148 DESCRIPTION OF THE STRATA. 



works of Peak and Stoupe Brow, not only at a great elevation above 

 the shore, but at the distance of about half a mile from it. In the 

 interior of the bay, which appears as a fine sloping crescent, forming 

 the district called Fylingdales, the upper aluminous strata are entirely 

 wanting, and the lower are covered with a deep alluvium. In a few 

 places, the alluvium comes down to the beach, the rocky cliff dis- 

 appearing ; but most of the bay is encircled with a steep cliff, com- 

 posed of the lowest shale, with haid bands running in it. The scar* 

 or rocky pavement, washed by the tide, consists of the lower part of 

 the same beds. Here also we perceive, in several places, marks of 

 subsidence and disruption. On the north side of Peak, near the great 

 slip, the strata dip toward the south. In following the curvature of 

 the bay, below the alum houses of Peak and Stoupe Brow, we soon 

 find them dipping to the west, which they continue to do in the inte- 

 rior of the bay. At the stream which descends from Fyling mill, we 

 find a small break, the strata on the south being lower than those on 

 the north. At some distance to the north of the stream, and a little 

 to the south of the village of Robin Hood's Bay, we meet with a 

 succession of small breaks, not parallel to each other, but at various 

 angles. These breaks are rendered conspicuous by the change in the 

 dip of the strata, attending most of them. At the commencement of 

 the breaks, the strata dip westward ; beyond the first or second, the 

 dip is towards the north-west; and at last, opposite the village, the 

 strata dip northward. Thus in the whole of the semicircular margin 

 of the bay, the strata dip towards the land, and raise their broken 

 edges towards the sea ; having a south dip on the south side, a west 

 dip in the bottom or west side, and a north dip on the north side. 



Some interesting appearances are presented at the breaks near 

 the village; the positions of the strata being very distinctly observed, 

 owing to the hard crusts or bands covering the successive beds of 

 shale. At some of the fissures, the strata alternately rise and fall ; 



