Chapter IX: Part 9

Loose blocks are found, at a greater or less height, in the smaller lateral valleys that open into the transverse alpine valleys, which terminate in the great valley between the Alps and the Jura. If these lateral valleys form passes (which lead over into other valleys by a lowering of the high mountain chain), which are not more than 4000 feet above the level of the sea, loose blocks occur, not only in these passes, but also more or less widely distributed in the opposite valleys. In the great principal valley which stretches between the Alps and the Jura, from the Lake of Geneva to beyond the Lake Constance, we find these loose blocks dispersed over all the hills whose elevation is not more than 3000 feet above the level of the sea; but even here the distribution of the blocks is not entirely irregular. The largest are found on such hills and acclivities as are opposite the mouths of the alpine valleys, in the great principal valley. The blocks are frequently found higher on such acclivities, than on the sides of those valleys which may be considered as a continuation of the alpine valleys. The loose blocks are found every where on that acclivity of the Jura range which is opposite to the Alps, and they are found highest and largest in those places which are directly opposite the mouths of the alpine valleys. In such places, the blocks again attain an elevation of nearly 4000 feet above the level of the sea; whereas, in the intermediate places, which are most remote from the places opposite the mouths of the alpine valleys, the blocks seldom reach at a height of 2000 feet above the level of the sea.

In those places where the Jura chain branches into the great valley between the Jura and the Alps, loose blocks are found in the valleys behind the projecting chains. The Jura range is sometimes intersected in places opposite to the Alps; and it is remarked, that loose blocks are met with in the valleys behind these intersected portions of the range; and that, when loose blocks occur in the Jura range, at a distance from the Alps, it is only in such places as are directly opposite to the intersected portions of the chain opposite to the Alps.

The circumstance of the non-occurrence of these blocks in the sandstone, marl, and nagelfluh, which occupy the great valley between the Alps and the Jura, proves that that revolution of our globe, by which these were dispersed, took place after the formation of these rocks, and may therefore have belonged to one of the latest changes which have contributed to the present form of the earth’s surface.

When we compare the relations of the alluvium of the rivers in valleys with those of the loose blocks, their similarity must strike every one. Thus, rolled masses are seldom deposited in those places where a river forces its way through a narrow passage; but where an expansion takes place, owing to the distance of the banks increasing, the rolled masses are sometimes accumulated in whole banks. The same loose blocks seldom occur in the narrow passages of the transverse valleys in the Alps; but as soon as widenings of the valleys take place below these narrowings, the blocks occur in abundance.

If, during a flood, a rupture takes place in the banks of a river, where it is contracted, a part of the stream will flow out by the lateral opening, and carry along with it rolled masses, even when the opening in the bank does not reach to the bottom of the bed of the river; for the mountain stream, loaded with boulders, carries them not merely in single masses along its bottom, but the flood-water of the stream generally attacks large sandbanks, or older beds of rolled masses, and carries along with it, accompanied with a terrible noise, whole masses, forces them over the lower banks, or through the chasm in the bank, and often deposites them several feet high, on an immediately succeeding widening of the river’s course.

In the same manner, we observe loose blocks deposited on high situations in the lateral valleys of the great transverse valleys, and dispersed over the passes into the neighbouring valleys. The height of the lateral deposites of loose blocks, and their position in the passes, and their passing into neighbouring valleys, are facts which assist us in judging of the extent of the power that may have acted during their transportation.

The striking agreement observable in the phenomena of the distribution of the loose blocks from the interior Alpine valleys to the interior valleys of the Jura, with those in the rolled masses carried along by rivers, must lead every one, who reflects on this interesting phenomenon, to the hypothesis, that these blocks may have been deposited in their present situations by an overwhelming flood, which burst from the Alps. It is true that this opinion is liable to many objections; but still it contains a more plausible explanation of the phenomenon than any other with which we are acquainted.

The loose blocks, in the different river-districts, being in general separated from each other, or if any intermixture takes place of the rolled masses of one valley with that of another, it being only on their edges, it is highly probable that the floods which burst from these valleys, and carried along with them the masses of rocks, may have been simultaneous, by which the flow of the one basin would bound and limit that of the other, and thus prevent the water-flood of one basin flowing into the neighbouring ones.

The contemporaneous occurrence of these different floods from the Alpine valleys, can alone, on this hypothesis, explain why this aqueous flood was so generally and so highly accumulated in the great valleys between the Alps and the Jura, as to reach the height of most of the sandstone mountains, and to a great elevation in the Jura, where many blocks are found deposited. But if the contemporaneous occurrence of these floods is proved by the facts already enumerated, to what cause are we to refer this simultaneous bursting of floods of water from so many Alpine valleys?

We observe, on the north-western side of the chain of the Alps, numerous openings, which, by their structure, seem to point out the action of violent floods. Let us suppose the numerous valleys, in the districts already described, closed at their present entrances, or openings, as would seem from their structure to have been formerly the case; the consequence of this arrangement would be the filling of the Alpine valleys with water, to the height of the lowest passes among the mountains, and thus an enormous accumulation of water would take place. This great body of water, if let loose at once, by the bursting of the lower extremities of the valleys, would form a flood which would sweep across the sandstone mountains, between the Alps and the Jura range, and even ascend high on the Jura itself. This flood of water, moving, probably, at the rate of 200 feet in a second, and loaded with debris of rocks, would carry masses, even these having a magnitude of 50,000 cubical feet, some thousand feet high, on the Jura range[378]. Geologists maintain, that the blocks or boulders met with in other countries, and arranged as those in Switzerland, have been deposited where we now find them, by the bursting of lakes; while those found on the shores of the Baltic, are conjectured to have been transported by a great rush of water caused by the sudden elevation of the land of Scandinavia. Another opinion has its advocates, which maintains that these boulders have been spread over different countries by the waters of the _deluge_.

NOTE F, p. 26.

ON THE ALLUVIAL LAND OF THE DANISH ISLANDS IN THE BALTIC, AND ON THE COAST OF SLESWIGH.

In this section, Cuvier gives a clear and distinct account of several kinds of alluvial formations. M. De Luc, in the first volume of his Geological Travels, describes the alluvial formations that cover and bound many of the islands in the Baltic, and upon the coast of Denmark, and gives so interesting an account of the modes followed by the inhabitants, in preserving these alluvial deposites, that we feel pleasure in communicating it to our readers.

“During my stay at Husum, I had the advantage of passing my
evenings very agreeably and profitably at the house of M.
Hartz, with his own family, and two Danish officers, Major
Behmann, commandant at Husum, and Captain Baron de Barackow. The
conversation often turned on the objects of my excursions, and
particularly on the natural history of the _coasts_ and of the
_islands_; respecting which, M. Hartz obligingly undertook to
give me extracts from the chronicles of the country. This led
us to speak of the Danish islands; and those officers giving me
such descriptions of them, as were very interesting to my object,
I begged their permission to write down, in their presence, the
principal circumstances which they communicated to me. These will
form the first addition to my own observations; I shall afterwards
proceed to the information which I obtained from M. Hartz.

The two principal islands of the Danish Archipelago, those of
Funen and Seeland (or Zeeland), as well as some small islands
in the Kattegate, namely, Lenoe, Anholt, and Samsoe, are hilly,
and principally composed of _geest_[379]; and in these are found
_gravel_ and _blocks of granite_, and of other stones of that
class, exactly in the same manner as in the country which I have
lately described, and its _islands_ in the North Sea. On the
borders of the two first of these Danish islands, there are also
_blocks_ in the sea; but only in front of _abrupt_ coasts, as is
the case with the islands of Poel and Rugen, and along the coasts
of the Baltic. The lands added to these islands of _geest_ are in
most part composed of the _sand_ of the sea, the land-waters there
being very inconsiderable; and to the south of them have been
formed several islands of the same nature, the chief of which are
Laland and Falster, near Seeland. These, like the marsh islands
in the North Sea, are sand-banks accumulated by the waves, and,
when covered with grass, continuing to be farther raised by the
sediments deposited between its blades. In the Baltic, where there
are no sensible tides, such islands may be inhabited without dikes,
as well as the extensions of the coasts; because, being raised to
the highest level of that sea, while their declivity under water
is very small, and being also more firm in their composition, the
waves die away on their shores; and if, in any extraordinary case,
the sea rises over them, it leaves on them fresh deposits, which
increase their heights. These soils are all perfectly _horizontal_,
like those added to the coasts of the Continent.

Some of these islands approach entirely, or in part, to the nature
of that of Rugen. This island of Seeland, on that side which is
called Hedding, has a promontory composed of strata of _chalk_
with its flints. The island of Moen (or Mona), on the south of
the latter, has a similar promontory near Maglebye and Mandemark;
and the island of Bornholm, the easternmost of those belonging
to Denmark, contains strata of _coal_, covered by others of
_sandstone_. Phenomena like these, evident symptoms of the most
violent catastrophes at the bottom of the ancient sea, proceeding,
as I think I have clearly shewn, from the subsidence and angular
motions of large masses of strata, which must have forced out the
interior fluids with the utmost impetuosity, it is not surprising
that so many fragments of the lowermost strata are found dispersed
over this great theatre of ruins.

I now proceed to the details which I received from M. Hartz;
beginning by a specific designation of the _islands_ dependent on
the province of Sleswigh, such as they are at present, belonging
to the three classes already defined. To commence from the north;
Fanoe, Rom, Sylt, and Amrom, were originally _islands_ of the
same nature as the neighbouring continent, but have been since
extended by _marsches_[380]. The soil of these islands, with its
gravel and blocks of primordial stones, was at first barren, as
the _geest_ is naturally every where; but is become fertile by
manure, of which there has been no deficiency, since those grounds
have been surrounded with _marsch_, where the cattle are kept in
stables during the winter. In the island of Sylt, there are spaces
consisting of _moor_, but its head of land, which extends on the
south as far as Mornum, is composed entirely of _marsch_, and is
bordered with _dunes_ towards the open sea, because, the sediments
of the rivers not reaching any farther, the _sea-sand_ impelled
against it by the waves remains pure, and is thus raised by the
winds in hillocks on the shore. The shallow bottom of the sea,
between this island and that of Fora, is of _geest_: at low water,
it may be passed over on foot; and there are found on it gravel
and blocks of _granite_. But on the same side of Fora there is a
great extent of _marsch_, beginning from St Laurencius. Among the
islands consisting entirely of _marsch_ and surrounded with dikes,
the most considerable are Pellworm and Nord Strand; and among the
Halligs, or those inhabited without dikes, the chief are Olant,
Nord-marsh, Langne, Groode, and Hooge.

Such are the islands on this coast, in their present state, now
rendered permanent by the degree of perfection at which the
art of dike-making is arrived. But, in former times, though
the _original_ land was never attacked by the _sea_, which, by
adding to it _new lands_, soon formed a barrier against its own
encroachments, the latter, and the _islands_ composed of the same
materials, were subject to great and sudden changes, very fatal
to those who were engaged to settle on them by the richness of
their soil, comparatively with the continental. The inhabitants,
who continued to multiply on them during several generations, were
taught, indeed, by experience, that they might at last be invaded
by the element which was incessantly threatening them; but having
as yet no knowledge of natural causes, they blindly considered
those that endangered them as supernatural, and for a long time
used no precautions for their own security. They were ignorant of
the dreadful effects of a certain association of circumstances,
rare indeed, but, when occurring, absolutely destructive of these
_marsches_. This association consists of an extraordinary elevation
of the level of the North Sea, from the long continuance of certain
winds in the Atlantic, with a violent storm occurring during the
tides of the new or full moon; for then the sea rises above the
level of all the _marsches_; and before they were secured against
such attacks, the waves rolling over them, and tearing away the
grass which had bound their surface, they were reduced to the state
of mere banks of sand and mud, whence they had been drawn, by the
long course of ordinary causes. Such were the dreadful accidents
to which the first settlers on these lands were exposed; but no
sooner were they over, than ordinary causes began again to act; the
sand-banks rose; their surface was covered with grass; the coast
was thus extended, and new islands were formed; time effaced the
impression of past misfortunes; and those among the inhabitants of
these dangerous soils, who had been able to save themselves on the
coast, ventured to return to settle on them again, and had time to
multiply, before the recurrence of the same catastrophes.

This has been the general course of events on all the coasts of the
North Sea, and particularly on those of the countries of Sleswigh
and Holstein. It is thus that the origin and progress of the _art
of dikes_ will supply us with a very interesting _chronometer_ in
the history of the continent and of man, particularly exemplified
in this part of the globe. A Lutheran clergyman, settled in the
island of Nord Strand, having collected all the particulars of
this history which the documents of the country could afford,
published it in 1668, in a German work, entitled _The North Frisian
Chronicle_. It was chiefly from this work, and from the _Chronicle
of Dankwerth_, that M. Hartz extracted the information which he
gave to me, accompanied by two maps, copied for me, by one of his
sons, from those of Johannes Mayerus, a mathematician; they bear
the title of _Frisia Cimbrica_; one of them respecting the state of
the _islands_ and of the _coast_, in 1240, as it may be traced in
the chronicles, and the other, as it was in 1651.

According to these documents, the first inhabitants of the
_marsches_ were _Frisii_ or _Frisians_, designated also under
the names of _Cimbri_ and _Sicambri_: the latter name, M.
Hartz conjectures, might come from the ancient German words
_Seekampfers_, i. e. _Sea-warriors_; the _Frisians_ being very
warlike. These people appear to have had the same origin with
those, who, at a rather earlier period, took possession of the
_marsches_ of Ost-Frise (East-Friesland), and of that Friesland
which forms one of the United Provinces; but this common origin
is very obscure. Even at the present day, the inhabitants of the
_marsches_, from near Husum to Tondern, or Tunder to the North,
though themselves unacquainted with it, speak a language which
the other inhabitants of the country do not understand, and which
is supposed to be Frisian. It is the same at a village in the
peninsula of Bremen, by which I have had occasion to pass.

The _Sicambri_ or _North Frisians_, are traced back to some
centuries before the Christian era. At the commencement of that
era, they were attacked by Frotho, King of Denmark, and lost
a battle, under their king Vicho, near the river Hever. Four
centuries afterwards they joined the troops of Hengist and Horsa.
In the year 692, their king Radebot resided in the island of
Heiligeland. Charles Martel subdued them in 732; and some time
afterwards they joined Charlemagne against Gottric, King of
Denmark. These are some of the circumstances of the history of this
Frisian colony, recorded in the chronicles of which I have spoken;
but the history here interesting to us is that of the lands whereon
they settled.

It appears that these people did not arrive here in one body,
but successively, in the course of many years: they spread
themselves over various parts of the coasts of the North Sea, and
even a considerable way up the borders of the Weser and the Elbe;
according to documents which I have mentioned in my _Lettres sur
l’Histoire de la Terre et de l’Homme_. These new settlers found
large _marsches_, formed, as well in the wide mouths of those
rivers as along the coasts, and around the original islands of
_geest_; especially that of Heiligeland, the most distant from the
coast, and opposite the mouth of the Eyder. Of this island, which
is steep towards the south, the original mass consists of strata
of _sandstone_; and at that time its _marsch_ extended almost to
Eyderstede: there were _marsches_ likewise around all the other
original islands; besides very large islands of pure _marsch_ in
the intervals of the former.

All these lands were desert at the arrival of the Frisians; and
the parts on which they established their first habitations, to
take care of their breeds of horses and cattle feeding on the
_marsches_, were the original eminences of the islands; on that of
Heiligeland they built a temple to their great goddess Phoseta, or
Fosta. When they became too numerous to confine themselves to the
heights, their herds being also greatly multiplied, they ventured
to begin inhabiting the _marsches_; but afterwards, some great
inundations having shewn them the dangers of that situation, they
adopted the practice followed by those who had settled on the
_marsches_ of the province of Groningen, and still continued on the
Halligs; that of raising artificial mounts called _werfs_, on which
they built their houses, and whither they could, upon occasion,
withdraw their herds; and it likewise appears, that, in the
winter, they assembled in greater numbers on the spots originally
the highest, in the islands, as well as on some parts of the coasts.

Things continued in this state for several centuries; during which
period, it is probable that the inhabitants of these lands were
often, by various catastrophes, disturbed in the enjoyment of them,
though not discouraged. But in 516, by which time these people were
become very numerous, more than 600 of them perished by one of the
concurrences of fatal circumstances already defined. It was then
that they undertook the astonishing enterprise of enclosing these
lands. They dug ditches around all the _marsches_, heaping up on
their exterior edge the earth which was taken out; and thus they
opposed to the sea, dikes of eight feet in height. After this,
comprehending that nothing could contribute more to the safety of
their dwellings, than to remove the sea to a greater distance,
they undertook, with that view, to exclude it from the intervals
between the islands, by uniting, as far as should be possible,
those islands with each other. I will describe the process by which
they effected this, after I shall have recalled to attention some
circumstances leading to it.

From all that I have already said of the _fore-lands_, and of the
manner in which they are increased, it may be understood, that
the common effects of the _waves_ and of the _tides_ is to bring
materials from the bottom of the sea towards the coasts; and
that the process continues in every state of the sea. The land
winds produce no _waves_ on the coasts, which can carry back to
the bottom of the sea what has been brought thence by the winds
blowing against the shore; and as for the _tides_, it may have
been already comprehended (and shall soon be proved), that the
_ebb_ carries back but very little of what has been brought by the
_flood_. So that, but for some extraordinary circumstances, the
materials continually impelled towards the shore, which first form
islands, would at last unite against the coast in a continuous
soil. The rare events, productive of great catastrophes, do not
carry back these materials towards the bottom of the sea; they
only, as it has been said before, ravage the surface, diminishing
the heights, and destroying the effect of vegetation. These, then,
were the effects against which it was necessary to guard.

I now come to the plan of uniting the _islands_, formed by these
early inhabitants. They availed themselves for that purpose of
all such parts of the sand-banks as lay in the intervals between
the large islands, and were beginning to produce grass. These,
when surrounded with dikes, are what are called _Hoogs_; and
their effects are to break the waves, thus diminishing their
action against the dikes of the large islands, and, at the same
time, to determine the accumulation of the mud in the intervals
between those islands. In this manner a large _marsch_ island,
named Everschop, was already, in 987, united to Eyderstede by the
point on which Poppenbull is situated; and in 995, the union of
the same _marsches_ was effected by another point, namely, that
of Tetenbull. Lastly, in the year 1000, Eyderstede received a
new increase by the course of the Hever, prolonged between the
sand banks, being fixed by a dike; but the whole still remained
an _island_. This is an example of the manner in which the
_marsch_ islands were united by the _hoogs_; and the chronicle of
the country says, that, by these labours, the islands were so
considerably enlarged in size, and the intervals between them so
much raised, that, at low water, it was possible to pass on foot
from one to the other. The extent of these _marsches_ was so great
on the coast of Sleswigh alone, that they were divided into three
provinces, two of which comprehended the islands, and the third
comprised the _marsches_ contiguous to the coast; and the same
works were carried on upon the _marsches_ of the coast of Holstein.

But the grounds thus gained from the sand-banks were very
insecure; these people, though they had inhabited them more than
ten centuries, had not yet understood the possibility of that
combination of fatal circumstances above described, against which
their dikes formed but a very feeble rampart; the North Sea, by the
extraordinary elevations of its level, being much more formidable
in this respect than the ocean, where the changes of absolute level
are much less considerable. I shall give an abridged account of the
particulars extracted by M. Hartz from the chronicle of Dankwerth,
relative to the great catastrophes which these _marsches_
successively underwent, previously to the time when experience led
to the means necessary for their security.

In 1075, the island of Nord Strand, then contiguous to the coast,
particularly experienced the effect of that unusual combination
of destructive causes; the sea passing over its dike, and forming
within it large excavations like lakes. In 1114 and 1158,
considerable parts of Eyderstede were carried away; and in 1204,
the part called Sudhever in the _marsch_ of Uthholm was destroyed.
All these catastrophes were fatal to many of the _marsch_ settlers;
but in 1216, the sea having risen so high that its waves passed
over Nord Strand, Eyderstede, and Ditmarsch, near 10,000 of their
inhabitants perished. Again, in 1300, seven parishes in Nord Strand
and Pellworm were destroyed; and in 1338, Ditmarsch experienced a
new catastrophe, which swept away a great part of it on the side
next Eyderstede: the dike of the course of the Eyder between the
sand-banks was demolished, and the tides have ever since preserved
their course throughout that wide space. Lastly, in the year 1362,
the isles of Fora and Sylt, then forming but one, were divided, and
Nord Strand, then a _marsch_ united to the coast, was separated
from it.

During a long time, the inhabitants who survived these
catastrophes, and their successors, were so much discouraged,
that they attempted nothing more than to surround with _dikes_
like the former such spaces of their meadow-land as appeared the
least exposed to these ravages, leaving the rest to its fate. But
the common course of causes continually tending to extend and to
raise the grassy parts of the sand-banks, and no extraordinary
combination of circumstances having interrupted these natural
operations, later generations, farther advanced in the arts,
undertook to secure to themselves the possession of those new
grounds. In 1525, they turned their attention to the indentations
made, during the preceding catastrophes, in the borders of the
_marsches_; the waves, confined in these narrow spaces, sometimes
threatening to cut their way into the interior part. In the front
of all the creeks of this kind they planted stakes, which they
interlaced with osiers, leaving a certain space between the lines.
The waves, thus broken, could no longer do injury to the _marsch_;
and their sediments being deposited on both sides of this open
fence, very solid _fore-lands_ were there formed. In 1550, they
raised the _dikes_ considerably higher, employing wheelbarrows, the
use of which was only then introduced. For this purpose, they much
enlarged and deepened the interior canals, in order to obtain more
earth, not merely to add to the height of the dikes, but to extend
their base on the outer side. At last they began to cover these
dikes with straw-ropes; but this great preservative of dikes was at
first ill managed; and the use of it was so slowly spread, that it
was not adopted in North Strand and in Eyderstede, till about the
years 1610 and 1612.

Before that time, however, the safety of the extensive soil of
the latter _marsch_ had been provided for in a different manner.
I have said above, that, when the isles of Everschop and Utholm
had been united to it, the whole together still formed but one
large _island_; now, in this state, it was in as great danger
on the side towards the continent, as on that open to the sea;
because two small rivers, the Trene and the Nord Eyder, discharging
themselves into the interval between it and the land, and by
preserving their course to the sea, this interval was thus kept
open to tempest, sometimes from the side of the Hever, sometimes
from that of the Eyder; and the waves, beating against the _geest_,
were thence repelled upon the _marsch_. The inhabitants, seeing
that the expence of remedying these evils would be greater than
they could afford, while at the same time it was indispensable to
their safety, addressed themselves to their bishop and to their
prefect, of whom they requested pecuniary assistance; and having
obtained it they first undertook the great enterprise of carrying
the Trene and the Nord Eyder higher up into the Eyder; keeping
their waters, however, still separate for a certain space, by a
_dam_ with a _sluice_, in order to form there a reservoir of fresh
water; the tides ascending up the Eyder above Frederickstadt.
They were thus enabled to carry on the extremities of the _dike_
on both sides to join the _geest_; and the interval between the
latter and the _marsch_ was then soon filled up, there being only
left at their junction the canal above described which receives
the water of the _geest_, and, at low water, discharges them from
both its extremities by sluices. At the same time, the islands of
Pellworm and Nord Strand were united with each other by means of
eight _hoogs_; and the _sandy marsches_ of which I have spoken,
contiguous to the _geest_, on the north of that of Husum, were
inclosed with dikes.

After the dikes had been thus elevated, and their surface
rendered firm by the straw ropes, though the latter were not yet
properly fixed, the inhabitants of the _marsches_ for some time
enjoyed repose; but on the 11th October 1634, the sea, rising
to an excessive height, carried away, during a great tempest,
the _hoogs_ which had produced the junction between Pellworm and
Nord Strand, these having ever since continued distinct islands;
it also violently attacked Ditmarsch; and its ravages extended
over the whole coast, as far as the very extensive new lands of
Jutland. Princes then came forward zealously to the relief of
their subjects. In particular, Frederick III., Duke of Sleswigh,
seeing that the inhabitants of Nord Strand were deficient both
in the talents and in the means necessary for the reparation and
future security of that large island, and knowing that the art
of dikes had made greater progress in Holland, because of the
opulence of the country, addressed himself to the States-General,
requesting them to send him an engineer of dikes, with workmen
accustomed to repair them; and this was granted. The dikes of Nord
Strand were then repaired in the most solid manner; and the Dutch
engineer, seeing the fertility of its soil, advised his sons upon
his death-bed, to purchase lands and settle there, if the Duke
would grant them the free exercise of their religion; they being
Jansenist catholics, and the inhabitants of the island Lutherans.
The Duke agreed to this, on condition that they and their posterity
should continue to superintend the works carried on upon the
dikes; to which they engaged themselves. From that time the art of
dikes, and particularly that part of it which consists in covering
them solidly with straw, has become common to all the _marsches_;
and the Dutch families, which have contributed to this fortunate
change, continue to inhabit the same island, and to enjoy the free
exercise of their religion.”

NOTE G, p. 28.

ON THE SAND-FLOOD.

In different parts of Scotland, as in Aberdeenshire, Hebrides, and Shetland Islands, there are examples of the natural chronometer mentioned in the text. In Morayshire there is a striking example of the sand-flood, concerning which the following details have been furnished by my young friend the Rev. Mr Ritchie.

_Sand-Flood in Morayshire._

“Westward from the mouth of the river Findhorn in Morayshire, a
district, consisting of upwards of ten square miles of land, which,
owing to its extreme fertility, was once termed the Granary of
Moray, has been depopulated and rendered utterly unproductive by
the sand-flood. This barren waste may be characterised as hilly;
the accumulations of sand composing these hills frequently varying
in their height, and changing their situation.

There is historical evidence, that, in the year 1097, the Moray
Firth overflowed the low country on its southern shore, and threw
out sand. But the destruction of the barony of Coubine (which
includes the greater part of the desert mentioned above) was long
subsequent to this, as might be proved from the inscription on a
tombstone in the church yard of Dyke. From historical notices,
also, in regard to the Kinnairds of Coubine, preparing for
publication, it appears that the eruption of sand commenced about
the year 1677; that its progress was gradual; that, in 1697, not a
vestige was to be seen of the manor-place, orchards, and offices
of Coubine; that two-thirds of the barony were already ruined, and
that the sand was daily gaining ground.

This sand, which overwhelmed Coubine, came from Mavieston,
situated on the shore, about seven miles west from the mouth of
the Findhorn, where, from time immemorial, there have been large
accumulations of sand. The sands at Mavieston had formerly been
covered with vegetation. In an act of the Scottish Parliament,
dated 16th July 1695, for the preservation of lands adjacent to
sand-hills, it is stated, that the destruction of Coubine “was
occasioned by the bad practice of pulling bent and juniper.” Having
been thus set at liberty, the sand moved towards the north-east, as
appears from the desolation which marks its progress. The moving
cause is the wind. I have had opportunities of witnessing the
effect of the wind on the loose sand. When the breeze is moderate
it carries along with it successive waves of sand, each wave (if I
may be allowed the expression) being of a small size, and moving
with greater or less velocity, in proportion to the strength of the
breeze, and presenting a very beautiful appearance. When the wind
is high the heavier particles are drifted forwards, the more minute
are raised to a considerable height in the atmosphere, occasioning
no small inconvenience to the spectator, who finds his ears and
nostrils filled with sand. The movements of the sand are still
towards the north-east. In the winter of 1816 a large portion of
Binsness, the only remaining farm on the west side of the Findhorn,
situated in the line of the sand’s progress, was overwhelmed.
Since that period large accumulations of sand have disappeared
altogether, and rich soil, marked with the plough, has been left
bare, after having been buried for upwards of a century.

The very minute particles, which, as has been stated, the wind
raises to a considerable height, are occasionally carried across
the Bay of Findhorn. In the statistical account of Dyke, the parish
in which Coubine is situated, it is said, “that, at the town of
Findern, in a blowing day, one may feel the sand sharply striking
on his face, from the west side.” This sand, of extreme fineness,
is to be seen in and around the town of Findhorn, and along the
coast much rich land is said to have been covered by sand brought
from the west.

The greater quantity of the sand is drifted into the river, and its
effects have been very remarkable. Many years ago the mouth of the
river having become blocked up with sand, it cut out for itself
its present channel, which conducts it, by a more direct course,
to the sea. In consequence of this, the old town of Findhorn had
changed its situation, from the east to the west side of the
river, and its site has since been covered by the sea. Previous
to this, however, the inhabitants, carrying with them the stones
of their former houses, had removed across the river, and erected
the present village. On the retiring of the tide from the bay,
the river almost disappears, being swallowed up by the sand, and
quick-sands are formed. The effect resulting from the same cause,
the drifting in of the sand is very different at high water. In
consequence of the channel of the river having been filled up, the
bay has increased in breadth. The sand constantly carried down by
the river has formed a bar, which prevents the entrance of large
vessels; and the river, probably owing to its increased breadth,
and this bar depriving it of the impetus acquired in the course
of its descent, is, at spring-tides, unable to force its way into
the sea, when it is made to flow back, and inundate a considerable
extent of carse-land situated at the head of the bay. It was at one
time proposed to render the river navigable by dredging. And it is
proposed to endeavour to save the adjoining carse-land, which is of
the richest quality, from the monthly inundation to which it is at
present subject, by building a wall along the river side.

I venture to suggest, that the plan Nature employs for fettering
down sand should first be imitated, and that seeds of the Arundo
arenaria, Elymus arenarius, and other plants, which grow readily
in sand, should be, from time to time, strewed over the Mavieston
Hills. The seeds of the Arundo arenaria are not always to be had;
but plants might easily be procured in abundance, and be dibbled
into the sand-hills. The circumstance of great accumulations of
sand having of late disappeared from Coubine, has given rise
to the expectation, that the barony is at no distant period to
become again serviceable to man. By cutting off fresh supplies
from Mavieston, this period would be accelerated, and the proposed
improvements rendered comparatively easy.

There is at present little bent on Coubine. It is chiefly confined
to a range of knolls, which forms the southern boundary of the
sand, and protects the adjoining cultivated fields from its
encroachments; and yet, notwithstanding the terrible calamity
the inhabitants of Moray brought upon themselves, by the pulling
of bent, this “bad practice” still prevails; this plant being in
no other district of country which I have visited so generally
employed for thatching cottars’ houses, and other economical
purposes.”

* * * * *

In the Outer Hebrides the effects of the sand-flood are also considerable, as shewn in the following notice communicated by my intelligent assistant Mr Macgillivray.

_Sand-Flood in the Hebrides, and other parts of Scotland._

“The bottom of the sea, along the whole west coast of the Outer
Hebrides, from Barray Head to the Butt of the Lewis, appears to
consist of sand. Along the shores of these islands this sand
appears here and there, in patches of several miles, separated
by intervals of rock, of equal or greater extent. In some places
the sandy shores are flat, or very gently sloping, forming what
are here called Fords; in others, behind the beach, there is an
accumulation of sand to the height of from twenty to sixty feet,
formed into hillocks. This sand is constantly drifting; and in
several places islands have been formed by the removal of isthmi.
The parts immediately behind the beach are also liable to be
inundated by the sand; and in this manner most of the islands have
suffered very considerable damage. Those of Pabbay and Berneray in
Harris may be particularised; in the former of which, a tract of
about a mile and a-half long, by half a mile in breadth, has been
converted into a desert of drifting sand; and in the latter a large
plain, that was formerly noted for its fertility, has been entirely
swept away. The sand consists almost entirely of comminuted shells,
apparently of the species which are found in the neighbouring seas.
It is rather coarse in the grain; but, during high winds, by the
rubbing of its particles upon each other, a sort of dust is formed,
which, at a distance, resembles smoke, and which, in the Island
of Berneray, I have seen driven into the sea, to the distance of
upwards of two miles, appearing like a thin white fog. The cure of
sand drift has been attempted in these islands in two different
ways. Mr Alexander Macleod, surgeon of North Uist, is the inventor
of the most efficacious method, which is that of cutting thin
square turfs from the neighbouring pasture grounds, and laying them
down at intervals of some inches. In the course of a very few years
the turfs coalesce, and the stript ground is little the worse; for
the roots remaining in it, a new vegetation rapidly springs up. The
other method was introduced by Mr Macleod of Harris, and tried
extensively upon his estate. It consists of planting small bundles
of Arundo arenaria, at distances of about a foot and a-half. These
take root, and prevent the drifting to a certain degree. But often
vegetation is tardy in establishing itself, and if the turf plan
be not considerably more expensive, it seems preferable, because
it very effectually prevents the drift, and moreover, produces
excellent pasture ground; the former of which indications, the
planting system, does not completely effect, and the latter in a
very imperfect degree.”

We may add, as this subject is a very interesting one, that further details, in regard to the moving sands of Scotland, will be found, on consulting the Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xx. p. 220. In the Appendix to the Account of the parish of Dyke, vol. xx. p. 228. _et seq._ there is an account of the Sand-Hills of Mavieston, which overwhelmed the barony of Coubine, as mentioned in Mr Ritchie’s communication. In vol. xix. p. 622. is a notice of the shifting of two hills of the Mavieston Range 500 yards in twenty years. In vol. xxi. p. 207. is a notice of some hundred acres in Duffus’ parish covered three feet deep by drift sand; fourteen inches accumulating in one night. In Neill’s Tour in Orkney and Shetland 1804, it is observed, that, in the neighbourhood of the Castle of Noltland, in Westra, much havoc has been done by the blowing of the sand. No measures are there employed for putting a stop to this kind of devastation. In the 6th volume of the Highland Society’s Transactions will be found a report of the operations carried on in Harris, and alluded to in Mr Macgillivray’s communication. And in Dr Walker’s Account of the Hebrides, and Mr Macdonald’s Work on the Hebrides, farther details may be seen. In Jameson’s Account of the Shetland Islands, and in Shirreff and Fleming’s Reports on these islands, are also facts connected with this devastating agent. We may add, that Dr Oudney, Major Denham, and Captain Clapperton, have added to our knowledge of the blowing sands of the African deserts. The coloured engraving of the sand-hills of the African Desert in Denham, Oudney and Clapperton’s Narrative, is a striking and interesting representation of the form of the moving sand-hills of Africa.

_The moving Sands of Africa and their effects are thus described in the_ Mercure de France _for September 1809, by De Luc_.

The sands of the Lybian desert, he says, driven by the west winds, have left no lands capable of tillage on any parts of the western banks of the Nile not sheltered by mountains. The encroachment of these sands on soils which were formerly inhabited and cultivated is evidently seen. M. Denon informs us, in the account of his _Travels in Lower and Upper Egypt_, that summits of the ruins of ancient cities buried under these sands still appear externally; and that, but for a ridge of mountains called the _Lybian chain_, which borders the left bank of the Nile, and forms, in the parts where it rises, a barrier against the invasion of these sands, the shores of the river, on that side, would long since have ceased to be habitable. Nothing can be more melancholy, says this traveller, than to walk over villages swallowed up by the sand of the desert, to trample under foot their roofs, to strike against the summits of their minarets, to reflect that yonder were cultivated fields, that there grew trees, that here were even the dwellings of men, and that all has vanished.

If, then, our continents were as ancient as has been pretended, no traces of the habitation of men would appear on any part of the western bank of the Nile, which is exposed to this scourge of the sands of the desert. The existence, therefore, of such monuments attests the successive progress of the encroachments of the sand; and those parts of the bank, formerly inhabited, will for ever remain arid and waste. Thus the great population of Egypt, announced by the vast and numerous ruins of its cities, was in great part due to a cause of fertility which no longer exists, and to which sufficient attention has not been given. The sands of the desert were formerly remote from Egypt; the _Oases_, or habitable spots, still appearing in the midst of the sands, being the remains of the soils formerly extending the whole way to the Nile; but these sands, transported hither by the western winds, have overwhelmed and buried this extensive tract, and doomed to sterility a land which was once remarkable for its fruitfulness.

It is therefore not solely to her revolutions and changes of sovereigns that Egypt owes the loss of her ancient splendour; it is also to her having been thus irrecoverably deprived of a tract of land, by which, before the sands of the desert had covered it, and caused it to disappear, her wants had been abundantly supplied. Now, if we fix our attention on this fact, and reflect on the consequences which would have attended it if thousands, or only some hundreds, of centuries had elapsed since our continents first existed above the level of the sea, does it not evidently appear that all the country on the west of the Nile would have been buried under this sand before the erection of the cities of ancient Egypt, how remote soever that period may be supposed; and that in a country so long afflicted with sterility, no idea would even have been formed of constructing such vast and numerous edifices? When these cities indeed were built, another cause concurred in favouring their prosperity. The navigation of the Red Sea was not then attended with any danger on the coasts; all its ports, now nearly blocked up with _reefs of coral_, had a safe and easy access; the vessels laden with merchandize and provisions could enter them and depart without risk of being wrecked on these shoals, which have risen since that time, and are still increasing in extent.

The defects of the present government of Egypt, and the discovery of the passage from Europe to India round the Cape of Good Hope, are therefore not the only causes of the present state of decline of this country. If the sands of the desert had not invaded the bordering lands on the west, if the work of the sea polypi in the Red Sea had not rendered dangerous the access to its coasts and to its ports, and even filled up some of the latter, the population of Egypt and the adjacent countries, together with their product, would alone have sufficed to maintain them in a state of prosperity and abundance. But now, though the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope should cease to exist, though the political advantages which Egypt enjoyed during the brilliant period of Thebes and Memphis should be re-established, she could never again attain the same degree of splendour.

Thus the reefs of coral which had been raised in the Red Sea on the east of Egypt, and the sands of the desert which invade it on the west, concur in attesting this truth: That our continents are not of a more remote antiquity than has been assigned to them by the sacred historian in the book of Genesis, from the great era of the deluge.

NOTE H, p. 30.

_Action of the Sea upon Coasts._

The ocean, in its action upon the cliffs and banks situated on the coast, breaks them down to a greater or less extent, and either accumulates the debris at their basis in the form of sea beaches of greater or less magnitude, or by currents carries it away to be deposited upon other shores, or to give rise to sand-banks near the coast, which, in the course of time, become united to the land, and thus secure it from the further action of the sea. These _destroying_ and _forming_ effects of the waters of the ocean are to be observed all around the coasts of this island; and beautiful examples of such actions are to be seen on the coasts of Ireland, and in many of the islands that lie to the west and north of Great Britain. In a paper read before the Wernerian Natural History Society, Mr Stevenson, engineer, mentions many facts illustrative of the destroying effects of the ocean on our coasts.--Thus he informs us that the waters of the sea are wearing away the land upon both sides of the Frith of Forth, not only in exposed, but also in sheltered situations, and the solid strata, as well as the looser alluvial formations, which owe their origin to the destroying agency of the ocean at a former period, are again yielding to its action. At Saint Andrew’s, the famous castle of Cardinal Beaton, which is said originally to have been some distance from the sea, now almost overhangs it: From St Andrew’s northward to Eden water and the River Tay, the coast presents a sandy beach, and is so liable to shift, that it is difficult to trace the change it may have undergone. It is certain, however, that, within this last century, the sea has made such an impression upon the sands of Barray, on the northern side of the Tay, that the light-houses at the entrance of the river, which were formerly erected at the southern extremity of Button-ness, have been from time to time removed about a mile and a quarter further northward, on account of the wasting and shifting of these sandy shores, and that the spot on which the outer light-house stood in the 17th century, is now two or three fathoms under water, and is at least three quarters of a mile within flood-mark.

NOTE, p. 32.

_On the growth of Coral Islands._

Of all the genera of lithophytes, the madrepore is the most abundant. It occurs most frequently in tropical countries, and decreases in number and variety as we approach the poles. It encircles in prodigious rocks and vast reefs many of the basaltic and other rocky islands in the South Sea and Indian Ocean, and, by its daily growth, adds to their magnitude. The coasts of the islands in the West Indies, also those of the islands on the east coast of Africa, and the shores and shoals of the Red Sea, are encircled and incrusted with rocks of coral. Several different tribes of madrepore contribute to form these coral reefs; but by far the most abundant are those of the genera carophylla, astrea and meandrina. These lithophytic animals not only add to the magnitude of land already existing, but, according to some naturalists, they form whole islands. Dr Forster, in his Observations made during a Voyage round the World, gives an account of the formation of these coral islands in the South Sea.

All the low isles, he says, seem to me to be a production of the sea, or rather its inhabitants, the polype-like animals forming the lithophytes. These animalcules raise their habitation gradually from a small base, always spreading more and more, in proportion as the structure grows higher. The materials are a kind of lime mixed with some animal substances. I have seen these large structures in all stages, and of various extent. Near Turtle Island, we found, at a few miles distance, and to leeward of it, a considerable large circular reef, over which the sea broke every where, and no part of it was above water; it included a large deep lagoon. To the east and north-east of the Society Isles, are a great many isles, which in some parts are above water; in others, the elevated parts are connected by reefs, some of which are dry at low water, and others are constantly under water. The elevated parts consist of a soil formed by a sand of shells and coral rocks, mixed with a light black mould, produced from putrified vegetables, and the dung of sea-fowls; and are commonly covered by cocoa-nut trees and other shrubs, and a few antiscorbutic plants. The lower parts have only a few shrubs and the above plants; others still lower, are washed by the sea at high-water. All these isles are connected, and include a lagoon in the middle, which is full of the finest fish; and sometimes there is an opening, admitting a boat or canoe, in the reef, but I never saw or heard of an opening that would admit a ship.