1890-91.] 26l 



beguile them away. A clear blue lagoon of still water lay in 

 front, crossed by a bridge of several spans, supported on 

 columns of white chalk. On the further side stood a row of 

 whitewashed cottages, nestling at the foot of a steep bank, 

 which, covered with a blaze of yellow whins, rose to a height 

 of several hundred feet, terminating in the precipitous escarp- 

 ment of Whitehead. But the abrupt appearance of an un- 

 ceremonious goods train, which came flying round a sharp 

 curve in the rear, effected a sudden interruption in the 

 proceedings, and produced some striking examples of instantane- 

 ous work on the part of some knights of the camera who had 

 incautiously pitched their tents between the metals. The 

 shore at this point, where the sea was eating into the bank of 

 soft marl, offered a fine section of the beds — a cliff over fifty 

 feet high, with an irregular network of veins of selenite — while 

 on the beach, at its base, huge blocks of the same mineral were 

 lying about. This place also furnished the curious phenomenon 

 of a raised beach, full of recent marine shells, apparently 

 underlying a considerable depth of Triassic rocks. Needless to 

 say, a landslip, such as frequently occurs here, accounted for the 

 anomaly. After a short inspection of the outcrop of Greensand 

 at the base of the Chalk, the party passed through the tunnel 

 which pierces the head, and visited the large quarry near by, 

 which displays excellent examples of columnar basaltic structure. 

 Then an adjournment was made to the prettily-situated 

 refreshment rooms beyond the railway station, where, after a 

 hearty tea, the examination of the botanical and geological 

 collections was gone into, Messrs. Stewart and Praeger acting 

 as judges. For the botanical prize there was keen competition, 

 Miss Donaldson being first with a collection of sixty-three 

 species, and Mrs. Wise a good second with fifty-nine, while two 

 other ladies followed closely with fifty-seven and fifty-one species 

 respectively. The geological prize was awarded to Mr. M'Kee, 

 whose collection included ten species of fossils from the Chalk, 

 Greensand, and Lias, besides a number of rock specimens. 

 Among the plants the best species found were the purple 



