1800.) 
gterdam, saw at Calais, in the possession 
of a respectable individual who had been 
mayor of that place, a chart of the British 
Channel, and of a part of the North 
Sea, delineated’ on parchment. This 
chart, which was 850 years old, extended 
on the east to Heligoland ; on the north 
to Orfordness; and on the west to the 
present site of the Isle of Wight, which 
then formed a part of the main land of 
England, The principal head-lands, as 
they now exist, were correctly laid down, 
Between Dover and the opposite side 
of the coast ef France, there was a 
space of three miles only: Calais must 
therefore have been then situated in the 
interior. Not any entrance was de- 
scribed either into Dunkirk, Flushing, or 
Beerhaven. The island of Goree being 
attached to the main land, of which it 
formed a part, there was not any passage 
to Rotterdam. Not aay Flemish banks 
were laid down; the space occupied by 
them, and intermediately between them 
and the coast opposite, likewise consti- 
tuting a portion of the main land. But 
in the North Sea the depth of water in 
this chart corresponded with the present 
depth. The Vlie, or Fly Island, as it is 
“now called, was connected with the main 
jand. : : 
-Such, and so extraordinary, are the 
evcroaciiments which the sea appears to 
have made on this part of the coast; 
as, in the space described, the more pro- 
minent and elevated head-lands are on 
the side of England, 1t would seem that, 
with a reference of three miles only, in- 
stead of seven leagues, forming what is 
called the strait uf Dover, the great, if 
not the entire loss of land, must have 
been on the side of France, the sea con- 
tinuing to gain until it was stopped by 
the cliffs of Calais, and the elevated 
lands in the vicinity. 
styled the fore-lands, north and south, 
then existed as at present. That part of 
England therefore cannot have sustained 
any material loss ia the space of nearly 
nine centuries since this chart was made, 
But towards Hampshire the deperdition 
of soil must have been considerable, if 
the Isle of Wight was then really con- 
nected with the main land, Reasoning 
from the other data supplied by this 
ancient chart, it is presurnable that. the 
opposite coasts of France, Flanders, and 
from Dieppe perbaps to the farthest ex- 
tremity of the latter country, must have 
been greatly deteriorated by these en- 
croachments. ‘Let the age of the chart 
, be censidered, and reflection be made at 
“Origin of Alphabeticul Signdls tn the Navy. 
The head-lands, © 
169 
the same time, on the constant ravages 
the sea is known to have more recently 
comimitted in different quarters: the 
above facts, however extraordinary, will 
then not appear entirely void of proba- 
bility. In North America, in the com- 
paratively short space of the War of In- 
dependence, as itis called, the peninsula 
Sandy Hook became an island. At 
home, an-almost daily loss of ground is. 
sustained in the Island of Sheppey, by 
the falling away of the cliff on the north 
side. Vhe Island of Jersey was once 
so nearto the coast of France, that the 
small brook separating it from the mat 
land required nothing more than a plank 
for the passengers to cross; and it is not 
long since the house in Jersey, whicla 
anciently supphed the plank, still paid a 
small fine im leu of that service. 
a 
wa 
_ Hor the Monthly Magazine. - 
ORIGIN Of TELEGRAPHIC SIGNALS. 
APTAIN Thompson, of the royal 
navy, better known to the pubire 
as poet Thompson, who died some years 
ago in bis command on the coast of 
Guinea, contrived, while a lieutenaat, a 
Set of alphabetical signals, which there 
Is every reason to suppose furnished the 
idea of the telegraphic signals now da 
use. They were literal; that is, they 
served for the expression of stagle letters, 
instead of the words and short sentences 
expressed by the telegraplicai Signals. 
The y was,as well-as the 7 and 2, ontted. 
The five vowels were denoted by simple 
flags of different colours, and the eighteea 
consonants by party-culour flags diver- 
sified in their shape. At that time a 
double intrigue subsisted 12 the fasbion- 
able world, between the late Duke ef 
Cumberland and Lady Grosvenor en the 
one hand; and, on the other, betweea 
Captain Hervey* and the notorious Miss 
Chudleigh, afterwards Duchess of Kings- 
tou. In the conduct ef this joint intrigue 
the alphabetical signals were eminenit- 
ly useful, as they enabled each of the 
gallauts to further the views of the 
Other, on all occasions which might pre- 
sent themselves, for carrying ea she 
amorous correspondence. 
* This gent!2man, who afterwards became 
Earl of Bristol, and was the elder brother wf 
the late ear!, the celebrated virtuoso and 
collector, commanded a ship of the flcet in 
which the Duke of Cumberland was em- 
barked. A strong intimacy subsisted both, 
betweea them and the ladies. 
Thet 
