vion, by the waſhing up of ſand and earth, ſo as in time to make terra firma; or by dereliction, as when the ſea ſhrinks back below the uſual watermark; in theſe caſes the law is held to be, that if this gain be by little and little, by ſmall and imperceptible degrees, it ſhall go to the owner of the land adjoining[1]. For de minimis non curat lex: and, beſides, theſe owners being often loſers by the breaking in of the ſea, or at charges to keep it out, this poſſible gain is therefore a reciprocal conſideration for ſuch poſſible charge or loſs. But, if the alluvion or dereliction be ſudden or conſiderable, in this caſe it belongs to the king; for, as the king is lord of the ſea, and ſo owner of the ſoil while it is covered with water, it is but reaſonable he ſhould have the ſoil, when the water has left it dry[2]. So that the quantity of ground gained, and the time during which it is gaining, are what make it either the king's, or the ſubject's property. In the ſame manner if a river, running between two lordſhips, by degrees gains upon the one, and thereby leaves the other dry; the owner who loſes his ground thus imperceptibly has no remedy: but if the courſe of the river be changed by a ſudden and violent ſtood, or other haſty means, and thereby a man loſes his ground, he ſhall have what the river has left in any other place, as a recompenſ for this ſudden loſs[3]. And this law of alluvions and derelictions, with regard to rivers, is nearly the ſame in the imperial law[4]; from whence indeed thoſe our determinations ſeem to have been drawn and adopted: but we ourſelves, as iſlanders, have applied them to marine increaſes; and have given our ſovereign the prerogative he enjoys, as well upon the particular reaſons before-mentioned, as upon this other general ground of prerogative, which was formerly remarked[5], that whatever hath no other owner is veſted by law in the king.
