OF SELBORNE. 



263 



found that a deep rift or chasm had opened under their 

 houses, and torn them, as it were, in two ; and that one end 

 of the barn had suffered in a similar manner ; that a pond 

 near the cottage had undergone a strange reverse, becoming 

 deep at the shallow end, and so vice versa; that many large 

 oaks were removed out of their perpendicular, some thrown 

 down, and some fallen into the heads of neighbouring trees; 

 and that a gate was thrust forward, with its hedge, full six 



HAWKLEY SLIP. 



feet, so as to require a new track to be made to it. From 

 the foot of the cliff, the general course of the ground, which 

 is pasture, inclines in a moderate descent for half a mile, 

 and is interspersed with some hillocks, which were rifted in 

 every direction, as well towards the great woody hanger as 

 from it. In the first pasture the deep clefts began; and 

 running across the lane, and under the buildings, made such 

 vast 'shelves that the road was impassable for some time; 

 and so over to an arable field on the other side, which was 

 strangely torn and disordered. The second pasture field, 



