. Every hour, every 

 minute, adds to the thickness of the covering with 

 which she conceals her thefts ; and so long as tht? 

 methods of search remain as imperfect as they are at 

 present, we must be content if we recover occasion- 

 ally such fragments only as this fascinating monster 

 is willing to render up. 



We are prevented by a variety of causes from 



R 



