ACTION OF THE SEA. 
143 
yeaf 1421 the sea burst through the embankments 
of the river Meuse, and overflowed 72 villages, form- 
ing a large lake, called the Bies Basch. Thirty-five 
of these villages were irretrievably lost, and no 
vestige of them ever afterward discovered. Much 
of this district, however, is now an immense plain, 
having been filled up by an alluvial deposite, yield- 
ing abundant crops of hay, though uninhabited. A 
great portion of Holland lies lower than the sea, 
from which it is protected by extensive embank- 
ments or dikes. 
In the year 1240, the island of North Strand 
measured from 9 to 11 miles in length, and from 
six to eight in length ; towards the end of the 16th 
century it was only four miles in circumference, 
but still contained 9000 inhabitants. During one 
night, however, in the month of October, 1634, the 
sea swept over the whole island, carrying away 1300 
houses and many churches, with 50,000 head of 
cattle, and more than 6000 inhabitants. There are 
now three small uninhabited islets where this fer- 
tile and populous island once stood. 
CHAPTER XIV. 
AGENTS WHICH DESTROY ROCKS, CONTINUED. 
Destruction of the Land in Boston Harbour. — Chemical Ac- 
tion.— Causes which hasten it. — Destruction of Rocks proved 
by the Nature of the Soil. — Granite Soil— Gneiss Soil. — 
Slate Soil.— Limestone Soil. — Soil of Red Sandstone Re- 
gions.— Freezing and Thawing.— Movement of Rocks by the 
' Expansion of Ice.— Lightning.— Falling of Glaciers. 
On our own coasts the inroads of the sea have 
in many instances been scarcely less striking and 
extensive. At Cape May, on the north side of Del- 
