SWIRLS OF THE SEA 



31 



and on the coast of France even higher than 

 this. 



On the contrary the large bays or seas with 

 small ocean entrances, like the Mediterranean, 

 are not affected by the main tide waves, but 

 have slight tides of their own. At Corfu or 

 Malta, the Mediterranean is practically tide- 

 less, but at Venice, at the head of the Adriatic, 

 where there is a heap-up of waters, one finds 

 a foot or more of rise, and in the Gulf of Gades 

 from three to eight feet owing to the formation 

 of the coast. Even comparatively small seas or 

 lakes are disturbed by the moon and have some 

 tide — Lake Michigan, for example, rising and 

 falling about three inches a day. 



Many, if not all, the phenomena of rushing 

 water in river mouths or about reefs or narrow 

 channels are due to the action of the tides. 

 The famous maelstrom off the coast of Nor- 

 way, which the writers of an earlier day em- 

 ployed so successfully in fiction, is really only 

 an arm of the tide thrust violently between two 

 of the Lofoden Islands, and causing a whirl- 

 pool which is reversed at every new rising. It 

 is said to be very impressive as seen from the 

 cliff of Voero looking down clear and sheer, 

 and to be forceful enough to carry down whales 

 in its funnel ; but the tremendous whirl of 



Tide in in- 

 land seas. 



The Nor- 

 wegian 

 maelstrom. 



