138 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



higher wave been known. It is only by forc- 

 ing water on a coast or through a channel that 

 great height is attained. The fifty feet of tide 

 that rises so rapidly in the narrow, wedge- 

 shaped Bay of Fundy is an analogous illustra- 

 tion. 



The beach-comber, as it conies in upon the 

 sloping sand, is somewhat tame compared with 

 the rocky coast-breaker. It rises and falls with 

 more apparent regularity. As it rises, a long 

 line of light may be seen shining beneath the 

 top, and the already curling crest seems hurry- 

 ing down to meet it. Just at this time the 

 wave shows its greatest beauty of color. The 

 foam of the top is half water, half air, and is 

 bluish-white, while the green and dark-blue of 

 the wave are the more transparent for the light 

 shot through the thin concave of water. The 

 glassy curve shows for a moment a whirling 

 panorama of beach, sun, and sky ; the base of 

 the wave swings back and under, the crest 

 swings over, and in another moment the whole 

 structure has broken in a froth of foam on 

 the shore. 



If the beach is sandy and quite flat the 

 broken wave pushes its waters in a gentle flood 

 upward and outward in rings and half-circles, 



