CHAPTER XIV. 

 HOW CHALK IS MADE 



" Peace, moaning Sea, what tale have you to tell, 

 What mystic tidings, all unknown before ? 

 Whether you break and thunder on the shore, 

 Or whisper like the voice within the shell, 

 O moaning Sea, I know your burden well ! " 



LEWIS MORRIS. 

 " The tiny cell is forlorn, 

 Void of the little living will." TENNYSON. 



of the tasks carried on in Ocean waters 

 is Chalk- Building. 

 The "White Cliffs of Albion" and those also 

 of Gaul are vast masses of chalk, containing 

 layers of flint, and mixed with many other 

 materials, but chiefly composed of the crumbling 

 white substance, which is familiar to all who live 

 near the North and South Downs. 



This formation stretches a long way. The 

 heights of Salisbury are of chalk. The Chiltern 

 Hills are of chalk. The Yorkshire Wolds are 

 of chalk. It is found in Norfolk ; it is found in 

 Kent ; it is found in Surrey ; it is found in 



135 



