232 
DOTTINGS ON THE liOADSIDE. [Chap. XIV.—B.P. 
certainly a marked feature on that part of the coast 
dominated by the river San Juan. 
To the right the detritus, after a struggle between 
the force of the stream which hears it to the sea and 
the ocean current and waves forced against it by the 
prevailing trade-winds, deposits itself in a semicircular 
form, thus making the eastern and north-eastern side 
of the harbour. This work has been going on for 
ages, and, in process of time, a magnificent harbour 
was completed, the semicircular sand-bar having ex¬ 
tended itself sufficiently to afford a' perfect shelter 
from the winds and waves coming from seaward; the 
scour or force of the current kept the centre deep and 
the mouth open for a long period of time, but, like 
everything else, the harbour cordd not remain in statu 
quo. The same law which produced, is now actively 
engaged in destroying its beautiful handiwork, for 
after the formation of the harbour the water of the 
river was naturally kept back', in other words dammed 
up, and by far the greater part therefore compelled to 
seek a more congenial outlet to the sea by way of the 
Colorado, formerly only an insignificant branch of the 
delta of the San Juan. The consequence is, that what 
with the diminution of scour by reason of five-eighths 
of the river seeking another outlet and the increased 
rapidity with which the detritus is deposited (owing 
partly to the present sluggishness of the stream and 
partly to various obstructions, such as wrecks, wash¬ 
ing away of islands, and injudicious efforts to im¬ 
prove the navigation, misnamed engineering), the de¬ 
struction of the port has been hastened; and all the 
