From Sicily
to the coast of Egypt, there is an uninterrupted course of sea for a
thousand miles; consequently, the wind, in such a stretch of sea, should
bring powerful waves against those coasts: But, on this coast of Egypt,
we find the rock on which was formerly built the famous tower of Pharos;
and also, at the eastern extremity of the port Eunoste, the sea-bath,
cut in the solid rock upon the shore. Both those rocks, buffeted
immediately with the waves of the Mediterranean sea, are, to all
appearance, the same at this day as they were in ancient times.[19]
[Note 19: Lettres sur l'Egypte, M. Savary.]
Many other such proofs will certainly occur, where the different parts
of those coasts are examined by people of observation and intelligence.
But it is enough for our present purpose, that this decrease of the
coasts in general has not been observed; and that it is as generally
thought, that the land is gaining upon the sea, as that the sea is
gaining upon the land.
To sum up the argument, we are certain, that all the coasts of the
present continents are wasted by the sea, and constantly wearing away
upon the whole; but this operation is so extremely slow, that we cannot
find a measure of the quantity in order to form an estimate: Therefore,
the present continents of the earth, which we consider as in a state of
perfection, would, in the natural operations of the globe, require a
time indefinite for their destruction.
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