128 



THE BRITISH ISLES, 



To the cast of the flat islands of Portsca and Hayling, and of the low peninsula 

 terminating in Solsoy Bill, tlie coast <:çraduall\^ approaches the range of cretaceous 

 hills known cts the South Downs. Beyond Brighton cliffs once more bound the 

 encroaching sea, until the downs terminate abruptly in the bold promontory of 

 Beachy Head. The short and savory herbage of the South Downs feeds a race of 



Fig. 70. — POUTSMOUTII. 

 KioiTi an Admiralty Chart. 



sheep highly appreciated for their mutton. Now these downs only present us with 

 scenes of rural peace, but, to judge from the fortifications which crown nearly every 

 point of vantage, there must have been a time when the country was the scene of 

 almost incessant wars. The most famous of these entrenchments is the Poor Man's 

 Dyke, on a commanding height to the north of Brighton, which in a more super- 

 stitious age was looked upon as a work of the devil. 



The South and Xorth Downs enclose between them the triangular Weald valley, 



