THE BUILDING OF THE EARTH 



sea : so have some of the inner fortifications : and it has 

 been necessary to dismantle the whole of this fort lest 

 every part of even the inner landward wall should follow 

 the outer parts and slip with the solid ground down the 

 cliff. It is easy to see what is happening here. The wind 

 and the waves are undermining and honeycombing the 

 cliff. They are weakening its base and its body, and so 

 the upper crust on which the fort was built, and into 

 which its foundations were dug, is slipping away. If we 

 imagine for a moment that nothing was done to save the 

 fort or protect the cliff, but that all was left to nature to 

 deal with, it would not be hard to picture what would 

 happen. The cliff would gradually be eaten away : its 

 gravel and clay would be drawn into the sea, and the 

 Isle of Wight would become a little smaller. The same 

 thing is going on at a good many places along the coast 

 of the British Isles, as well as on the coast of Florida and 

 in the Gulf of California in America. 



The little islet of Heligoland in the North Sea, which 

 once belonged to Great Britain, but was some years ago 

 handed over to Germany, is so fiercely attacked by the 

 sea in this way, that it almost has to be armour-plated 

 in order to preserve its integrity. It is fenced in stone 

 in order to protect it. What is happening on the coasts 

 of islands like England and Heligoland is happening all 

 over the world. It has always happened. If it had not 

 happened in past ages there would be no British Isles at 

 all, because once England and Scotland and Ireland were 

 joined to Europe, and it would have been possible to walk 

 across the .North Sea from Harwich to the Hook of 



