Lh' Brown on Marine Denudation of the Friesian Islands. 267 



ing, they existed, but not in the form of islets. They formed 

 portion of a large island lying off the coast of Eiderstedt, 

 called Nordstrand. At one time it was united to the main- 

 land, and indeed as late as the thirteenth century was 

 alternately united and separated according to the whims of 

 that sea with which it was ever at war. But at the time 

 when our tale begins, it was a large islet, separated from the 

 mainland by a strait — thickly populated by Friesians, speak- 

 ing their ow^n ancient tongue, and exceeding rich in flocks 

 and herds, mills and farms. They had suffered in times past 

 from inundations, but at the time we speak of, the island w^as 

 protected on its weakest shores by dykes. So the Nord- 

 stranders ate and drank, fiddled and danced, married and 

 gave in marriage, as it was before the flood. In 1216, 100,000 

 cattle had perished in these islands by inroads of the sea. It 

 was in that year that a great portion of Heligoland was 

 destroyed. But all danger of such a catastrophe was believed 

 to be past. The 10th of October 1634 was a day so remark- 

 ably calm, that a foreboding seized the inhabitants that some- 

 thing strange w^as about to happen. JSText day was Sunday, 

 and they were in church. About the middle of the day the 

 sea, wdiich should have been ebbing, rapidly rose, and attained 

 a height unprecedented in the annals of the island. Still 

 they hoped and believed that the dykes would bear the 

 strain. But almost simultaneously these bulwarks gave way, 

 and in a few moments the sea broke in. By ten o'clock at 

 night all was over. The dyke had broken in forty-four 

 places. The sea had divided Nordstrand into the tw^o largest 

 islands, known now as Nordstrand and Pell worm, and the 

 fifteen Hallige which I have already mentioned. Of the 

 population of old Nordstrand, 6200 were drowned, and in 

 addition 50,000 head of sheep and cattle, thirteen mills, and 

 many churches were swept into the sea, leaving in some cases 

 not a trace behind them. The flood was experienced along 

 the whole coast, and especially in the neighbouring " Amt " 

 of Tondern in Sleswig, where great destruction was caused. 

 Altogether in the Cymbrian Peninsula, from Holstein to 

 Skagen in Jutland, it was calculated that upwards of 15,000 

 human beings perished by this terrible victory of the sea 



