YARMOUTH TO FRESHWATER-GATE. 197 



Down on the west, and. reach the southern coast by 

 an opening in the chalk cliffs that extend from 

 Compton Bay to The Needles. 



Immediately on our left are some detached 

 pinnacles of chalk, jutting into the sea, and on the 

 right the fine section of highly inclined strata of 

 chalk and flint represented in PI. X. At the base 

 of this headland is the entrance to a considerable 

 excavation in the cliff, produced by the erosive 

 action of the waves on the lower beds of chalk ; 

 some perpendicular masses of the harder portions 

 of the rock worn into irregular columns support 

 this natural archway, which is known to tourists 

 as " The Cave." It extends 120 feet into the cliff, 

 and is between thirty and forty feet high ;* it is 

 well deserving the notice of the geologist, for the 

 displacement the strata have undergone is here 

 strikingly displayed. 



From Freshwater-gate to the Needles, a dis- 

 tance of three miles, the cliffs present a succession 

 of mural precipices of chalk, from 400 to up- 

 wards of 600 feet in height. The face of these 

 cliffs when seen from the sea at a short distance 



* The description and beautiful illustrations of the picturesque features of 

 the scenery along this part of the coast, in Sir H. Englefield's ' ' Isle of Wight," 

 render it unnecessary to dwell upon this inviting subject. Some of 

 Mr. Bartlett's views of these chalk cliffs, in Barber's " Illustrations," are 

 very accurate and effective. 



