340 GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



ferruginous sands of the lower group. Sandowri 

 Fort is now visible, and marks the low tract con- 

 sisting of the Weald clay (p. 133). The new 

 church and little town of Sandown, are seen on 

 the brow of the sand cliffs which form the western 

 side of the bay, and extend toward Shanklin, 

 retaining the same dark red ferruginous colour as 

 those at Redcliff. The eastern termination of the 

 southern range of chalk, forming the lofty downs 

 above Shanklin, next appears, and seaward, the 

 high but subordinate cliff of greensand at Dunnose 

 Point. The dip of the strata in the cliffs on each 

 side of Sandown Bay, and the anticlinal axis formed 

 by the elevation of the Wealden, may be distin- 

 guished by means of a good telescope. 



Off Dunnose, we lose sight of the inner range 

 of chalk downs, and gain the region of the 

 Undercliff, which from the sea presents, in the 

 foreground, a line of fallen masses of rock and 

 strata scattered along the sea-shore ; and above, 

 a verdant terrace covered with trees and shrubs, 

 with here and there houses peering out from 

 amid the foliage — the barrier of firestone capped 

 with chalk, surmounting the terrace on the north, 

 and hounding the view for a distance of six miles 

 (see p. 251). The ledges of cherty firestone pro- 

 jecting like lines of masonry along the face of 



