The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-11-28

n
: nensiohs OF the earth's globe, may be spoken Z
1 rs en- indefinitely minute quiverine limited 10 a
insignificant area, has suiced to destroy the cite
and villages of whole provinces, to caase tn
oestn OF thousands OF human beings, and TO effec
. destruction OF property which must be est
mated by millions Of pounds sterling. Such
jcatastrophe as this serves indeed to show hoy
;poor and weak creature man ia In presence o
the grand workings OF nature. The mere throe
which accompany her unseen subterraneau effort
suffice to crumble mans strongest buildings ia ,
moment into dust, while the unfortunate inh abb
tants are either crushed TO death among the ruins
or forced TO remain shuddering spectators of the
destruction Of their homes.
At first sight IL may seem paradoxica to asser,
4; that earthquakes. fesrfully destructive as they
have SO often proved, yet essentially presery
alive and restorative phenomena; yet this il
strictly the case. Had no earthquakes taken
place In old times. man would not now be living
on the face of the earth if no earthquakes were
to take place in future, the term of mans exs-
tence would be limited within a range of time far
less than that 10 which 1t seems likely in all human
probability, to be extended.
, III the solid substance of the earth formed
perfect sphere 10 ante-geologc times-that is, in
ages preceding those to which our present geolo,
gic studies extend-there can be no doubt that
there was then no visible land above the surface
OF the water; the ocean must have formed a uni.
Iormiy oeep covering to the submerged surface
OF the solid globe. In this state of things, moth
ing but the earths subterranean forces could tend
10 the production Of continents and islands. Let
us be understood. We are not referring to the
possibility or impossbty that lands and seas
should suddenly have assumed their present fig
ure without CONFUSION of any sort; this miqht
have happened, since the Creator of all things
can, Of course. modify all things according TO his
VIII; We merely say that, assuming that In the
beginning, as now, he worked all things accord
Ing to the laws he has appointed himself. then,
undoubtedly, the submerged earth must have
risen above the sea by the action of those very
forms Of force which produce the earthquake in
our own times.
when once continents and Islands had been form.
ed, there immediately began a struggle between
destructive and restorative (rather, perhaps, than
preservatiye) forces.
The great enemy Of the land is water, and wa.
Ter works the destruction of the land in two prin.
cipal ways.
In the first place. the sea tends to DESTROY the
land by beating its shores and thus continually
washing IL away. 1t may seem at first sight that
this process must necessarily be a slow one; in
TACT, many may be disposed to say that Il is slow
process since we see thait does not alter the for ms
OF continents and Islands perceptibly in long in
tervais OF time. But, as a matter of fact we have
never had an opportunity Of estimating the full
effects OF this cause, since its action is continually
being checked by the restorative forces we shall
presently have to consider. We're il not thus
checked, there can be little doubt that its effects
would be cumulative; for the longer the process
continued-tbat is, the more the land was beaten
away, the higher would the sea rise, and the
greater power would ii have to effect the destruc-
ton of the remaining land.
we proceed 60 give few instances of the seas
power OF ehecting the rapid destruction of the
land, when nothing happens to interfere with the
local action-premisng that this effect is alto
gether Insignificant In comparison with that which
would take place in that particular spot, IL the
seas action were everywhere left unchecked.
Inc shetland Isles are composed of substances
which seem, OF all others, best fitted to resist the
forces of the sea-nsmely, granite,
Rneiss, mca-sate, serpentine, greensboro and
many other forms Of rock-yet, exposed as these
Stands are to the uncontrolled violence of the
Atlantic Ocean, they are undergoing a process of
destruction which, even within historical times.
Las produced very note worthy changes. "Steep
,hfis are followed out," says Sir Charles Lveli,
: into deep caves and lofty arches, and almost
very promontory ends in cluster Of rocks, imi.
atiDg the forms Of columns pinnaces and
'belsks" Speaking of one of the ISLANDS of this |
'roup, DIR. HILBERT says: The Isle Of Stenness
PRESENTS scene Of unequaled desolatiou. In |
tormy winters large blocks of stone are ever. |
urned or are removed from their native beda and |
lurried TO distance almost Incredible. In the |
siDtsr OF lso2 tabular mass, eight feet two |
inches by seven feet, and five feet one inch thick |
vas dslodged from its bed and carried TO dis. |
ance Of from eighty TO ninety feet.r Ia other
ARTS OF the Shetland Isles. where the sea has en-.
oupteied less solid materials, the work of de-
ruction has proceeded yet more effectively. |
o Roeness, for example, the sea has wrought |
Is way so fercely that large csvernous aperture
wo hundred and fifty feet long has been ho-
owed out. "But the most sublime scene," says
Dr. HILBERT, lis where mural pile of porphyry,
scapiDg the process of disintegration that il de.
aststiDg the coast, appears TO have been left as
sort OF rampant against the lnroads of the
cean. The Atlantic, when provoked BY winfrv |
ales, batiers against II with all the force of real
rtillery; and the waves in their repeated as
arlfo kaH ~ e.. r.
ntrance. This breach, named the Grind of the
avir, is widened every winter by the over whelm-
~ surge that, finding passage through il, sepa-
ites large stones from its Sides and forces them
distance OF no less than one hundred and
ghty feet. In two or three spots the fragments
bich have been detached are brought together
immense heaps, that appear as an accumula-
marry"
Let us next turn to a portion of the coast.
ne OF Great Britain which is neither de.
nded on the one hand by barriers of
'ck, not attacked on the other by the full
~ OF the Atlantic currents. Along the |
hole coast of Yorkshire, we find evidences of q
'ntinuai process Of diapidation. Between the
'ojecting headland of Flamborough and Spurn |
Oint lthe coast of Holderness), the waste is par.
,uiariy rapid. Many spots which are now mere
ID banks. are marked in the old maps of York
Ire as the sites OF ancient towns and villages.
,esklng OF Hyde Tone of these), Pennant says:
'niy tuS aouihou 10 lcib Vi tuis tOWu." wv Il
orne and its church have been for the most part
stroyed, as also Auburn, HEARTBURN and Kiinsea.
:. Philips, In his Geology of Yorkshire" states
al rot unreasonable fears are entertained that.
some future time, Spurn Point itself will be- ,
me an island, or be wholly washed away, and
en- the ocean, entering into the estuary of the
imber, will cause great devastation. Pennant
ties that several places, once towns of note
on the Humber. are now only recorded in his
y; and Ravensperg was at one time a rival of {
III, and port so very considerable In 1882,
II Edward Baliol and the confederated EGG
barons sailed from thence to invade Scot |
ID; and Henry Nv, in 1885, made choice Of this
RI TO land at, to effect the deposal of Richard
yet the whole of this has since been devoured
the merciess ocean; extensive sands dry at | q
' water. are 10 be seen in their stead" The s
ne writer also describes Spurn Point as shaped | /
Q sickle, and the land to the north be saws [
8 perpetually preyed on by the fury of the | 7
rman Sea, which devours whole acres at q Q
e.f
me decay Of the shores of Norfolk and Suffolk 9
'iso Iemsfkaeiy rapid. SIR Charles Lyell re- {
e. some faets which throw an interesting light &
the ravages whieh the commits upon the d
%. IL was computeo'<Aat when q certain inn 1 n
built at Serripgham, seventyy-srs would pass .
lore the sea could reach the spot mean .
9 Of land being calculated from previous o0ses- '
ions 10 be somewhat less than one yard aunu- y
p" But no allowance had been made for the 8
{ that the ground sloped from the sea. In .
,sequepce of this popularity. the waste became n
,ater and greater wear the cliff grew