And it ought here to be remarked, that from whatever cause the saline nature of the ocean may proceed, its saltness is as inherent in its composition, as the heat is in the sun; while to preserve and keep up the perpetual agitation of its fluid particles, its motion is not dependant on any one single cause. The most perceptible agitation in this world of waters that strikes our senses, is that occasioned by the influence of the wind, when the raging billows heave with tumultuous throes, and threaten destruction to the affrighted mariner; yet this motion, even in the most violent storms, is said to be confined only to the surface-That occasioned by the currents however must descend to the bottom, and be particularly strong among those narrow and deep inequalities most apt to produce themt. But that which gives to the sea its most unremitting and universal impulse, which suffers it not to rest for a single moment over all its wide extended bounds, but keeps it in perpetual agitation, and makes it as it were remain vigorous, and acquire health by exercise, from one extremity of the earth to the other, is that wonderful and truly surprising phenomenon of nature, the flux and reflux of the tides. Cc 3 This Mr BOYLE has remarked from the testimony of several divers, that the sea is affected by the winds only to the depth of six feet. It would follow from this, that the height of the waves above the surface does not exceed six feet; and that this holds in the Mediterranean at least, we are informed by Compte de Marsigli; though he sometimes observed, during a very violent tempest, it rise two feet higher. The bottom of the sea, like the surface of the earth, is overspread with mountains, intersected with inequalities. In all mountainous places currents will be violent; in all places where the bottom of the sea is level, they will be almost imperceptible. Whirlpools appear to be no other than the eddies of the water formed by the action of two or more opposite currents. The Euripus, nigh the Grecian coast, and famous for the death of ARISTOTLE. alternately absorbs and rejects the water seven times in twenty-four hours.-The Charybdis, near the straits of Sicily, rejects and absorbs the water thrice in twenty-four hours; and the greatest known whirlpool in the world, that in the Norway sea, which is affirmed to be upwards of 20 leagues in circumference, is said to absorb for six hours, whales, ships, and every thing that comes near it, and afterwards returns them in the same quantity of time as it drew them in. This wonderful phenomenon, so inconceivable to the ancients, is accounted for by the moderns, on the principle of gravitation, and has been demonstrated to be under the influence of the moon*; but from whatever secondary cause it may proceed, there can be no doubt as to the fact, that the waters of the sea ebb and flow alternately twice in the course of something less than 25 hours, with the greatest regularity. This is surprising indeed; but it is no less so, that they should adhere so invariably to the limits of their operation;-that even when the waves lift up their heads in their most ungovernable fury, and toss about in their most frantic ravings, they still confine themselves to the space allotted for them by Providence, and pay the most implicit submission to that unerring law which regulates their movements. When the tide begins to flow, it signifies not that the proudest earthly potentate be in the way. CANUTE may erect his throne on the beach, and command the sea to approach no farther; but it will be only to proclaim his own impotence for regardless of the mandate, the waters will press on, and if the monarch persists, will sweep him from the face of the earth. When the ebb has commen. ced, it is equally vain to think of retarding the reflux; the rolling surges must return to the bosom of the ocean from whence they came, at the sacred impulse of that MIGHTY POTENTATE, whom it is the duty of kings and princes to obey. The bed of the ocean, gradually deepening as it recedes from our shores, till it losses itself in the dark unfathomed caves of the deep, renders it not only more commodious for the purposes of navigation, and safe for the inhabitants who The sagacious KEPLER long ago conjectured this to be the cause of the tides; but Sir ISAAC NEWTON was the first who clearly pointed out the cause of this phenomenon. The interval between the flux and reflux is not exactly six hours; so that these revolutions do not happen the next day at the same moment, but about three quartets of an hour latter, which accounts for the highest tides not happening exactly at the same hour. Did the tide advance with a lawless and unlimited swell it might deluge whole continents. Were it irregular and uncertain in its ap proaches, navigation would be at a stand. who dwell on its borders, but is of singular service in removing to a distance from our shores those numerous deposits of noxious matter which are daily poured into it, while undergoing the process of purification amongst the sandy particles at the bottom. There the most offensive impurities having subsided into the mad, may be said to be buried in the depths of the sea; but not to remain, for even there a species of worms await their farther decomposition, and the last stage of corruption is made to assume a new form! ren The saltness of the sea, besides the important part it bears in the renovating power of the watery element by its saline quality, is also of use in lending its aid to preserve that motion, the beneficial efficacy of which has just been demonstrated; for the saltness of the sea ders its waters less apt to freeze, and in those countries, where, in the absence of heat, it is not so necessary otherwise, tends not a little to retard the progress of congelation. This serves also to render the water of the ocean heavier, and consequently of a proper consistency for sup porting those numerous burdens which float on its surface. Among the wonders of the Almighty in the great deep, observed by those who go down to the sea in ships, we may justly reckon those awful phenomena, termed Waterspouts; yet these no doubt have their uses*. But were it for * Water Spouts, according to a celebrated naturalist, are of two kinds; one of which is no other than a thick compressed cloud reduced to a small space by contrary winds, which blowing at the same time from many corners, give it a cylindric form, and causes the water to fall by its own weight.-The quantity of water is so great, and the fall so sudden and precipitate, that if unfortunately one of these spouts breaks on a vessel, it shatters it to pieces, and sinks it in an instant. It is asserted, and possibly with foundation, that these spouts may be broken and destroyed by the commotion which the firing of cannons excite in the air. The other kind of Water Spout is called a typhon, and does not descend from the clouds, but rises up from the sea with great violence. These Water Spouts, THEVENOT observes, are also very dangerous, for if they fall on a vessel they entangle in the sails so much that sometimes they raise it up and afterwards let it fall with such violence as to sink it; or, at least, if they do not lift the vessel for no other purpose than to add to the grandeur of such a scene as is about to be described, and awaken feelings similar to those experienced by the author of the following sublime sketch, taken in midst of the Atlantic ocean, these wonderful productions of the varying power of nature, may be said not to have been created in vain. "One evening," observes this writert, "(it was a profound calm) we were in the delicious seas which bathe the shores of Virginia; every sail was furled; I was engaged upon the deck, when I heard the bell that summoned the crew to prayers; I hastened to mingle my supplications with those of the companions of my voyage. The officers, with the passengers, were on the quarter; the chaplain, with a book in his hand, stood at a little distance before them; the seamen were scattered at random over the poop; we were all standing, our faces towards the prow of the ship, which was turned to the west. The globe of the sun, whose lustre even then our eyes could scarcely endure, ready to plunge beneath the waves, was discovered through the rigging in the midst of a boundless space. From the motion of the stern, it appeared as if the radiant orb every moment changed its horizon. A few clouds wandered confusedly in the east, where the moon was slowly rising; the rest of the sky was serene; and towards the north a water-spout, forming a glorious triangle with the luminaries of day and of night, glistening with all the colours of the prism, rose out of the sea, like a column of crystal, supporting the vaults of heaven. "He up, they tear all the sails, or let the water they contain fall on it, which often sinks it to the bottom." But whatever mischief may be occasioned by Water Spouts, or however terrifying their appear. ance, we have abundant reason to believe, from their being the productions of so wise and good a God, that the partial evil they may at times occasion, is nothing in comparison with the good they promote. As the burning torrent, issuing from the top of Etna or Vesuvius, alarms the surrounding inhabitants, and sometimes carries irremediable devastation among their dwellings, yet is absolutely necessary to prevent greater evils; so the terrific Water Spout may act as the most simple and efficacious medium of restoring that equilibrium among. the elements, which, if longer prevented, might not only occasion convulsions sufficient to swallow up whole navies, but be attended with the most direful effects upon the dry land. +CHATEAUBRIAND. He who had not recognised in this spectacle the beauty of the Deity had been greatly to be pitied. Religious tears involuntarily flowed from my eyes. "The consciousness of our insignificance, excited by the spectacle of infinity; our songs resounding to a distance over the silent waves, the night approaching with its dangers; our vessel itself a wonder among so many wonders; a religious crew, penetrated with admiration and with awe; a priest, august in supplicating the Almighty God, inclined over the abyss, with one hand staying the sun at the portal of the west, with the other raising the moon in the eastern hemisphere, and lending, through immensity, an attentive ear to the feeble voice of his creatures; this is a picture which baffles description, and which the whole heart of man is scarcely sufficient to embrace." No person who has walked along the sea-shore but must have observed that incessant noise, that continued murmur, which even when the greatest calm prevails, salutes his ear, and the beautiful white edging by which the floating mantle is fringed at its extremities. This soft and placid murmur, and these graceful white curls, are occasioned by the motion of the waves on the extended beach; and trivial as they may appear, serve as perpetual monitors to warn the passenger where the line of boundary commences, which separates the land from the water; and, as the rushing noise of the rapid river, and the tremendous roar of the dreadful cataract serve to point out the path of danger to the bewildered traveller, particularly under the cloud of night, these, as well as the luminous appearance of the sea, and the noise of the breakers on the rocks, in regions more remote from the habitations of men, may also be of use to the mariner in the midnight gloom, by enabling him to steer clear of impending danger*. The luminous appearance of the surface of the ocean during the obscurity of the night. has been remarked by navigators, and is a curious phenomenon which has,long exercised the sagacity of philos.ophers; but without enquiring into the cause of this singular phosphoric property of the waters, by which they are illuminated, and rendered more visible among breakers, or where the greatest agitation prevails, we must allow, that it, as well as the noise which they make in a state of turbulence, has been wisely imparted to |