2 > BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
local movement of sand landward as above described. Thus, 
in a general way, the entire line of beach from headland to head- 
land is in time worked over by gullies and moved a little landward. 
Second, local changes of various sorts, notably the backward 
erosion of the soft sandstone headlands, may cause local planing 
of the beach to such an extent that new gullies may break through 
at irregular places, with a marked result upon the inward move- 
ment of the beach at that point. These gullies do, in fact, 
break through with relative frequency. A considerable propor- 
tion, I should say at least one-fourth, of the gullies on the coast 
are now in markedly different positions from those shown on- 
the early plans of the coast, few of which antedate a century 
back; and their present positions, the visible traces of the older 
gullies, and the memory of the older residents all show that 
these changes are not the gradual movement of the old gullies 
but the breaking out of new ones. One can readily distinguish 
the position of old gullies by traces of the old incurving beach 
lines. It may happen at times that two gullies are formed at 
moderate distances apart, and when this occurs in conjunction 
with a large lagoon, they may co-operate to form an inner line 
of shoals and islands, which later becomes the foundation of a 
beach, the older beach outside being gradually cut away and 
reduced to a bar. It is possible that in this way originated the 
great bar outside of Fox Island, and perhaps others elsewhere.* 
It thus seems plain that while the beaches as individual 
units grow only outwards, as a whole they are steadily moving 
inwards, following the retreating coast line. Originally, and 
of course post-glacially, they no doubt formed against the margin 
of the flat upland as ordinary shore beaches. But the steadily- 
progressing subsidence carried the land beneath the sea faster 
than the beaches, whose rate of inward movement is largely 
determined by the rate of erosion of the protecting headlands, 
*1 have made attempts to trace the movements of the gullies and beaches through 
old plaus and ancient maps, but have been able to derive little therefrom on account of 
their sketchy and inaccurate character. One can find support for very great and inter- 
esting changes in these beaches from the maps of Jumeau, 1685, DeMeulles, 1686, and 
L'Hermitte, 1727, (all given in Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, III, 1896, 
ii, 368, 369, 372), but I am convinced that these maps are too unreliable for any scientific 
use. 
