34-O Denudation of 



parts of it are at the sea level now ; while other parts, 

 along gently undulating lines at the bases of the North 

 and South Downs, rise to more than 250 feet above the 

 sea. 



On the supposition that the Wealden area was once 

 an oblong bay, this land would also have been formed of 

 two narrow strips of country, one on the south at least 

 60, and the other on the north not less than 100, miles 

 long, both of which project eastward from the Chalk of 

 Hampshire, to form what we now call the North and 

 South Downs. These hills generally rise high above 

 the Eocene strata that skirt them on the north and 

 south, and these Eocene beds, under the supposed cir- 

 cumstances, would be covered by sea, while the scarped 

 cliffs of Chalk, as shown on the diagram, would over- 

 look a sea-covered plain of Grault g ; outside of which, 

 near the shore, would be a series of ridgy islands of 

 Lower Ofreensand s d, which, at present, in some parts 

 of the country, rise into escarpments higher than the 

 Downs themselves. Beyond these there would be a sea 

 where the flats of Weald Clay w now lie ; inside of which 

 would rise an island, or rather group of islands, formed 

 of the Hastings Sand series h h. This form of ground 

 would certainly be peculiar, and ill adapted in form to 

 receive the beating of a powerful surf, so as to produce 

 on the inner side only, the cliffy escarpment that 

 forms the steep edge of the oval of Chalk. Further, 

 if the area had been filled by the sea, we might possibly 

 expect to find traces of superficial marine strata of late 

 date, as in some other parts of England, scattered across 

 the surface between the opposite Downs. But none of 

 these traces exist. On the contrary, the underlying 

 strata of the Cretaceous and of the Wealden series 

 everywhere crop up and form the surface of the ground, 



