24 
and valleys of the natural drainage masses of detritus and 
gravels from the rocks over which they had passed * For 
the proof of this elevation of course we ought to look to the 
arctic regions, and on reading the Geology of the Polar 
Regions, by Professor Jamieson, I read that Professor 
Keilhau found in Spitzbergen an interesting deposit of shell 
clay, containing the bones of whales and shells identical with 
those in the adjoining sea. This shell clay extends in Spitz- 
bergen 9£ miles inland, and rises 100 feet above the level of 
the sea. A similar shell clay, in which the same kind of 
fossil shells are found, is to be seen on the southern coasts of 
Norway. "Are we to infer," says Professor Keilhau, " from 
"the situation of this modern clay that Spitzbergen has 
" risen from the bottom of the sea at a comparatively recent 
"period?" (P. 402, Edin. Cab. Library, Polar regions.) 
I answer, that a tract of land extending miles inland, 
raised 100 feet high, covered with a deep sea containing ice- 
bergs, to say nothing of the coasts of Norway expanding at 
the same time, are sufficient to account for all the phenomena 
of the drift of Cumberland. It is very evident that the whole 
diluvium has been thrown down from a violent rush and the 
tumultuous action of the water. 
Other recent expansions might be named. In 1822 a tract 
of country, between the foot of the Andes and the Pacific, of 
a larger area than all Great Britain, was elevated from two 
to seven feet over its former level. In Chili the land is now 
rising, although the fishermen believe the ocean is only 
retreating. But let any one read the paper of Charles 
Darwin, Esq., in the Geological Transactions for 1840, 
" On the Formation of Mountain Chains in South America," 
and he will* see that there exists the strongest proof that the 
whole west coast of South America, 800 miles in length, has 
» The earthquake at Lisbon, in 1755, threw on the coast of Madrid a wave 
60 feet high, and on Madeira one of 18 feet high. 
