190 On the Origin of the Terraces, Balks, or Lynchets 



very gentle slope." They are the class to which I would apply 

 the theory given above, of their probable origin in " strips " or 

 "lands," formerly held in severalty by different occupiers. No. 2 

 represents another class occurring upon very steep slopes, and 



Fig. 2.— Profile of Terraces on the Side of a Chalk Hill near Twyford. 



contouring round a promontory of the hill-side. In these cases it 

 is probable that the pick or mattock was emploj'ed as well as the 

 plough. The exact resemblance of such terraced slopes to those 

 so generally formed in similar situations by the vine-growers of 

 the continent, with the object of arresting the descent of soil 

 washed down by rain-storms, and also of facilitating the action of 

 the plough, is evident. But Mr. Mackintosh refuses to believe 

 them artificial, and attributes them to "oceanic currents, at differ- 

 ent levels with or without floating ice." No. 3 he describes " as 

 the finest series of undoubted old Coast-lines or Raised Sea-beaches," 

 he ever met with. 



Fig. 3.— Terraces near LlangoEen, as seen from the hill north of Llantysilio Railway Station. 



