SCUATCHELL'B BAY. [47 



It is to be remembered that the pedestal of the column does not rest 

 on the ground, 



feet inches 



Its elevation being . . . .46 



The height of the column itself is therefore . 94 10 



Diagonal of the capital . . 16 11 



Circumference of shaft (upper part) . 24 2 



Ditto (lower part) . 27 2 



Length of side of the pedestal . . 16 6 



Clarke's reading of the inscription on the column is 



" Posthumus Prefect of Egypt, and the people of the Metropolis 

 (honor), the most revered Emperor, the protecting divinity of Alexandria, 

 the divine Hadrian Augustus." 



The version of other travellers 



" To the Deocletianus Augustus, most adorable Emperor, tutelar deity 

 of Alexandria Pontius Prefect of Egypt dedicates this." 



It must-be recollected, that some of the characters are very faint, while 

 others are altogether destroyed by time ; hence the fancy of the travellers 

 has been exerted to supply the deficiency in accordance with their 

 different tastes. 



SCRATCHELL'S BAY, ISLE OF WIGHT. 



In the beautiful and sublime scenery much of it of a kind peculiar 

 to itself the Isle of Wight is surpassed by few spots on the globe. At 

 the back of the island, a considerable portion of its coast presents an 

 impregnable rampart, composed for the most part of cliffs of chalk, 

 intermixed with flint or clay, and in many parts rising to a height of 

 some hundreds of feet above the level of the sea. Some of the most 

 elevated of these rocks occur in the course of the range that extends in 

 both directions, from the west point of the island, forming Alum Bay, to 

 the north, and what are called the Freshwater Cliffs, to the south. An 

 indention, much smaller than Alum Bay, immediately adjacent to this 

 terminating promontory on the south side, is known by the name of 

 " Scratchell's Bay." Here is a magnificent arch of 150 feet in height, 

 and is one of those numerous caves which pierce the Freshwater Cliffs ; 

 some of which are 400 feet in height, and the highest (called Main Beach), 

 is 600 feet high. Here, however, the precipice is not quite perpendicular, 



