124 GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



obstruct the way, and the slippery state of the 

 ground renders walking most wearisome. 



Geology of Whitecliff Bay. — From Bern- 

 bridge, the tower of an ancient church painted 

 white, and serving as a land-mark, is seen on the 

 opposite side, on the northern point of the haven ; 

 the pretty village of St. Helen's, embosomed in 

 trees, stands on the brow of the neighbouring 

 hill. A low cliff, composed of freshwater strata, 

 may be observed near its base ; and from this locality 

 the fossil turtle, described in p. 114, was obtained. 

 The cliffs immediately beyond Bembridge are 

 from twenty to thirty feet high, and consist of 

 alluvial gravel and clay, resting upon freshwater 

 strata ; the ledges and rocks on the sea-shore 

 are denuded waterworn masses of the limestone 

 that have fallen from the cliff. After passing the 

 Foreland, and proceeding a few hundred yards 

 along the shore, the tertiary calcareous deposits 

 form the base of the cliffs, and lie in a nearly hori- 

 zontal direction ; but towards the northern ex- 

 tremity of the bay they gradually rise, and at 

 length are bent upwards in a curved position, 

 and rest somewhat unconformably on the almost 

 vertical beds of clay.* This is the point of junction 



* A beautiful sketch of this part of the cliffs is given in PI. XV. ; and of 

 thi Hay, in PI. XVII. No. I, of Sir Henry Englefielu's " Isle of Wight." 



