The plan of driving piles into the beach, for the purpose of retaining it, and encouraging materials to lodge on its surface, and consequently to break the force of the waves, has long been adopted on different coasts in England; and where a continuation of them has been practised, in certain localities, seem to have been attended with success; in others they have exhibited only a partial protection, from their temporary duration, and considerable inconvenience has been felt on coasts where shingle predominates, from pebbles pouring over in great numbers during heavy gales. The immense quantity of sand displayed on this portion of the coast affords not only a different feature, but more gratifying results may be anticipated. In Yarmouth, the sea has not advanced upon the sands in the slightest degree since the reign of Elizabeth, and where the town is built became firm and habitable ground about the year 1008, from which time a line of dunes has gradually increased in height and breadth, stretching across the whole entrance of the ancient estuary, and obstructing the ingress of the tides so completely, that they are only admitted by a narrow passage, which the river keeps open, and which has gradually shifted several miles to the south. {45a} By the exclusion of the sea, thousands of acres in the interior have become cultivated lands; and exclusive of small pools, upwards of sixty fresh water lakes have been formed, varying in depth from fifteen to thirty feet, and in extent from one to twelve hundred acres. {45b} The benefit derived from the erection of piers at the Haven’s mouth, has, in conjunction with the jetty, afforded great protection to the town of Yarmouth. The tidal wave and current has been checked, the shore has been elevated, retained, and rendered wider to the northward, as far as Winterton; {45c} a shoal of sand has formed, and extends a considerable distance into the sea, at right angles to the shore, beyond the termination of the north pier, so that it has been found necessary to place a buoy at its extremity, as a guide for the mariner to steer due east from the Haven’s Mouth to Yarmouth Roads. The jetty, extending into the sea upwards of four hundred and fifty feet, is now about to be added to, in consequence of the shallowness of the water. The question now arises, would the jetty and piers have been so beneficial, had they not been continued into the sea to the extent alluded to? Certainly not. The shoals of sand, which formerly existed in the offing, have been removed, or rather have been converted into a solid mass; the current has been diverted from a southerly to a north-easterly direction, and the bed of the ocean nearest the shore has been elevated, and no doubt terminates into the sea upon an inclined plane.