of Hcvnpsh'ire and Dorset shire, 265 



of clialk, from Newport to Cowes, is but little elevated, being indeed 

 almost flat : in Portland, the abruptness of the cliffs on all sides is 

 rather considerable, and as far as I have been able to judge, pretty- 

 nearly the same, somewhat less perhaps to the south. 



St. Aldham's Head, the most projecting part of the peiiinsula of 

 Purbeck, lies exactly on the same parallel as the southern part of the 

 Isle of Wight, and both belong to the same formation, as does also 

 the Isle of Portland, Vv^hich projects still further to the south. 



In following that part of the coast step by step, the attention is 

 strongly drawn towards the considerable wearing away of the land 

 and of the solid strata which is daily taking place. Between Rocken- 

 end and Blackgang Chine on the S.S. W. coast of the Isle of Wight, a 

 land slip happened in 1799, the fragments of v/hich cover a space of 

 near half a mile in diameter. 



As we walk along the cliffs, we see every where the surface of the 

 soil rent by deep fissures ; but a circumstance particularly remark- 

 able is, that in this district, the decay seems to begin with the upper 

 strata, which are gradually removed in succession. At Freshwater- 

 gate and at the Needles^ those standing pyramids of chalk present us 

 with a striking illustration of this supposed mode of decay. At the 

 furthest extremity of Pligh Down below the light house, there is a 

 gap now interrupting in its upper part the continuity of that pro- 

 jecting tongue of chalk. Without attempting to estimate vv^ithin how 

 many years such a portion of the solid strata will be completely 

 broken asunder, and make a Needle by itself, no one will deny that 

 it is one step towards such an event. Conformably with this and 

 other similar appearances, in attempting to account for the separation 

 of the Isle of Wight from the opposite coast of Hampshire, I should 

 be more disposed to ascribe it to the continued action of causes, the 

 effects of which we may ascertain and even almost calculate every 



2 L 



