130 
[AssEMBL-y 
A similar spit has formed nearly across Hempstead harbor, about three 
miles south of the mouth of the bay, and two miles north of the village 
of Montrose, at the head of the bay. It extends from the west shore, 
in an easterly direction, nearly across the harbor, leaving a deep inlet of 
100 to 150 yards wide next to the eastern shore. It is owing to the same 
cause as the spit at Cold Spring. This spit is probably a thousand yards 
in length, but is not materially affected by storms. The detrital matter 
now swept coast- wise, is carried through the inlet and deposited in the 
inner harbor. Two large shoals have thus been formed, and it is said 
they are evidently becoming shallower every year, and at no distant 
time will form a considerable addition to the land. A small spit ex- 
tends from the eastern shore, a short distance north of the east end of the 
large one. Another spit, which extends, on the west side of the bay, 
from the high bank on the west side of the harbor, towards Kidd's Point, 
is separated from this point only by an inlet of 30 or 40 yards, through 
which the tide flows into the marsh behind Kidd's Island. It is formed 
from the detrital matter both of this bank and of Kidd's Point. 
A spit of some hundred yards in length extends from the north, part- 
ly across the mouth of Plandome Eay. It is derived from the detritus 
of some high banks in the bay, and Barker's Point, on the north. 
There are beaches and spits on the south side of Staten Island, but of 
no great extent or importance. The beach extending southwest from 
Fort Hudson, and that opposite the Great Kills, are the most extensive. 
The beaches and spits we have been considering are trifling in extent 
and importance, when compared with the Great South Beach of Long 
Island. This is a line of alluvial sand and shingle, extending from 
Nepeague, in East Hampton, to the mouth of New-York Bay, a distance 
of 104 miles, and having a direction of about W. S. W. It is net 
continuous, but is divided by inlets communicating with the bays which 
are situated between this and Long Island, and through these inlets the 
tide ebbs and flows. At Quogue and several places east of this. Long 
Island communicates with the beach, either by marshes or by the up- 
land; but westward, for about 70 miles, a continuous line of bays, from 
half a mile to six miles broad, extends uninterruptedly, and separates the 
beach entirely from Long Island. This Great Beach is a line of spits 
and islands. One of the islands is about 25 miles long, with a breadth 
of a few hundred yards. They are all narrow and long, and when above 
the reach of the surf, they are covered by a labyrinth of hillocks of 
drifted sand, imitating almost all the variety of form which snow-drifts 
present after a storm. ' 
