ISLE OF MAN. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 517 



distinct characters have doubtless been produced by some 

 difference in the present and former action of the tides 

 on those shores, which it would neither be very easy, 

 nor perhaps very useful, to ascertain. The natural con- 

 sequence of such a varying action is a variat on of the 

 sea-line boundary, which appears however to be of little 

 moment ; while, at the same time, it is far too common a 

 phenomenon in similar cases to require particular notice. 

 From Ramsey to Douglas the eastern shore is rocky, 

 with no exception but that of the sandy tract in Douglas 

 bay. The cliffs are generally high and abrupt, and the 

 sea in most instances skirts their bases, seldom allowing 

 access to the shore for boats, except in the few places 

 where creeks are found at the mouths of the small 

 streams that flow down the eastern declivity of the 

 mountain land. The valley of Laxey presents the 

 largest sinuosity in this tract, forming a safe and con- 

 venient harbour for the boats employed in the herring 

 fishery for which this island is so rioted. The forms 

 of the cliffs are determined by the direction of the 

 beds, or at least by that of the fracture of the schist 

 which constitutes them ; and as their inclinations vary, 

 so do their general effect and picturesque appearance, 

 although these are seldom such as to render them inte- 

 resting to the eye of a painter: they do not appear 

 often to exceed 200 feet in elevation. The same cha- 

 racter continues to Derby haven with little variety or 

 interest; but at this point a sudden change takes place; 

 the shores, although still rocky, becoming flat, and main- 

 taining that character, with some variation from sandy 

 beaches and rocks more or less elevated, as far as the 

 southern fcide of Port la Marie point, where they again 

 become abrupt and high, as on the eastern side of the 

 island. Near Spanish head, the sections of the cliffs 

 are vertical, and as they attain an altitude apparently 

 not less than 300 feet, they assume considerable grandeur 

 of "character; the breadth and simplicity of fracture 



