312 ON LANDSLIPS. 



On looking round the house for signs of the movement of 

 the slip below, there were noticeable cracks in the walls and 

 in the ceilings ; and these latter all ran diagonally across the 

 rooms, showing that one corner of the house moved faster 

 than the other parts. This was quite consistent with the 

 position of the house upon the slip, for in a slip the middle 

 always moves faster than the sides, as in a stream of water, 

 and one corner of the house was nearest to the middle of the 

 slip. I soon became interested in these violent and sudden 

 reports, which no longer startled me. They were, of course, 

 most frequent after rainy weather. Another evidence of the 

 former continuous advance of the slip was proved by the 

 well. A good pump had been fixed in this well originally ; 

 but as the slip advanced, the masonry round the well was 

 broken through at the level of the " slipping surface," and 

 the part of the well above this fracture slowly but con- 

 tinuously advanced over the lower portion, until the pump 

 itself was nipped between the opposite walls and, after a 

 time, broken off — after which event no more water could be 

 pumped up. This occurred before I was in possession, but I 

 was afterwards told of it by the mason who did the repairs 

 for the former owner. 



The railway, when it was made, cut through the neck of 

 the slip for a depth of about 25 feet: it did not go through 

 it, but left a bit in the bottom, under the deepest part of 

 which, doubtless, the stream of water ran down a channel in 

 the original surface of the ground. 



It was full of interest to watch the laying open of the old 

 slip, as the cutting was excavated. The slip was composed 

 entirely of the blue fuller's-earth clay at the bottom, but 

 carrying some rough blocks of stone at or near the top. The 

 " slipping surface " was peculiarly evident, as was also 

 the ancient top soil which had been burled by the slip when 



