146 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



breakfast time. Viewed commercially, what an amaz- 

 ing waste of power is here ! The mind almost reels 

 in contemplation of the potentialities offering them- 

 selves in this unthinkable mass of water raised to such 

 a height twice a day by the calm suasion of the moon. 

 Some day men will find it comparatively easy to set 

 this lifted mass of water to work on its way back, and 

 the power that those pioneers will command will make 

 Niagara but a child's toy in comparison. 



But the grand spectacular time in which to view 

 the invasion of the tide here is in winter. Navigation, 

 at the best of times very arduous and difficult in those 

 waters, then becomes impossible, for being entirely out- 

 side of the beneficent range of the Gulf Stream, this 

 part of America is, though four hundred miles south 

 of the latitude of London, so cold that the sea itself 

 freezes. And were it not for the tremendous changes in 

 tide level, nothing can well be more certain than that 

 it would freeze as solidly as do the Arctic Seas. But 

 the waters do not get sufficient repose for that. Twice 

 daily that mighty influx of water takes place, hurling 

 before it the floes and miniature icebergs produced 

 by the intense cold hurls them against the land 

 with thunderous impact, grinding them against the 

 rocks and each other until the whole agitated sea is 

 a puree of ice fragments. The interregnum, or, more 

 properly, armistice of slack water takes place and 

 the swirl and crash ceases. All is still save for the 

 crackling of congelation as the half-frozen sea strives 

 to become solid. Then comes the call of the ebb. 

 There is a gentle movement seaward and the partial 

 congelation ceases, the disunited masses begin to cir- 

 culate round one another. Gradually the movement 



