210 THE NATURALIST. 



The general aspect of this remarkable spot may be roughly indicated 

 by the resemblance it bears to a staircase of grey limestone cliffs, alternat- 

 ing with grassy slopes, reaching nearly 2,000 feet at various points along 

 its upper ridge, and descending to 650 feet above the sea-level in the 

 valley below. The last irregular descent forms an arc of a circle, which, 

 if completed, would have a radius of some five miles. In this arc of about 

 30° the Cove and Gordale Scar find their place. The tarn is high up on 

 the broad terrace between the top of the Cove and the second great ridge, 

 1,200 feet above the level of the sea. The village of Malhara lies about a 

 mile from the foot of the Cove, at a height of rather more than 600 feet.* 



It will be readily seen that such a piling-up of rocks as this is far 

 from usual. The geological phenomena by which the scenery may be 

 interpreted are no less extraordinary. To enter upon this interesting 

 subject here is impossible, and it must suffice to say that Malham is situ- 

 ated on the edge of the Great Craven Fault, to which disturbance it owes 

 the huge and precipitous limestone scars which now form its most charac- 

 teristic feature. At the Cove the mountain limestone forms a band about 

 400 feet thick, with numerous vertical fissures. The valley of the Aire 

 below the Cove is occupied by Yoredale rocks, consisting of alternating 

 layers of limestone and millstone grit, with ironstone and goal in smaller 

 quantities. The subject may be pursued further with the aid of Professor 

 Phillips' " Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire," or his cheaper and 

 more popular work on the " Rivers, Mountains, and Sea-coasts of York- 

 shire." 



So far as this list of plants is not drawn up from personal observations, 

 it has been compiled from various MS. catalogues and printed materials. 

 An excellent series of papers by Dr. Windsor (Phytologist, New Series, vol. 

 i.), which contains a large number of Craven stations for the rarer plants 

 has been consulted throughout. Most of his Malham references have been 

 verified by the present writer. In all cases where information has been 

 confirmed by the discovery of the plant m situ, tbe usual mark (!) is added. 

 The figures which immediately follow the habitat indicate the number 

 of British " counties " in which the plant has been found, out of 112 into 

 which the island was divided by Watson in the Cybele Britannica. These 

 numerals, quoted from the Summary of Distribution in the fourth volume 

 of that work, will give an approximate idea of the frequency or rarity of 



* The poet Gray has left an admirable description of Gordale among his letters. 

 See his correspondence with Warton, October 18th, 1769. 



