Ill DESCRIPTION OF THE STRATA. 



ing- much lower, has become a long hollow trough behind it, aflorrl- 

 ing, as at the Cayton slip, a lodgement for stagnant waters. Thege 

 waters form several pools and marshes, and would accumulate into 

 a considerable lake, were it not for the breaks and cross fissures of 

 the ridge, through which they have outlets towards the sea. The 

 ridge is not only divided by these cross fractures, but often exhibits 

 in front a succession of terraces, occasioned by a like number of 

 longitudinal rents. 



It would be of little use to attempt a particular description of 

 the broken strata in the lower cliffs, which sometimes consist of a 

 confused mixture of the inferior beds of the series with those which 

 the slip lias brought down from above, and sometimes of the latter 

 only, the former being sunk or thi-ust out. 



The following is a sketch of the strata in the higher cliff, takea 

 about a furlong from the northern extremity of the slip : 



1. Sandstone at the top of the cliff; occupying about GO feet. 



2. Shale, with seams of schistose sandstone ; about 80 feet. 



3. Grey and blue limestone ; 15 feet thick. 



4. Shale ; about 4 feet. 



5. Hard sandstone ; 25 feet. 

 a. Shale ; 30 feet. 



7. Sandstone; 25 feet. 



8. Shale ; 50 feet. 



9. Sandstone ; 16 feet. 



10. Shale; 60 feet. 



11. Great bed of sandstone, of a very dark brown colour, and 

 coarse grain. This is the lowest accessible bed, and its thickness 

 could not be ascertained, the inferior part of it being covered up. 

 The whole series may be nearly 400 feet in thickness, the cliffs at this 

 place being very lofty. The dimensions of the beds, however, are 

 not ffiven from actual measurement. The inferior beds of sandstone 



