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ON THE BED OF THE 



after the slightest shower of rain, is charged with 

 mud, and that the furrows of every field are silted 

 up with the finer particles of the soil, the quantity 

 of debris which is annually carried from all quar- 

 ters of the globe into the ocean must be altogether 

 astonishing. W e cease, therefore, to be surprised, 

 when we come to calculate the contents of the va- 

 rious extensive sand banks which are found almost 

 universally to pervade and encumber the bottom of 

 the North Sea. 



Our knowledge of the bottom of the ocean, how- 

 ever, remains still very imperfect ; and, with little 

 exception, the simple apparatus of the mariner, con- 

 sisting of a plummet and line, continues to be 

 chiefly in use for ascertaining the depth of the sea, 

 and the nature of the ground. With these, and 

 the addition of a little grease applied to the lower 

 extremity of the plummet, which strikes against 

 the bottom, we learn the quality of the soil, though 

 imperfectly, by the particles which adhere to the 

 grease. — What the navigator has yet been able to 

 discover regarding the depth, and the nature of the 

 bottom of the German Ocean, I shall now endea- 

 vour to notice, being myself enabled to offer the 

 result of a pretty extensive acquaintance with this 

 field of inquiry. 



It may be necessary to premise, in treating of a 

 subject so extensive, and in comparing great things 

 with small, that we are obliged to speak of the 

 North Sea as a bay or basin, and of the immense 



