THE DALES OF DERBYSHIRE, 51 
a considerable distance, and reappears near Ilam. The cave 
in Dovedale was doubtless at one time or other a passage 
of the same kind. Before Dovedale was excavated, a portion 
of the Dove waters, if not all of them, flowed through this 
and similar caverns, having taken an underground course 
higher up towards Hartington, to appear again at the 
termination of the grey rock at Thorpe below. 
As we approach the point where the dale breaks out into 
the open again, cave mouths present themselves to our 
view. That these at one time or another were full of water, 
there can be no doubt, and that they were feeders of the 
main eroding and disolving current is almost beyond question. 
If we follow the course of the river through Hartington 
to Longnor, and beyond that place to its source, many and 
varied phenomena are presented to our view. The valley 
opens into a wide sweeping expanse, with patches of grey 
rock coming to the surface on either side, in some places 
standing out in bold cliffs, in others sweeping away under 
the verdure of the hill side. Then the valley narrows into 
deep gorges, and here, passing Crowdicote on the right, 
for a considerable distance, in the low woods, we have the 
happy hunting ground of the geoligist and fossil collector, 
fossils of shelis being found in abundance. At last, between 
Buxton and Leek, under Axe Edge, the Dove water comes 
to the surface for the first time, emerging from cave mouths 
of the same character as those noticed in our journey 
through the Dale. If we were to closely observe the 
action of the water, we should notice a gradual enlargement 
of the exits of the slow formation or extension of the Dale 
by the disappearance of the material, the grey rock of 
which the strata are composed. 
Journeying northwards from Derby and following the 
valley of the Derwent, we first come in contact with the 
grey rock at Ambergate, which we see lying in pieces on 
the lime-kiln banks to our right. On ascending the hills 
