EVILS FOLLOWING DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS, 99 



' The mobile sand in the district under consideration 

 supplies an illustration. In the early spring of 1840 there 

 occurred near Neufaehr a disastrous, sudden, and utterly 

 unexpected outburst of the Vistula through the dunes 

 which had been formed there, and which were then about 

 90 feet in height. In the darkness, intensified by a snow- 

 storpi, of the night between the 1st and 2nd of February, 

 the inhabitants of Neufaehr were brought into great dis- 

 tress and alarm, by an abnormally high water in the 

 Vistula, and were completely occupied with their troubles, 

 which were great enough, when at daybreak on the morn- 

 ing of the 2nd, some of them, amongst whom was the 

 Dune Inspector, Krause, discovered in the midst of the 

 fearful devastations which had already been effected what 

 had happened but a little way ofif, which was such a 

 catastrophe as had never before been heard of. 



' In order to the right understanding of it, it must here 

 be remarked that the Vistula, before emptying itself into the 

 sea, flows for a long way almost parallel to the shore, and 

 in passing by Neufaehr bends towards the site of this 

 place, so as to approach it within a distance of 35 fathoms. 

 The local condition of the place leads to the conclusion 

 that there at one time a branch of the stream must have 

 flowed into the sea, which, through some peculiarity of it, 

 and more especially the sanding up of the side towards the 

 sea, became closed ; and what consequently occurred was 

 that the stretch of dunes was there of a much less eleva- 

 tion than elsewhere, and was traversed by a sponge-like 

 watery portion, drawn out to a point in the direction of 

 the sea, which was always wet, and in a high flood of the 

 river was covered with water three feet deep. The level 

 of the stream was higher than this ground ; and from this 

 there was a constant percolation of water. 



' As now on the day in question the Vistula, which was 

 laden with large masses of ice, was unusually swollen, , 

 being as much as eighteen feet above the level of the sea, 

 could not be withstood even at the expense of percolation, 

 such as had hitherto been sufficient. The percolation cou- 



