TUNNELLING UNDER THE SEA. 401 



ocean shore to another, and defy the caprices of the 

 winds and waves. 



But the geologists and engineers of former ages 

 need not despair. We are yet very far from the 

 accomplishment of these marvels. For a long time 

 to come the monsters of the deep will make sport of 

 our telegraphic cables ere they fly before the breath 

 of the locomotive, and the discordant noises of the 

 submarine tunnel. 



In the meantime, as a foreshadowing of what may 

 be anticipated for the distant future, the Thames 

 has been securely tunneled, and there is much talk 

 of plans for cheating the storms of the English 

 Channel by driving a road beneath it from Dover 

 to Calais. It may be thought there is too much 

 bravado in the project, but the Channel is little more 

 than a stream compared with some of the American 

 rivers, and the depth of the water in several points 

 is not more than from 20 to 25 feet. Even were 

 this design accomplished, we should be far indeed 

 from attacking the ocean itself. 



Until, as the skill of our engineers progresses, we 

 lose all dread of anything crushing in our tunnels, 

 the sea will demand innumerable victims, and 

 swallow up many a rich argosy. It would be in- 

 teresting to make an approximative estimate of our 

 gains and losses by the ocean, so as to ascertain on 



2 D 



