191 



ger known than that of any in the world, no apparent 

 change has taken place ; neither is there any appear- 

 ance of its heing filled up ; on the contrary, the water 

 is represented as clear as the purest crystal, and the 

 bottom covered with shining pebbles,* which never 

 would have been the case, if the alluvion were constant- 

 ly accumulating upon its bottom. 



Many similar cases could be mentioned, all tending 

 to prove that very few instances occur, in whicli allu- 

 vial districts have been formed, upon the borders of 

 lakes, by the sand washed up by the waves ; and also, 

 that the mud, of which the bottom of most lakes is com- 

 posed, does not increase in quantity so rapidly as is 

 pretended. 



These remarks are as applicable to bays and gulfs, 

 of the sea, as to lakes. 



Mr. Klrwan observes, that "No part of the allu- 

 vion of rivers is carried to any great distance into the 

 sea. Mariners were accustomed for some centuries 

 back, to discover their situations by the kind of earth 

 brought up by their plummets, a method that would 

 prove fallacious, if the surface of the bottom did not 

 continue invariably the same."f 



In the Adriatic gulf, which is surrounded with ex- 

 tensive and fertile regions in the highest state of cul- 

 tivation, and the soil of which is tributary to the winds, 

 rains, and mountain torrents, that are daily hurrying 



Clarke's Travels, vol. II, page 259. 

 t Kirwan's Essays, page 440. 



