by Professor Moll, an immense plain,
yielding abundant crops of hay, though still uninhabited. To the north
of the Meuse is a long line of shore covered with sand dunes, where
great encroachments have taken place from time to time, in consequence
chiefly of the prevalence of southeasterly winds, which blow down the
sands towards the sea. The church of Scheveningen, not far from the
Hague, was once in the middle of the village, and now stands on the
shore, half the place having been overwhelmed by the waves in 1570.
Catwyck, once far from the sea, is now upon the shore; two of its
streets having been overflowed, and land torn away to the extent of 200
yards, in 1719. It is only by the aid of embankments that Petten, and
several other places farther north, have been defended against the sea.

_Formation of the Zuyder Zee and Straits of Staveren._--Still more
important are the changes which have taken place on the coast opposite
the right arm of the Rhine, or the Yssel, where the ocean has burst
through a large isthmus, and entered the inland lake Flevo, which, in
ancient times, was, according to Pomponius Mela, formed by the
overflowing of the Rhine over certain lowlands. It appears that, in the
time of Tacitus, there were several lakes on the present site of the
Zuyder Zee, between Friesland and Holland. The successive inroads by
which these and a great part of the adjoining territory, were
transformed into a great gulf, began about the commencement, and were
completed towards the close, of the thirteenth century. Alting gives the
following relation of the occurrence, drawn from manuscript documents of
contemporary inhabitants of the neighboring provinces. In the year
1205, the island now called Wieringen, to the south of the Texel, was
still a part of the mainland, but during several high floods, of which
the dates are given, ending in December, 1251, it was separated from the
continent. By subsequent incursions the sea consumed great parts of the
rich and populous isthmus, a low tract which stretched on the north of
Lake Flevo, between Staveren in Friesland and Medemblick in Holland,
till at length a breach was completed about the year 1282, and
afterwards widened. Great destruction of land took place when the sea
first broke in, and many towns were swept away; but there was afterwards
a reaction to a certain extent, large tracts, at first submerged, having
been gradually redeemed. The new straits south of Staveren are