The motion of the sea from east to west is more sensible in particular places. Mariners have observed it in sailing from India to Madagascar and Africa; it is also very perceptible in the Pacific Sea, and between the Malaccas and Brazil: but this motion is most violent in the Straits; for example, the waters are carried with such great force in that direction through the Straits of Magellan that it is felt to a great distance in the Atlantic; and it is supposed that this caused Magellan to conjecture there was a strait by which the two seas had a communication. In the Manilla straits, and in all the channels which divide the Maldivian islands, the sea flows from east to west, as well as in the Gulph of Mexico, between Cuba and Jucatan. In the gulph of Paria this motion is so violent that the strait is called the Dragon's Mouth. In the Canadian and Tartarian Seas it flows also with violence, as well as in the Strait of Waigat, through which it conveys enormous masses of ice into the northern seas of Europe. The Pacific Ocean flows from east to west, through the Straits of Java; the sea of Japan flows towards China, the Indian Ocean flows towards the west, through the Straits of Java and other Indian islands; we cannot, therefore, doubt that the sea has a constant and general motion from east to west, and it is certain the Atlantic flows towards America, and that the Pacific Sea goes from it, as is evident at Cape Current between Lima and Panama. In short, the alternatives of the flux and reflux are regularly made in six hours and a half on most coasts, though at different hours, according to the climate and position of the lands: thus the sea coasts are continually beaten by the waves which at each time wash away some small parts of their matters, which they transport to a distance, and deposit at the bottom of the sea; so likewise the waves convey, and leave on the lower shores, shells, sands, &c. these by degrees form horizontal strata, which accumulating, become downs and hills, exactly similar to others, both as to form and internal composition. From this constant action, the sea naturally shuts itself out from the lowest coasts, and gains upon the highest.