attempts have been made to recover from its
usurpation so valuable a tract of land:--in 1630 the famous Sir H.
Middleton was engaged, and indeed succeeded for a short time, by
means of a bank of peculiar construction. But the sea brought up so
much sand, ooze, and weeds, as to choke up the passage for the
discharge of the fresh water, which accumulating, in a wet season
and a spring-tide, made an irreparable breach, and thus ended an
experiment which _then_ cost altogether about L7000. "And after
all, the nature of the ground did not answer the expectations of
the undertakers; for though that part adjoining Brading proved
tolerably good, nearly one-half of it was found to be a light
running sand." But it should be observed, that previous to the
above attempt, several of the rich meadows contiguous to the haven
were at different times taken in.

One circumstance was very remarkable: namely, A WELL, cased with
stone, was discovered near the middle of the haven;--an
incontestible evidence, that at some remote period, the spot was in
a very different condition.

* * * * *

To the very remarkable CHANGE which appears (by the discovery of a
well,) to have taken place in the condition of the haven--and the
threatened existence of St. Helen's Church, from the "encroachment
of the sea,"--we beg to call the attention of our more reflecting
readers. History and tradition are silent as to the cause; and the
popular opinion of the present day briefly dismisses the question
by ascribing it to an increased elevation of the sea. But this
hypothesis is not supported by the appearance of the coast
immediately to the westward of the haven, where some creeks or
inlets _have become dry_; a circumstance which induced the Rev. P.
Wyndham, who wrote almost the first intelligent Guide to the
island, to conclude that there actually had been a secession of
tides in this quarter; yet, singular enough, he makes no allusion
either to the haven or the church. Now as there is really no
evidence whatever in the neighbourhood that would lead us to
suppose in the slightest degree, that the sea has encroached upon
the land _by its gaining a higher_ GENERAL _level_ (an idea
deprecated by many eminent geologists), we must take the
alternative in a