Vlll PREFACE. 



Within these limits we find soils of every kind and quality* 

 The sea-shore to the south of the river is flat and sandy, inter- 

 rupted in some places by elevated banks of sandstone, in others 

 by a muddy soil, deposited by the rivulets which terminate 

 there. It is bounded by a narrow stripe of links, formed of 

 sand-knolls, fixed by means of the bent and other plants with 

 creeping roots ; and, though barren and waste in an agricultu- 

 ral view, it is rich to the botanist in flowers of great beauty> 

 and not of such commonness as to render them uninteresting. 

 External to this stripe the country is flat, highly cultivated, 

 and, in general, of a productive soil, until we reach, at the dis- 

 tance of three miles or more, the elevated moors which occupy 

 such a large space in the heart of the district. Beyond these 

 the ground rapidly declines, to form the fertile and beautiful 

 vale, through which the Till winds its sluggish course. No 

 part rises to an elevation exceeding 400 feet ; nor is it inter- 

 sected by any river, but a few burns run in the ravines, which 

 are numerous and rich in plants. The largest, and indeed the 

 only sheet of water, is the Lough on Holy Island, a place than 

 which no one will more amply gratify the naturalist. 



This, the southern half of our district, abounds in coal and 

 lime, which are indeed the prevailing minerals. There is, com- 

 paratively speaking, little sandstone ; and the chain of rocks 

 which take their rise near Bamborough, and terminate at Ky- 

 loe, are trap-rocks, at some places covered with a shallow ver- 

 dant soil, at others bare, and forming " lofty picturesque cliff's, 

 in their struture approaching the columnar," with more or less 

 of debris at their base*. Such a ridge, as we might anticipate 



* For an account of the Geology of Northumberland, I refer to Mr WINCH'S 

 Essay on that subject, and to a paper by Mr TREVELYAN, on the Geognosy of 

 the Coast near Bamborough, in Wernerian Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 253. 



