BATTLE OF SEA AND LAND 169 



winds and grass and weeds take root, the sand 

 may become bound and held together by the 

 growing vegetation and in time will resist the 

 action of the wind and will form solid valu- 

 able land. In many places vast areas of land 

 have been thus formed and men build houses 

 and cultivate their crops where, in former 

 years, the sea held full sway and ships an- 

 chored and fishermen plied their calling. 



In other spots the sea has cut deep into the 

 sandy shores and to-day there are deep bays 

 and broad harbours where in former times 

 forests of pine and cedar grew and villages 

 stood upon the sandy soil. 



On rocky shores the wind has little effect, 

 but the resistless waves wear away the cliffs, 

 gradually undermining great masses which 

 fall to the beach below and are broken into 

 bits and worn smooth and round by the action 

 of the waves. In such places the ice aids the 

 sea, for great blocks of ice dashed against the 

 cliffs act like titanic hammers, and the water, 

 penetrating the crevices of the rocks and 

 freezing, forces the solid cliffs apart like blasts 

 of dynamite. 



