THE VALE OF PICKERING. 46 



affinities of detached portions of the strata ; and, when viewed in com- 

 bi nation with the substance and arrangement of the rocks, the results 

 to which they lead may be confidently adopted. 



THE VALE OF PICKERING. 



THIS valley, or rather wide level, containing nearly one hundred 

 and sixty square miles of surface, lies between the parallel ranges 

 of chalk and oolite. Its eastern portion, contracted by the nearer 

 approach of these high ridges, is prolonged to the edge of the sea 

 cliffs about Filey ; on the west, its waters pass, by a narrow valley 

 of denudation, through the oolitic hills which extend from Castle Howard 

 to Malton and Langton wold. Were this narrow passage closed, a large 

 portion of the vale of Pickering would become a lake, discharging itself 

 into the sea near Filey, through cliffs about seventy feet high. Pro- 

 fessor Buckland, in his admirable work, the 'Reliquiae Diluvianae,' 

 seems to admit the probability of the vale of Pickering having been an 

 antediluvian lake, which was drained when the present outlet at Malton 

 was effected by the waters of the deluge. 



The idea of its having been a lake naturally offers itself to every one 

 who considers its wide level surface, and remarks the multitude of 

 streams which run into it, and pass out by the single channel of the 

 Derwent. But I do not think that the present appearances of the vale 

 can fairly be employed to support opinions as to its condition before the 

 flood. The vale of Pickering has a partial surface of alluvial sediment, 

 and a general covering of diluvial clay and pebbles, upon a substratum 

 of blue clay. How vast a load of diluvium lies on this stratum, in 

 particular situations, is known to those who have inspected the cliffs 

 between Speeton and Filey ; and similar accumulations prevent it 

 from appearing in all the central part of the vale. The present flat 

 appearance of this great hollow, therefore, is owing to the effects of the 

 deluge and subsequent causes ; and affords no clue to its antediluvian 



