334 -THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



tants of the interior of a continent would not be in 

 the least aware of it, nor would they be more 

 sensible of a slow and continuous rise or fall in the 

 level. The seaside inhabitants would, however, 

 recognise it by the obvious change in the level of 

 the sea — the measure of its apparent rise or fall being 

 equal to the actual rise or fall of the soil. 



If Europe, sinking uniformly, laid itself open to 

 tiie invasion of the sea, what would not be the modi- 

 iication of its map after a comparatively short time ? 

 Suppose the whole continent to sink at the rate of 

 some ten yards in a century: at the end of fifty 

 centuries, or 5000 years, the level of the sea would 

 have risen some 500 yards — a result which would 

 cause many rich plains and opulent cities to be 

 engulfed. Paris, with her lofty monuments and 

 her hills, would have disappeared long since ; a forest 

 of marine plants would have covered this beautiful 

 city, and marine animals would have disported them- 

 selves in her streets. The sands and other deposits 

 with which the sea covers its bed, as with a vast 

 curtain, would soon cover up the present scene of 

 such advanced civilisation. Paris would disappear 

 beneath the sea, as Nineveh beneath the sands of the 

 desert. 



But the change in the level of the sea need 

 not be so great for the map of Europe to become 



