Geological Reports on the State of New York. 19 



about 25 miles long, with a breadth of a few hundred yards. They are 

 all narrow and long, and when above the reach of the surf, they are cov- 

 ered by a labyrinth of hillocks of drifted sand, imitating almost all the 

 variety of form which snow drifts present after a storm. 



"Rockaway Neck is the only locality west of Southampton where the 

 upland of Long Island approaches near the alluvial beach. The land 

 through this distance is increasing in area by constant depositions. The 

 beach at Far Rockaway, and for many miles east and west, is under- 

 going frequent local changes. The surf frequently washes away several 

 rods in width, during a single storm, and perhaps the next storm adds 

 more than had been removed by the preceding. The sea frequently 

 makes inlets through the beach to the bays and marshes, and as frequently 

 fills up others. 



" The inlet to Rockaway Bay, called Hog Island Inlet, is continually 

 progressing westward by the oblique action of the surf driving the sand, 

 gravel, and shingle in that direction. The deposit of these materials on 

 the west end of the island beach, tends to obstruct the inlet to the bay ; 

 but the strong tidal current, during the flow and ebb of the tide, washes 

 away the east end of R,ockaway beach, as rapidly as the other forms. 

 The inlet is thus kept open. Mr. Edmund Hicks, of Far Rockaway, 

 has been long a resident here, and to him I am indebted for the fact just 

 mentioned. He knows Hog Island Inlet to have progressed more than a 

 mile to the west within fifty years." 



"The encroachments of the sea on the east end of Long Island, were 

 discussed in ray first annual report. Vast masses of the cliffs of loam, 

 sand, gravel, and loose rocks, of which Long Island is composed, are un- 

 dermined, and washed away by every storm. The water on the ocean 

 coast, to some distance from the shore, is almost always found to have 

 more or less earthy matter in suspension, much of which, except during 

 storms, is derived from the grinding up of the pebbles, gravel and sand, 

 by the action of the surf This earthy matter is carried off during the 

 flood tide, and in part deposited in the marshes and bays, and the re- 

 mainder is transported seaward during the ebb, and deposited in still 

 water. After a close observation, I have estimated that at least 1,000 

 tons of matter are thus transported daily from the coast of Long Island, 

 and probably that quantity on an average is daily removed from the south 

 coast, between Montauk Point and Nepeague beach. This shore of 15 

 miles in length, probably averages 60 feet in height, and is rapidly 

 washing away. One thousand tons of this earth would be equal to about 

 one square rod of ground, with a depth of 60 feet. Allowing this esti- 

 mate to be within the proper limits, more than two acres would be re- 

 moved annually from this portion of the coast. It is probable that any 

 attentive observer would not estimate the loss of land there at less than 



