482 ON THE BED OF THE GERMAN OCEAN 



sea, occasioned by the siltiiig or fxliing up to a 

 certain degree of the alveus or bed of the German 

 Ocean, rather than from the gradual retreat, or 

 subsiding of these waters ; and that the sea, not- 

 withstanding some anomalous instances of reces- 

 sion, which shall afterwards be noticed, is invariably 

 trenching upon the land. In exploring and com- 

 paring the present with the ancient state of our 

 shores, we cannot enough lament the inaccu- 

 racy of the older maps and charts of our coast ; 

 and every one must rejoice at the prospect this 

 country has, of soon possessing maps founded on 

 the " Trigonometrical Survey of Greai: Britain," 

 now in progress, under the direction of the Board 

 of Ordnance. This great national work, will en- 

 lable future generations with accuracy to appre- 

 ciate and compare, the effects which we are now 

 describing. 



Proceeding southward, we next traverse the 

 Suffolk and coast of Suffolk and Essex, where numerous in- 

 stances occur of ravages which the sea is making 

 upon the shore : It has already been ascertained, 

 that the sand-banks of Yarmouth Roads have, of 

 late years, considerably altered, and that the depth 

 of water is, upon the whole, lessened, a circum- 

 stance most severely felt by the mariners on this 

 part of the coast, and indeed all the way to 

 the Thames, the entrance of which is now so 

 much encumbered with deposited matters, in the 

 form of sand -banks, as to render that navigation 



