196 SANDY SEA-BEDS. 



we found an uniform bottom of fine sediment 

 in the form of yellow mud, inhabited through 

 great part by an uniform assemblage of marine 

 animals, mostly delicate, fragile, and colourless 

 forms, which became fewer and fewer both as to 

 number of individuals, and number of species, 

 as the sea became deeper and deeper. 



Tracks of sand are forming near the shore, 

 and off the mouths of the larger rivers. This 

 is especially the case on exposed coasts, as in the 

 instance of that part of the Lycian shore where 

 the Xanthus empties itself into the sea. There 

 the sea is shallow for some distance and for a 

 considerable breadth, the bottom being formed of 

 a tract of sand. Such a bottom is not favourable 

 to abundance or variety of marine life, and tes- 

 tacea are by no means plentiful in such places. 

 The formation of this sandy sea-bed has led to 

 the destruction of the port of Patara, and to the 

 burial of its buildings and fields in hills of blown 

 sand. In these hills much wood is becoming 

 imbedded ; also land shells. In many parts of 

 the iEgean, as in Cerigotto, such masses of 

 blown sand become consolidated into hard rock, 

 and contain vegetable remains, associated with 

 the shells of existing terrestrial mollusca. In 



