waves, and constantly crumbling; the beach itself made of the flints
outstanding after the softer chalk has been ground down and washed
away; themselves grinding one another under the same ceaseless
discipline--first rounded into pebbles, then worn into sand, and then
carried further and further down the slope, to be replaced by fresh ones
from the same source. Here the likeness of an old Gothic cathedral, with
lofty arch, and shapely pinnacle; there the similitude of a mass of
medieval fortifications, with crumbling battlements and shattered
towers!

The same thing, the same waste and wear, is going on everywhere, round
every coast. The rivers contribute their share to the great work of
change. Look at the sand-banks at the mouth of the Thames. What are
they, says Sir John Herschel, but the materials of our island carried
out to sea by the stream? The Ganges carries away from the soil of
India, and delivers into the sea, twice as much solid substance weekly
as is contained in the Great Pyramid of Egypt. The Irawaddy sweeps off
from Burmah sixty-two cubic feet of earth in every second of time, on an
average Sometimes vast amount of earthy materials is transferred from
one locality to another by river agency, as is the case in the deltas
of the Nile and the Mississippi.

These changes operate silently, continuously, and unperceived by the
ordinary observer; but Nature does not limit herself always and
everywhere to such peaceful agencies. At times, and in certain places,
she acts with startling abruptness and extraordinary violence. Let the
volcano and the earthquake attest the immensity of her power. Let the
earthquake tell how, within the memory of man, the whole coast-line of
Chili, for 100 miles about Valparaiso, with the mighty chain of the
Andes, was hoisted at one blow, and in a single night (November 19,