156 ORIGIN OF SCENERY OF BRITAIN 



stationary coast-line, where there is no appreciable ero- 

 sion by the waves and little visible accumulation of 

 detritus, are to be found among the land-locked fjords 

 or sea-inlets of the west coast of Scotland. In these 

 sheltered recesses the smooth striated rocks of the 

 Ice-Age slip under the sea, with their characteristic 

 glaciated surfaces still so fresh that it is hard to be- 

 lieve that a long lapse of ages has passed away since 

 the glaciers left them. 



The remarkable contrast between the scenery of the 

 eastern and western coast-line of the British Islands 

 arises partly from the preponderance of harder rocks on 

 the west side, but probably in large measure upon the 

 greater extent of the submergence of the western sea- 

 board, whereby the sea has been allowed to penetrate 

 far inland by fjords which were formerly glens and 

 open straths. 



The details of coast-scenery vary with the rock in 

 which they are developed. Nowhere can the effects 

 of each leading type of rock upon landscape be more 

 instructively studied than along the sea-margin. As 

 distinct types of coast-scenery, reference may be made 

 to sea-cliffs and rocky shores of granite, gneiss, basalt, 

 massive sandstone and flagstone, limestone, alternations 

 of sandstone shale or other strata, and boulder-clay, 

 and to the forms assumed by detrital accumulations 

 such as sand-dunes, shingle-banks, and flats of sand 

 or mud. 



The concluding portion of the last lecture was de- 

 voted to an indication of the connection between the 

 scenery of a country and the history and temperament 

 of the people. This subject was considered from four 



