146 the president's address. 



shire Beacon, 1,444 feet; the Herefordshire Beacon, 1,162 feet; 

 Swinyard Hill, 940 feet ; Midsummer Hill, crowned -with a camp, 

 1,006 feet ; Raggedstone Hill, 884 feet ; and Keys End Hill, from 300 

 to 665 feet. 



The passes, six in number, are Wind's Point, at the north side of 

 the Herefordshire Beacon, 830 feet, forming the mail road to Ledbnry ; 

 the Wvcii. 000 feet; the Silurian Pass, 875 feet, between Herefordshire 

 Beacon and Swinyard Hill ; the Valley at Fair Oaks. 575 feet, 

 between Swinyard and Midsummer Hills : Hollybush Valley, 600 

 feet, between Midsummer and Raggedstone Hills ; Whitedeaved Oak 

 Valley, 460 feet, between Raggedstone and Keys End Hills. 



The country which borders these hills is universally at a lower 

 level for many miles around, so that from their summits the eye 

 directed eastward glances over the wide valley of the Severn to the 

 Lickey Hills and Cotswold range; towards the south are seen May 

 Hill and the Forest of Dean ; on the west, beyond the rich undulating 

 woodlands of Herefordshire, appear the Skyrrydd. the Sugarloaf, 

 the Black Forest, the steeps of Blorenge, the vans of Brecon, and the 

 Peaks of the Berwyns ; and the northern horizon is broken by the two 

 Clee Hills, the ranges of Abberley, and the solitary dome of the 

 Wrekin. 



The striking contrast presented to the eye of the observer as he 

 Burveys the grand panoramas on the eastern and western sides of the 

 Malverns, is most interesting to the naturalist who beholds for the 

 :ie this wondrous scene. On the east side he sees one vast 

 undulating woody plain, varied by surface elevations, and bounded by 

 a continuous wall of elevated ground with rounded summits. On the west 

 side a waving surface, formed of rich narrow valleys and crested ridges 

 between, lying at the foot of the Malverns, and forming the foreground ; the 

 middle distance of the picture is wooded with fruit trees and a luxuriant 

 vegetation ; while the extreme horizon is diversified by lofty mountains 

 in the counties of Monmouth, Brecon, Radnor, and Salop ; it was well 

 observed by my old friend. Professor John Phillips, " That it is 

 difficult to believe any scene more magnificent than that which is 

 beheld on a fine evening from the Worcestershire Beacon when the 

 sun is Betting behind the far-off mountains of Wales, and the shadows 

 of the Malvern Hills extend with a sensible movement across the 

 broad valley of the Severn, climbing the slopes of Bredon and Cleeve, 

 and gradually extinguishing the red light which gilds those high 

 summits after all the regions around these have sunk into obscurity." 



The Woolhope District, composed of Silurian and Devonian rocks, 

 rising in the distance beyond Keys End Hill. This region, one 

 <>f the most remarkable for its physiographical features that ever came 

 under the observation of my old friend Sir Roderick Murchison, is 

 formed ot two concentric narrow ridges of hills, almost continuously 

 ping a broad, elliptical, woody dome. Each of the concentric 

 ridges presents steep slopes, wooded towards the centre, with gentler 

 iuebnations towards the exterior. The surrounding country is much 

 depressed, and the elevated boss of Silurian rocks describes a figure like 



