XXVUl INTRODUCTION. 



beneath the superiucumbent upper beds of chalk or sand- 

 stone. 



We may here take a rapid view of the vegetation of the cliffs, 

 and of the slipped land at their base, before proceeding to give a 

 sketch of the maritime Flora of the island, properly so called, 

 from which the former is perfectly distinct. 



It may be easily imagined that the chffs themselves, from 

 their friable constitution and perpendicularity, are nearly bare 

 of vegetation, even of the humblest kind, and such is for the 

 most part the case. Some few plants, however, make a shift to 

 maintain their position, and even flourish vigorously, on the 

 bare face of the chalk and sandstone, as did, for instance, Fraji- 

 kenia Icevis, some years ago, on the naked wall of chalk forming 

 the magnificent arch or concavity of Scratchell's Bay, tiU over- 

 whelmed by a fall of loosened fragments from the summit. A 

 little further eastward, towards Freshwater Gate, in that part 

 of the majestic line of cliffs called the Main Bench and the 

 Nodes, broad flat ledges or terraces occasionally break the wall- 

 like uniformity of this stupendous barrier of chalk, and by the 

 shadows they create relieve the else unvarying whiteness of the 

 absolutely denuded precipices. These shelves or ledges, tech- 

 nically known as " meads " and " greens " amongst the cliffsmen 

 are visited, at stated times, by that hardy and adventurous race, 

 in their dangerous avocation of samphire -gathering, collecting 

 the eggs of sea-fowl, or robbing the peregrine falcon of her 

 half-fledged young. * Some of these " greens " are of consider- 

 able extent ; one of them, and I believe the largest, is called 

 Eosehall Green, and its area is estimated at about an acre. 

 Unlike most of the others, it is accessible by a tolerably easy 

 descent from above, and, in common with them, is covered with 



* The eggs of different species of Laius, that resort in vast numbers lo these 

 cliffs in the breeding season, when collected, are forwarded by the cliffsmen lo 

 persons in London. 



These cliffs were, till within these few years, farmed by the collectors of eggs 

 and samphire, of the lord of the manor, at an annual rent. Since then, the 

 latter has waived his right to this source of revenue; and the withdrawal of all 

 restrictions on collecting, by encouraging general competition, has greatly 

 diminished the profits of those formerly engaged in the business. 



A further account of the mode of collecting and preparing samphire for the 

 marlict, as practised in this island, is given, under the head of that plant, af p. 

 213 of the present work. 



