Water Undercutting a Bank into a Cavern
A short note that the plunging water hollows the embankment from below, like a sudden grotto
Leonardo notes that the plunging water eats into the foot of the embankment, hollowing it out from beneath 'in the manner of a sudden cavern, or grotto.' The recto pairs this brief caption, keyed a - b - c, with a pen sketch of water cascading over the very scarp it is undermining.
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Falling water hollows a cavern beneath the bank
The banks will be hollowed out from below in the fashion of a sudden cavern or grotto, keyed a - b - c. The undercutting is the work of the water falling against the foot of the embankment.
A grotto-like void opened in the ground
Leonardo likens the excavated void to a natural cavern or grotto formed suddenly in the earth of the bank. The comparison frames erosion as the carving of a hollow chamber.
Sketch of water cascading over the scarp
A pen drawing above the note shows the stream plunging over a hatched scarp, the flow indicated by parallel strokes, with a small structure at the foot of the fall.