GERMAN OCEAN, OR NORTH SEA. 317 



collection of debris which we meet with, extending 

 over a great proportion of its bottom, under the 

 common appellation of Sand-Banks. We must 

 also be allowed to consider the undulating line, or 

 the irregularities of the bottom, to arise chiefly 

 from the accumulation of deposited matters ; and, 

 in most of the situations connected with these 

 banks, we are supported and borne out in this con- 

 clusion, by their local positions relatively to the 

 openings of friths, and the line of their direction in 

 regard to the set or current of the ebb-tide. 



The accompanying Map (PI. XIV.) of the eastern 

 coast of Great Britain, with the opposite Continent, 

 though upon a small scale, exhibits numerous 

 soundings of the depth of the German Ocean ; and 

 the sections delineated on it, will perhaps be found 

 to give a pretty distinct view of the subject. This 

 chart extends from the coast of France, in latitude 

 50° 57' to 61° N. On the east, this great basin is 

 bounded by Denmark and Norway, on the west by 

 the British Isles, on the south by Germany, Hol- 

 land and France, and on the north by the Shetland 

 Islands, and the Great Northern or Arctic Ocean. 

 The term German Ocean, though in very com- 

 mon use, is certainly not so comprehensive in its 

 application to this great basin, as that of North 

 Sea, now more generally used by the navigator. 

 The extent of this sea from south to north, between 

 the parallels of latitude quoted above, is 233 leagues. 



