306 V/ild Life in a Southern County 



over tlie spongy ground a smart ' pop ' is continually 

 heard : it is caused by the sudden compression of air under 

 the foot in the mare's-tails lying about ; for their stems are 

 hollow, and have knots at regular intervals. 



After a continuance of the wind in one quarter for a 

 few days — south or south-west — the opposite shores are 

 lined with such weeds carried across, together with great 

 quantities of dead branches fallen from the trees and wil- 

 lows. So that on a small scale the same thing happens as 

 with the drift wood of the ocean ; and, indeed, by studying 

 the action of natural forces as exhibited in our own pools 

 and brooks, it becomes much easier to comprehend the 

 gigantic operations by which the surface of the earth is 

 altered. 



For instance, the north-eastern edge of the water is 

 continually encroaching on the land, eating away the sandy 

 soil, showing that the prevalent winds are south and west. 

 The waves, thrown against the shore with the force they 

 have acquired in rolling six or seven hundred yards, wash 

 away the earth and undermine the bank, forming a minia- 

 ture cliff or precipice, the face of which is always concave 

 projecting a little at the foot and also at the top. So much 

 is this the case that an unwary person walking too near 

 the edge may feel the sward suddenly yield and find it 

 necessary to scramble off before a few hundredweights of 

 earth subside into the water. 



In this process the loamy part of the earth is dissipated, 

 or rather held in suspension, while the small stones and 

 ultimately the heavier sand fall to the bottom and form the 

 sandy floor preferred by the fish. The loam discolours the 

 water during a storm for several yards out to sea, so to say ; 

 so that in a boat passing by you know by the hue of the 

 waves when you are approaching the dangers of the cliffs. 



