GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 



3 



and yet it is here that the ocean is enabled to make its destructive 

 efforts with the greatest effect. The soft rock is gradually but 

 surely reduced, partly by the mechanical action of the waves and 

 partly by the chemical action of the sea-water. The rock being 

 almost uniformly soft, it is uniformly worn away, thus presenting 

 a comparatively unbroken face. Its material is gradually dissolved 

 in the sea ; and the calcareous matter being thus removed, we have 

 a beach composed of the remains of the flints which have been 

 pulverised by the action of the waves. Thus slowly but surely the 



FIG. 1. CHALK CLIFF 



sea gains upon the land. Thus it is that many a famous land- 

 mark, once hundreds of yards from the coast, now stands so near 

 the edge of the cliff as to be threatened by every storm ; or some 

 ancient castle, once miles from the shore, lies entirely buried by 

 the encroaching sea. 



The coast we have described is most certainly not the one with 

 the fullest attractions for the naturalist, for the cliffs lack those 

 nooks that provide so much shelter for bird and beast, and the 

 rugged coves and rock pools in which we find such a wonderful 

 variety of marine life are nowhere to be seen. But, although it 



