140 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



undulation that makes the breaker, and the 

 constant swash of waters on the beach is as the 

 fringe of a cloth flapping in the wind. When 

 great quantities of water (not undulation) are 

 driven in upon the shore by heavy and con- 

 tinued wind, the sea rises and floods all the 

 inlets and marshes ; but in the falling of waves 

 upon the beach there is no rising of the sea. 

 The beach-combers are made up of substantially 

 the same water cast into new forms, new lights, 

 new colors. 



The lateral direction of a reef or beach has 

 little to do with the direction the waves may take. 

 It may retard or cripple their force, but it has 

 slight influence in turning them aside or making 

 them follow another course. There is not 

 enough cohesive body about water to have its 

 course turned except by slow degrees. That 

 which gives the " set onward " of the waves is 

 the prevailing wind, and, once started in a cer- 

 tain direction, the waves run on until broken to 

 pieces against the rocks or the beach. And it 

 is interesting, perhaps, to know that the waves 

 seldom strike the coast or the beach a full 

 broadside. Instead of coming straight on they 

 are usually a little twisted, so that they strike 

 the beach at an angle, and the travel of the 



