THE wave's tooth 



141 



Blocks mid 

 bowlders 

 broken 

 away. 



ing barrier. It is too strong, too high, too thick 

 for sea-born hosts to conquer. 



And yet a hundred feet or more above the 

 tide on the face-wall little vegetation grows, 

 the unweathered surfaces show where immense 

 blocks have recently loosened and fallen away, 

 and down at the water's edge the shore is made 

 up of great bowlders each weighing perhaps 

 many tons. What is the significance of this? 

 And why does the cliff, seen in profile, reveal 

 a base that recedes and a top that projects out 

 over the wave? It is perhaps true that the 

 barrier cannot be overcome by any sudden at- 

 tack of the waves; no storm however fierce can 

 surprise or break down the wall. But is it proof 

 against continual assault, day in and day out, 

 year in and year out? The blow of the wave 

 may be fended off, foiled, thrown back; but 

 the daily gnaw of the wave's tooth — what 

 granite base can withstand that? 



Not always is the cliff being beaten by great 

 seas. If its foundation is sunk in very deep 

 water the waves will flood in silently, without 

 break or dash of crest. The bottom of the 

 wave, meeting with no friction, travels as fast 

 as the top; and being, like the base of a tri- 

 angle, further forward than the top, it strikes 

 the underlying foundation wall first. The re- 



Deep water 

 at cliff base. 



