THE BEITISH SEAS. 8 



of numerous species has been prevented by the obstacles presented by the sea, and 

 in the same way many great events in the history of Europe affected England but 

 slightly, and were hardly felt at all in distant Erin. 



The progressive development of England was thus marked by originality and 

 spontaneity. The country which gave birth to this national civilisation possesses, 

 moreover, very considerable physical advantages. Its hills and mountains are of 

 moderate height, and present no serious obstacles to free communications between 

 the inhabitants dwelling on opposite slopes ; for the Grampians lie outside the 

 living portion of the country, in a region of sea-born winds and mists, and 

 are, besides, very thinly inhabited. The lowlands, privileged in every respect, 

 occupy the other extremity of the island, and face Continental Europe. Washed 

 and defended by the sea on the east and the south, this portion of England 

 hospitably opened its ports to colonists and merchants. It was there, in the vicinity 

 of France and the Netherlands, that civilisation made most rapid progress, and 

 the capital of the entire coimtry was established. 



The British Seas. 



To the seas which surround them the British Islands are indebted for the mild- 

 ness of their climate, their security from foreign invasion, their commerce, and 

 the wealth yielded by productive fisheries. These seas are shallow. If the 

 waters were to subside to the extent of 300 feet, the whole of the British Islands, 

 including Ireland, would once more be united to Continental Europe. A 

 subsidence of little more than 100 feet would result in the formation of an 

 isthmus connecting Lincolnshire with Holland. A line drawn on a map to mark 

 a depth of 600 feet passes about 60 miles to the west of Ireland, the Outer 

 Hebrides, and Shetland. All within that line is less considerable in depth, 

 excepting only a few " pits " — depressions in the bed of the sea — which lie off the 

 west coast of Scotland and in the North Channel. 



The North Sea, or German Ocean, to the south of the parallel of Aberdeen, 

 hardly anywhere exceeds a depth of 300 feet, and it grows shallower towards the 

 south. It is exceedingly rich in fish, and Mobius* very justly remarks that its bed 

 is far more profitable to man than are the sterile heaths which border its shores. 

 Its fisheries give employment to about 900 fishing-smacks, of which 650 sail under 

 the English flag, and the harvest of fish annually drawn from its depths has been 

 estimated at 75,000 tons. One of its most productive fishing grounds is the 

 Dogger Bank, which occupies its centre, and supplies London and other large 

 towns with immense quantities of cod. The North Sea is indebted for its wealth 

 in fish to its shallowness and freedom from rocks. Oyster beds are the. only 

 obstacles which the dredge of the fisherman occasionally encounters. These 

 oysters of the high sea, however, are but little esteemed. The best oysters are 

 found in the shallow, brackish waters along the English coast, and it is these which 

 are deposited in the oyster parks of Ostend to be fattened. 



* " Das Thierleben am Boden der Ost- und Nordsee." 



