







Ch. XX.] 



ON THE COASTS OF KENT. 



527 



>/ 



— In proceeding from the northern parts 



of the German Ocean towards the Straits of Dover, the water 

 becomes gradually more shallow, so that, in the distance of 

 about two hundred leagues, we pass from a depth of 120 to 

 that of 58, 38, 18, and even less than 2 fathoms. The shal- 



Marsh 



Boulogne. 



From this point the English Channel again 

 deepens progressively as we proceed westward, so that the 

 Straits of Dover may be said to part two seas.* 



Whether England was formerly united to France has often 

 been a favourite subject of speculation. So early as 1G05 our 

 countryman Verstegan, in his * Antiquities of the English 

 Nation,' observed that many preceding writers had main- 

 tained this opinion, but without supporting it by any weighty 

 reasons. He accordingly endeavours himself to confirm it by 

 various arguments, the principal of which are, first, the prox- 

 imity and identity of the composition of the opposite cliffs 

 and shores of Albion and Gallia, which, whether flat and 

 sandy, or steep and chalky, correspond exactly with each 

 other ; secondly, the occurrence of a submarine ridge, called 

 ' our Lady's sand,' extending from shore to shore at no great 

 depth, and which from its composition appears to be the 

 original basis of the isthmus ; thirdly, the identity of the 

 noxious animals in France and England, which could neither 

 have swum across, nor have been introduced by man. Thus 

 no one, he says, would have imported wolves, therefore ' these 

 wicked beasts did of themselves pass over.' 

 ancient isthmus to have been about six English miles in 



He 



some 



j — a. v t 



places of no great height above the sea-level. The operation 



more 



fid when the straits were narrower, and even now they are 



mater 



He suggests 



the possible co-operation of earthquakes ; and when we con- 



many 



skirt the southern and 



eastern shores of England, and that there are raised beaches 

 at many points above the sea-level, containing fossil shells of 



* Stevenson, Ed. Phil. Journ. No. v. p. 45, and Dr. Fitton, Geol. Trans. 

 2d series, vol. iv. plate 9. 



