212 THE EVOLUTION OF DERBYSHIRE SCENERY. 



varying from a few hundred feet to nearly a quarter of a 

 mile in breadth. In this part of the valley the sides are 

 about 200 feet high, and the bottom cuts into the black shale. 

 Upon this undercliff are a series of long hillocks running some 

 four or five abreast in the direction of the valley. These hillocks 

 give a peculiar and rather weird character to the scenery (Fig. 6) 



as they range up to some fifty feet in height, and, although 

 generally grass-clad, possess few trees, and these, being of a stunted 

 character, greatly enhance their apparent magnitude. It must 

 here be remarked that those hillocks near the brook are well 

 rounded, and, almost invariably, lower than those further south 

 towards the cliff. Further those near the brook are well covered 

 with verdure, while the masses towards the cliff show their " ribs" 

 in a marked manner. From this fact, and from the steepness of 

 their sides, which in certain cases exceed an angle of 45°, 

 it would seem that the hillocks near the brook are older than 

 those near the cliff. An important point to notice is that the 

 bedding of the hillocks is very regular, and corresponds, as fairly 

 as can be expected in such material, with the bedding in the 

 cliff to the south. 



In consonance with the method adopted here, we are 

 now to enquire iflto the origin of these hillocks, and trace 

 our way back carefully to the causes which have brought 

 about their existence. In the first place it is obvious that 

 these are outliers of the plateau to the south, and which 

 I shall hereafter speak of as the parent rock. The problem 

 to be solved is this ; How have they become detached and 



