In these low-lying parts of the coast the shore is not very distinctly separated from the land, and often miles of swamp, marsh, and sand-banks are invaded by the sea during storms and very high tides. The ditches near the sea contain salt or brackish water, and the whole of this kind of coast-line has a peculiar and desolate appearance. If these two kinds of coast are taken as the extremes, all the varieties of seashores will fit in between them; but still it will appear that while in some the limit between the land and the sea is very decided, in others it is not so. Seaward the shore is very variable in its extent. In some places it may barely exist, or may only be a ledge of rock, between the cliff, the high land, and the water; and in others, miles of sand, shingle, and mud may be between the furthest reach of the waves and the limit of the low tide. The commonest examples of shores are those which are between these extremes. Some seashores slope very gradually to the sea and their extent is then usually great; and others, which are limited in their breadth, are more precipitous. Perhaps it is best to say that a seashore is the part of a coast which, at some time or other, is covered or uncovered by the sea; and that it has an extension inland, where the spray and wind are felt and act on the land, and also seaward, where some shore is only uncovered during excessively low tides. According to this view, it is possible to portion out a seashore into a greater or less number of breadths, which may be placed, side by side, from the land to the sea. First, a breadth will pass along the coast, and will contain the marshy, swampy land, or the hard rock down to the edge of the highest tide-mark. It may be miles across, or only a few feet in extent. Secondly, a breadth will be found between this last and the sea, where it is highest during common tides and storms. Thirdly, a breadth will exist four times in the twenty-four hours as dry land, and for the rest of the time it will be beneath the waves, and this is situated between ordinary high and low-tide marks. Finally, a breadth will be between this last and the everlasting sea; it is narrow, and is only uncovered for a few hours, in the months of the year when there are what are called “low spring tides.” These four breadths are termed zones, or belts; and in common language the first is the beach and coast-line, the second is the shore, the third is the tide-shore, and the fourth is “low spring shore.”