170 THE OCEAN 



In such situations the sea often encroaches 

 slowly but surely for year after year, and the 

 strong rock-bound coasts prove of little avail 

 against the onslaughts of their enemy. 



On the northern coasts of Europe the rocky 

 cliffs are receding at an average of fifty feet 

 or more each year, and every season portions 

 of the farms upon the cliff tops drop in frag- 

 ments to the waves far below. Houses upon 

 the lands above the cliffs are gradually moved 

 farther and farther back and now and then 

 some building is left too near the edge and 

 some violent storm carries away a portion 

 of the cliff with the building upon its summit. 

 On the coast of California, and in many other 

 places, the same gradual inroads of the sea are 

 taking place, and within the memory of man 

 a mile or more of solid, rocky coast has been 

 won by the sea. Sometimes the masses torn 

 from the land by the waves prove a barrier to 

 prevent further progress of the sea, while at 

 other times the forces of nature have raised 

 the land beyond the reach of tide and wave, 

 and have won back in a short time more than 

 the sea gained in centuries. 



