292 LORD KEEPER NORTH AT SEATON DELAVAL 



running from the hills, had excavated a great hollow, in the 

 fall, as it ran. The ground at the sea is a hard impenetrable 

 flat rock ; and, for cover of the vessels, which else, in the 

 rage, must be dashed to pieces. Sir Ralph had built, or rather 

 often re-built, a pier of stone that fended off the surge to 

 the north-east, and, at high water, gave entrance near a 

 little promontory of the shore turning in by the north ; and, 

 at low water, the vessels lay dry upon the rock. This had 

 been built of square stone with and without cement ; but all 

 was heaved away with the surge ; and for a great while 

 nothing could be found strong enough to hold against the 

 lifting and sucking of the water. At length Sir Ralph, at 

 an immense cost, bound every joint of the stone, not only 

 laterally but upright, with dovetails of heart of oak let into 

 the stone ; and that held effectually : for if the stones were 

 lifted up they fell in their places again. This little harbour 

 was apt to silt up with the sea sand ; for remedying of 

 which he used the back water of his rill and that kept the 

 channel always open ; and for that end he had an easy and 

 sure device ; which was sluice-gates built across the channel 

 of the rill which, during tide of flood, were shut and so 

 the water gathered to a great head above till low water ; 

 and then the sluices opened let the gathered water come 

 down all at once, which scoured away the sand that every 

 tide lodged upon the rock, and washed it as clean as a 

 marble table. All this we saw, with his salt pans at 

 work about it, and the petit magazines of a marine trade 

 upon the wharf : and so he reaped the fruits of his great 

 cost and invention ; and if in the whole the profit did not 

 answer the account, the pleasure of designing and executing, 

 which is the most exquisite of any, did it. 



I must not omit one passage which showed the steady 

 constancy of that gentleman's mind ; which was that, at 

 the beginning of dinner, a servant brought him a letter, 

 wherein was an account of a bag of water which was 

 broke in his greatest colliery. Upon which, folding up 

 the letter, said he, " My lord, here I have advice sent 

 me of a loss, in a colliery, which I cannot estimate at 

 less than £7,000 ; and now you shall see if I alter my 

 countenance or behaviour from what you have seen of me 



