42 Geographical Collections, 



sandy beach. This bay is succeeded by piles of rolled pebbles which form the 

 headland, and continued to the north, constitute, except when interrupted by the 

 bare rock, the characteristic feature of this part of the shore, as far as to the most 

 northerly point, and it is here that the low beach is exposed to a violence of ac- 

 tion more continuous than elsewhere, and to a sea which, proud of its own 

 strength, seems ever angry at the first resistance that it meets. At first the shore 

 is shallow, and the small pebbles advance inland in successive ranges, some dis- 

 tance beyond the line of high water. They are succeeded by beds of alluvial 

 day, which overlay strata of large-grained quartzose sandstone and friable grit, 

 much acted upon by external agents, and alternating with bituminous shale. 

 Portions of millstone grit also present themselves jutting out into the sea, either 

 as angular portions of protruding crags, or the horizontal surface of an exposed 

 stratum. Towards the north-easterly point, or Immanwell Head, sands overlay 

 the sandstone, and the shores present a diiFerent aspect ; at the extreme point a 

 stone pyramid was erected as a landmark during the late survey of Lieut. John- 

 son. From this headland a ridge of stones, bare at low water, advance in a wes- 

 terly direction into the sea, while another ridge, consisting principally of mill- 

 stone grit and boulder masses, advances from the shore at right angles to the for- 

 mer : the two nearly join, and form natural breakwaters, which impede very 

 much the scooping effect of the currents. The shore circularly disposed between 

 the point marked by the pyramid and the next westerly headland, called Ness 

 End, where the rocks become more prominent, is sandy, level, and slightly in- 

 clined, and backed by a low range of sand-hills, varying in their breadth, and re- 

 tained by bent grass : they are burrowed by numerous rabbits, and are more conti- 

 nuous in the vicinity of the ocean. Beyond this the naked rock shelves into the 

 water, or breaks off in huge angular masses, abounding in rock fish, Gunnellus 

 tmlffaris, Gadus mustela, G. tricirratus, and the remarkable Syngnathus cBqttO' 

 reus. In the stomach of the former may be found sea-weeds, limpets, and peri- 

 winkles, with unchanged shells. The succession of strata forms, on the west- 

 em side, stairs, whose regularity is only interrupted by the breaking off of huge 

 portions, which lie below piled upon one another ; but, at the confines of the 

 shore, the strata are cleft perpendicularly, forming cliffs, whose bases the ocean's 

 waters have gradually washed away, leaving on their recess dark and yawning 

 caverns. Of these there are four or five distinctly marked, and appear most de- 

 cidedly to take their origin in tlie partly chemical and partly mechanical action of 

 the waters. The first or most easterly is about ten yards wide at the entrance, di- 

 minishing at the end to a width not exceeding twelve to fifteen feet — a stratum 

 of bituminous shale, nine inches in thickness, forms the upper part of the sides, 

 but has given way at the tectal surface, leaving large sandstone blocks to form 

 the roof. This cavern opens into another by an aperture that originated in a cleft 

 in the rock, subsequently widened by the action of the waters. 



The second cavern has three different entrances — the first two formed by the 

 interruption of an irregular pillar, which supports part of the roof. The first en- 

 trance is eleven feet in width, and was opened by causes, the traces of which are 

 now worn away. Its roof appears to be portions of strata remaining after the fall 

 of the rest. The second or central entrance is more lofty, and nearly fourteen 

 feet in width. The roof is formed by the sandstone stratum which succeeds the 

 bituminous shale as in the first cavern, and the same stratum forms the whole of 

 the roof. This entrance was, therefore, the original one ; and the mass of strata 

 piled in columnar fonn between this and the first mentioned entrance, and 

 marked in a concave form on both sides, wiU probably soon be swept away. The 

 base of the third entrance is not upon the same plan as that of the two former, 

 being elevated by the interception of a huge block of sandstone, and affording a 

 mere exit for the waters, when at a certain height. The width above this stratum 

 is a little more than five feet ; nor is the point at which the cleft, which originally 

 gave rise to the opening, becomes contracted, washed by the ocean, at least dur- 

 ing ordinary tides. The whole cavern is about 13 yards wide, by 22 long. 



The third cavern which is met with is an expanded hollow, with a very wide 



