Ch, XX.] 



THE EASTERN COAST OF ENGLAND. 



511 



into the estuary of the Humber, will cause great devastation.* 

 Pennant, after speaking- of the silting up of some ancient 

 ports in that estuary, observes, ' But, in return, the sea has 

 made most ample reprisals ; the site, and even the very names 

 of several places, once towns of note upon the Humber, are 

 now only recorded in history ; and Eavensper was at one 

 time a rival to Hull (Madox, Ant. Exch. i. 422), and a port 

 so very considerable in 1332, that Edward Baliol and the 

 confederated English barons sailed from hence to invade 

 Scotland; and Henry IV., in 1399, made choice of this port to 

 land at, to effect the deposal of Richard II. ; yet the whole of 

 this has long since been devoured by the merciless ocean ; ex- 

 tensive sands, dry at low water, are to be seen in their stead/f 



He 



miles 



was ' perpetually preyed on by the fury of the German Sea, 

 which devours whole acres at a time, and exposes on the 

 shores considerable quantities of beautiful amber. 5 



Lincolnshire. — The maritime district of Lincolnshire con- 

 sists chiefly of lands that lie below the level of the sea, being 

 protected by embankments. Some of the fens were embanked 

 and drained by the Romans ; but after their departure the 

 sea returned, and large tracts were covered with beds of silt 

 containing marine shells, now again converted into productive 

 lands. Many dreadful catastrophes are recorded by incursions 

 of the sea, whereby several parishes have been at different 



helmed 



Norfolk 



Norfolk.— Tic 



incessant. At 



of the lower arenaceous beds at the foot of the cliff, causes 



Hunstanto 



from 



Hunstanton and Weybourn 



om 



feet high. They are composed of dry sand, bound in a com 



pact jnass 

 Marram (± 



Such is the present set of the 



tides, that the harbours of Clay, Wells, and other places are 



* Phillips's Geology of Yorkshire, 



p. 60. 



f Arctic Zoology, vol. i. p. 13. In- 

 troduction. 



