2 POPULAR GEOLOGT. 



water acting iijoon them for untold ages. I have often pondered upon this 

 subject while standing upon such hills as Ringby, Mount Tabor, Beacon, 

 and Barehead. What has become of the 700 or 800 feet of strata, at the 

 least estimate, which has been swept off oiu- Grit Rocks, of all that part of 

 our parish, North-west of Beacon Hill ? (not to mention the deep valleys of 

 Wheatley and the Calder) and of all that mass of earth which has been 

 scooped out of the deep valleys of Luddenden-dale and Shibden-dale ? Had 

 the surface of the earth remained just as these disturbances left it, it is very 

 probable that our neighbourhood would have presented a wild waste of abrupt 

 precipices, varying from 1 foot to 160 feet in height. Scarcely a rood of 

 continuous level ground would have been visible. No noble hills like Ringby 

 or Beacon, no beautiful and fertile valleys like the Calder and Shibden, no 

 lovely dales and sylvan dells; and no rivers aud streams would have relieved 

 the dreary monotony of the wilderness of deep pools and perpendicular 

 cliffs. 



All these inequalities of the ground were plained off, and afterwards 

 our broader and deeper valleys were scooped out, most probably by the 

 waves of the sea, before, or while the land was rising above the level of 

 the water. But the manifold diversities of scenery which everywhere meet 

 our admiring gaze, have been chiefly effected by the agency of such simple 

 means as frost, moisture, rain, rivers and streams, and other atmospheric 

 causes. From the summit of Ringby on a clear day, a splendid view may 

 be obtained of the physical features of the country around Halifax. The 

 crag and tail phenomenon, so ably described by Hugh jNliller, is well 

 illustrated by the great number and variety of sharp and well-defined 

 prominences all facing to the west and north-west, which may be seen from 

 its lofty eminence. The land behind these prominences slopes gently 

 down to the east, and very often sinks under another crag, Several of these 

 crag and tail phenomena may be seen in succession, in irregular lines 

 right across the country ai far as the eye can reach. 



From the above brief sketch of the strata of our neighbourhood it 

 ■will be seen that a great deal may be learnt about Geology even in the 

 limited extent of om: parish. I have necessarily had to pass over a gi-eat 

 many interesting facts, in order to get my paper into the limits which our 

 little magazine can afford for one subject. My object has been to put th'^ 

 subject in such a simple way as to be easily understood by any one who 

 has any inclination to know something of the Geology of Halifax; for I 

 am convinced that there is ample scope in our parish for the study of tliis 



