140 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
The thrust 
of waves. 
undulation that makes the breaker, and the 
constant swash of waters on the beach is as the 
fringe of acloth flapping in the wind. When 
great quantities of water (not undulation) are 
driven in upon the shore by heavy and con- 
tinued wind, the sea rises and floods all the 
inlets and marshes; but in the falling of waves 
upon the beach there is no rising of the sea. 
The beach-combers are made up of substantially 
the same water cast into new forms, new lights, 
new colors. 
The lateral direction of a reef or beach has 
little to do with the direction the waves may take. 
It may retard or cripple their force, but it has 
slight influence in turning them aside or making 
them follow another course. There is not 
enough cohesive body about water to have its 
course turned except by slow degrees. That 
which gives the “set onward” of the waves is 
the prevailing wind, and, once started in a cer- 
tain direction, the waves run on until broken to 
pieces against the rocks or the beach. And it 
is interesting, perhaps, to know that the waves 
seldom strike the coast or the beach a full 
broadside. Instead of coming straight on they 
are usually a little twisted, so that they strike 
the beach at an angle, and the travel of the 
