1858.] FRESHWATER AND YARMOUTH. 523 



Needles, from Freshwater Gate to Alum Bay. The cliffs can 

 only be viewed from the sea. 



The waves are making steady and progressive inroads on the 

 land ; and the narrow beach between the sea and the source of 

 the Yar is so low, and composed of materials which the constant 

 surf might gradually remove, viz. shingle, that a communication 

 between the sea, on the south, and the Yar, may be expected ere 

 long to take place. By such a change, which a very high tide, 

 accompanied by a strong south wind might effect, all the land of 

 the island to the west of the Yar would be detached from the 

 mainland of the island, and form by itself a separate and inde- 

 pendent isle. The river Yar might eventually become a chan- 

 nel or strait uniting the sea on the south to the Solent on the 

 north. It is highly probable that the whole island was in bygone 

 ages thus separated from the Hampshire coast. A river similar 

 to the Yar might then have existed, flowing from near Hurst 

 Castle, in the same direction as the Solent now flows, viz. from 

 west to east. The barrier on the west may have been removed 

 by causes which are now in operation at Freshwater Gate, and 

 which sooner or later will produce similar results. 



There are two large hotels at Freshwater Gate, viz. the 'Albion' 

 on the beach, and 'Plumley's' on the cliff. There are also a few 

 tenements occupied by the boatmen and bathers. A more con- 

 genial sojourn for those who seek or require a bracing or tonic 

 climate could not easily be found even in the Isle of Wight. The 

 walk along the cliff, either in the direction of the Needles west- 

 erly, or on Afton Downs, towards Motestone Down, is extremely 

 exhilarating. Even in the wettest weather, exercise, either in 

 walking or riding, may be enjoyed on the downs ; for the herbage 

 is so short, so closely cropped by the sheep, that the moisture 

 from the vegetation could scarcely wet the welt of a thick soled 

 shoe. Excepting a furze-bush which grows here and there, there 

 is no species of plant here suffered to attain the height of half 

 an inch. The views from the Beacon above Freshwater Gate, 

 and from the downs above the Needles Lighthouse (a hundred 

 feet lower than where the Beacon is erected) are extensive, 

 especially in moist weather, when evaporation does not much 

 prevent distant objects from being distinctly seen. Portsdown 

 Hill, beyond Portsea, with its chalk quarry, is very conspicuous 

 on the north-east. The whole or greatest part of the New Forest, 



