At the confluence of these rivers a lake is formed, which reaches to within half a mile of the sea, then contracts again into a narrow stream, turns sharply to the south, and con- tinues its course for three miles in that diiection, separated from the ocean by a low tongue of sand only, which is over- flown by the highest tides, and then suddenly empties itself into the German Ocean, where the cliffs of Suffolk com- mence to raise themselves above the flats of Norfolk.

The botanical stations of the county all bear a direct rela- tion to the geological features which have been thus suc- cinctly sketched.

In the immediate vicinity of Yarmouth the coast is a flat plain, but more to the north the sand has accumulated under the action of the wind and tide, and formed a line of sand- banks which offer a natural barrier to the encroachments of the ocean.

In several positions these banks rise to a con- siderable height, and the labours of the plough may be seen to extend to within a quarter of a mile of the sea ; the safety to the agricultural district, from its close neighbourhood to these loose and mobile sands, being provided for by a series of grasses and sedges, (the most characteristic of which are the Carex arenaria and the Triticum junceum,) which inter- lace their creeping roots, often extending to the distance of many yards, and thus bind into a firm soil that which would otherwise render useless to the cultivator the inland country for miles.

Somewhat more removed from the coast than these regions of sand, on the immediate banks of the lower parts of the rivers, and around the broader waters, is an extent of marsh ground entirely distinct from all other regions in its vegetable productions, in consequence of its being periodically over- flown by salt water.