chap. viii. Formation of Sea-Cliffs. 231 



lias, according to Mr. Smith of Jordan-hill, subsided. 

 Are we to extend this conclusion to the high, cliff- 

 bound, horizontally-stratified shores of Patagonia, off 

 which, though the water is not deep even at the dis- 

 tance of several miles, yet the smooth bottom of pebbles 

 gradually decreasing in size with the increasing depth, 

 and derived from a foreign source, seem to declare that 

 the sea is now a depositing and not a corroding agent ? 

 I am much inclined to suspect, that we shall hereafter 

 find in all such cases, that the land with the adjoining 

 bed of the sea has in truth subsided : the time will, I 

 believe, come, when geologists will consider it as im- 

 probable, that the land should have retained the same 

 level during a whole geological period, as that the 

 atmosphere should have remained absolutely calm 

 during an entire season. 



