FOORD — ON ENGLISH GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 45 



human bones in the church-yard, which was then partly exposed on 

 the sea- ward side. 



It is said that King Ethelbert chose Reculver as his place of re- 

 sidence, and that he was buried there about the year 616. The 

 church is now preserved as a landmark by the Trinity House, and 

 being situated on a headland, it is a conspicuous object to vessels 

 making for the mouth of the Thames. 



As the tide was now ebbing, though slowly, in consequence of a 

 very strong north-easter, I turned back along the beach in the di- 

 rection of Heme Bay. A most interesting section was here exhi- 

 bited of the superposition of some of the beds constituting the 

 Lower Eocene formation. Fig. 1 shows the manner in which 

 these Beds are disposed ; and how much they have been denuded, 

 particularly the Oldhaven beds. The greater part of the rock ex- 

 posed to view between Reculver and Heme Bay consists of a yel- 

 lowish quartzose sand, very friable, but becoming more argillaceous 

 at the base ; this is the Thanet sand. Large tabular blocks of in- 

 durated sandstone are interspersed at the upper part ; these masses 

 become detached from the parent bed and strew the beach, serving 

 in some measure to retard the destructive progress of the waves. 

 A water-worn pebble of this sandstone, coloured with iron, is exhi- 

 bited. 



Beneath the ** Thanet sands" is a highly fossilliferous deposit, 

 in which cyprina are met with in great abundance. These are so 

 brittle that it is almost impossible to obtain a perfect specimen. 

 The London clay is found capping these sands. It contains great 

 quantities of concretionary nodules of an argillaceous substance, 

 called septaria, which is in some places dug out of the clay, and 

 used for making cement. Selenite, (sulphate of lime,) also 

 abounds. Two specimens are shown, which I picked up on the 

 beach, much water-worn ; the larger one being an arrow-headed 

 crystal, the characteristic form of this mineral. 



The general appearance of the coast between Heme Bay and 

 the Reculvers is remarkably picturesque. The large boulders of 

 sandstone which bestrew the shore ; the imposing height and broken 

 aspect of the cliffs, with the surf dashing up, and loosening large 

 fragments of rock, that come tumbling down amidst clouds of spray ; 

 aU combine to form a wild and beautiful picture. 



