CHAPTER XXIX 



BEACH AND RIVER DRIFT 



In the south of England.— On the coast of Scandinavia.— In the Mediterranean. 

 — Southern Chile. — Very httle effective dispersal by currents in temperate 

 latitudes. — Cakile maritima. — In tropical regions. — River drift. — River 

 and beach drift of Fiji. — Musa Ensete. — The coco-nut. — River and beach 

 drift of Hawaii. — Comparison of the beach drift of the Old and New 

 Worlds. — Summary. 



The Beach Drift of Temperate Latitudes 



Dispersal by currents seems to be mainly restricted to warm 

 latitudes. Whilst in the tropics seed-drift is abimdant on the 

 beaches, in the cooler regions of the globe it is usually very scanty 

 and often masked by other vegetable debris. 



Let us take, for instance, a beach in the south of England. We 

 can find by careful searching amongst the stranded drift the seeds 

 and seed-vessels of various littoral plants of the buoyant group, such 

 as Arenaria (Honckeneya) peploides, Cakile maritima, Crithmum 

 maritimum, Convolvulus soldanella, Euphorbia paralias, &c., and 

 such sundries as bits of stems of Salsola kali bearing fruits ; but 

 their amount is scanty ; and they are often difficult to find on 

 account of the great amount of rubbish with which they are 

 associated, such as empty stones of cherries, plums, and peaches ; 

 empty seeds of grapes ; hazel-nuts, beech-nuts, chestnuts, acorns, 

 all either empty or with decaying seed ; the spiral pods of 

 Medicago ; besides quantities of leaves, sticks, and bark. Although 

 the occasional shell of a Spirula, or the horny skeleton of a Velella, 

 or a genuine pumice pebble (see Note "jG), may tell us of long 

 wanderings in mid-ocean, we find little that is not English or 

 derived from neighbouring coasts on a beach in the south of 

 England. I have examined numerous beaches on the coasts of 



