VOYAGE ROUND THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 343 



the shore, that the general bearing of the strata 

 only can be distinguished. In the long sweep ex- 

 posed in these bays (p. 210), the greatly elongated 

 arch, formed by the anticlinal axis of the Wealden 

 (p. 214), may be distinctly made out in a clear 

 state of the atmosphere. Shalcomb Down (p. 220), 

 now forms the inland distance on the north ; and 

 as we near Compton Bay, the middle chalk range 

 is seen extending to the shore, and the sea washes 

 the base of the magnificent line of chalk hills 

 from Afton Down to the Needles. 



The position of the greensand, gait, and fire- 

 stone, beneath the white chalk, in the cliffs west of 

 Compton Chine, may be distinguished from a dis- 

 tance, owing to the contrast of colour presented by 

 the upper and lower groups ; as in RedclifF in 

 Sandown Bay. Freshwater Bay (p. 195) is now 

 gained, and the cliffs of the Mainbench, and of 

 Scratchell's Bay, and the Needles, stand forth in 

 all their sublimity (see p. 197). There is one 

 point in Scratchell's Bay in which a magical effect 

 is produced, by the sudden appearance of the 

 richly coloured cliffs in Alum Bay, between the 

 pure white pinnacles of chalk. 



As we sail round the Needles, the distant Isle of 

 Portland is seen on the western horizon, and on 

 the north are the shores of Hampshire (p. 16*4). 



