ACTION OF THE SEA. 



143 



year 1421 the sea burst through the embankments 

 of the river Meuse, and overflowed 72 villages, form- 

 ing a large lake, called the Bies Basch. Thirty-five 

 of these villages were irretrievably lost, and no 

 vestige of them ever afterward discovered. Much 

 of this district, however, is now an immense plain, 

 having been filled up by an alluvial deposite, yield- 

 ing abundant crops of hay, though uninhabited. A 

 great portion of Holland lies lower than the sea, 

 from which it is protected by extensive embank- 

 ments or dikes. 



In the year 1240, the island of North Strand 

 measured from 9 to 11 miles in length, and from 

 six to eight in length ; towards the end of the 16th 

 century it was only four miles in circumference, 

 but still contained 9000 inhabitants. During one 

 night, however, in the month of October, 1634, the 

 sea swept over the whole island, carrying away 1300 

 houses and many churches, with 50,000 head of 

 cattle, and more than 6000 inhabitants. There are 

 now three small uninhabited islets where this fer- 

 tile and populous island once stood. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



AGENTS WHICH DESTROY ROCKS, CONTINUED. 



Destruction of the Land in Boston Harbour.— Chemical Ac* 

 tion.— Causes which hasten it.— Destruction of Rocks proved 

 by the Nature of the Soil. — Granite Soil.— Gneiss Soil. — 

 Slate Soil.— Limestone Soil. — Soil of Red Sandstone Re- 

 gions. — Freezing and Thawing. — Movement of Rocks by the 

 Expansion of Ice. — Lightning. — Falling of Glaciers. 



On our own coasts the inroads of the sea have 

 in many instances been scarcely less striking and 

 extensive. At Cape May, on the north side of Del- 



