120 MR. A. J. JTJKES-BROWXE ON THE AGE AND [May 1907, 



the pJateau still has a width of at least a mile and a half, being 

 bounded on the north by ground which rises rapidly to 500 feet, 

 on the west and south-west across the Dart by hills of 400 feet, 

 and on the north-west by a hill of 300 feet. It would seem, 

 therefore, that the western termination of the Brixham plateau 

 is still distinguishable near Stoke Gabriel, in spite of the great 

 modification Avhich the surface of the country has undergone, owing 

 chiefly to the passage of the River Dart through the district. 



As regards evidence of age, it is clear that the plateau is of some 

 geological antiquity, and that its surface has not influenced the 

 drainage of the area ; for, near Stoke Gabriel, the plateau does not 

 drain eastward, as might have been expected, but is traversed by 



Pig. 6. — Map showing the plateau-areas and their probable former 



connexion across Torbay. 



1 \ 



Sea le:-3.miles=l inch. V 







^\ it - \ 



[The inner area marked out near Torquay represents the Warberry-Lincoinbe 

 ridge or butte.] 



a valley which has its origin in the northern watershed and opens 

 southward into the Dart. The drainage-system of the area, like 

 that near Torquay, has evidently been established upon a vanished 

 surface which passed high above the existing plateau. 



Again, the plateau-surface is newer than Permian time, since a 

 small strip of Permian is faulted down below its level south of 

 Saltern Cove. To what period can we then attribute a plateau 

 of such antiquity and of such a height above the sea, unless to an 

 early Tertiary period ? Finally, since the level of this plain closely 

 approximates to that of the plateau-remnants west and south of 

 Torquay, it is only reasonable to suppose that the two plains are 



