368 ON ALLUVIAL FORMATIONS. 



curity of that large island, and knowing that the art of 

 dikes had made greater progress in Holland, because 

 of the opulence of the country, addressed himself to the 

 States-General, requesting them to send him an engi- 

 neer of dikes, with workmen accustomed to repair them ; 

 and this was granted. The dikes of Nord Strand were 

 then repaired in the most solid manner ; and the Dutch 

 engineer, seeing the fertility of its soil, advised his sons 

 upon his death-bed, to purchase lands and settle there, 

 if the Duke would grant them the free exercise of their 

 religion ; they being Jansenist catholics, and the in- 

 habitants of the island Lutherans. The Duke agreed to 

 this, on condition that they and their posterity should 

 continue to superintend the works carried on upon the 

 dikes ; to which they engaged themselves. From that 

 time the art of dikes, and particularly that part of it which 

 consists in covering them solidly with straw, has be- 

 come common to all the marsches ; and the Dutch fami- 

 lies, which have contributed to this fortunate change, 

 continue to inhabit the same island, and to enjoy the 

 free exercise of their religion." 



NOTE G, p. 28. 



ON THE SAND-FLOOD. 



In different parts of Scotland, as in Aberdeenshire, 

 Hebrides, and Shetland Islands, there are examples of 

 the natural chronometer mentioned in the text. In 

 Morayshire there is a striking example of the sand-flood, 

 concerning which the following details have been fur- 

 nished by my young friend the Rev. Mr Ritchie. 



