The East Riding and Beozvnlf 331 



cliff. But, since sailors do not usually select such a spot for a 

 landing-place, it would seem as though this fact might furnish a 

 clue to the topography familiar in the poet's experience. Now 

 one writer tells us that 'from Hull to Whitby there is no natural 

 harbor/ while another speaks of the coast as 'deficient in good 

 and easily accessible harbors."^ At Flamborough, however, there 

 are two inlets, the North and the South Cove. These are the 

 only places upon the headland accessible to boats." Without them, 

 according to White, 'the fishermen of Flamborough would have 

 no access to the sea, except by ladders down the precipice; as it 

 is, the declivity is very steep.'' Each is described as 'a mere gap 

 in the cliffs.' Notwithstanding the height and steepness of the 

 cliffs, it would have been possible for the coast-guard to hail a 

 vessel from above, for we are told by White that 'it is a peculiar- 

 ity of Flamborough Head . . . that ships can keep so close in that 

 the men on their decks are distinctly seen, and their voices heard, 

 by one standing on the cliff.'* 



Near the North Landing, the tourist can be conducted to the 

 caves on this side of the promontory ; on the south side, where the 

 water is calmer, they are not found. "^ In some places, caves are 

 formed which open upward to the day.° Norway says' : 'There 

 may be headlands elsewhere so perforated and tunneled with laby- 

 rinthine caves as Flamborough, but I myself have never seen one.' 

 Certain peculiar ones are thus described by White (p. yG) : 



In some of the smallest and deepest caverns which curve as they 

 enter the cliff, you get effects of cross-lights from their inner extremity, 

 and see the glistening of the walls, which, worn smooth by the water, 

 appear to be varnished. In all, the floor rises more or less rapidly; 

 and in one, a hundred paces deep, the rush and roar of the surge 

 outside comes only as a gentle murmur. 



^ Norway, p. 84, cf. p. 133; White, p. 64. 



^ Norway, p. 88. 



^ P. 69. He describes the North Landing as similar to the South, 'but 

 broader, and with an outlet wide enough to be described as a bay' (p. yy). 



^ P. 72,. So, too, from the cliffs at Boulby, vessels sail 'so near the shore 

 that you can see plainly the man at the wheel, and the movements of the 

 crew on deck' (White, p. 136). 



'' Phillips, p. 96. 



"Phillips, p. 92; White, pp. 72, 75, 76; cf. Cleland, Geology, pp. 209 ff. 



' P. 86. Norway comments upon their convenience for smugglers. 



