272 GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



chine,* and he may alight within a few hundred 

 yards of the most interesting spot — the fossil forest 

 at Brook Point. The most favourable season for 

 a geological examination of this part of the coast 

 is the early spring — the latter end of March or 

 the beginning of April — for at low water a great 

 extent of sand is laid bare, and reefs of Wealden 

 sand-rock are seen stretching far out to sea ; and 

 the high tides often sweep away the shingle from 

 the base of the cliffs, and the lowermost visible 

 strata are exposed. The chance of obtaining fossil 

 bones is also greater at this period of the year than 

 at any other, owing to the inroads of the sea on 

 the clay cliffs, and the consequent dislodgment of 

 any bones they may contain ; and as these relics are 

 very heavy from an impregnation of pyrites, they 

 fall on the shingle, and are left by the retiring waves. 



We shall commence our ramble at the foot of 

 Compton Chine, near which place fossils of the 

 Greensand and of the Wealden alike abound. 



Cliffs from Compton Chine to Brook Point. 

 — The description of the coast as seen from 

 the foot of Afton Down, given on our previous 

 visit to Compton Bay (p. 210, PL XL), and a 

 reference to the sections in lign. 16 and 17, 



* There is no Inn near the spot, hut accommodation for horses may be 

 obtained at a neighbouring farm-house or cottage. 



