276 



TRANSVERSE VALLEYS. 



[Ch. XIX. 



\/ 



sketch (fig. 325) of the gorge of the River Adur, taken from the sum- 

 mit of the chalk-downs, at a point in the bridle-way leading from the 

 towns of Bramber and Steyning to Shoreham. If the reader will refer 

 again to the view given in a former woodcut (fig. 323, p. 2*74), he 

 will there see the exact point where the gorge of which I am now 

 speaking interrupts the chalk escarpment. A projecting hill, at the 

 point a, hides the town of Steyning, near which the valley commences 



where the Adur passes directly 

 to the sea at Old Shoreham. The 

 river flows through a nearly level 

 plain, as do most of the others 

 which intersect the hills of Surrey, 

 Kent, and Sussex ; and it is evi- 

 dent that these openings could 

 not have been produced by rivers, 

 except under conditions of physi- 

 cal geography entirely different 

 from those now prevailing. In- 

 deed, many of the existing rivers, 

 like the Ouse near Lewes, have 

 filled up arms of the sea, instead 

 of deepening the hollows which 

 they traverse. 



That the place of some, if not 

 of all, the gorges running north 

 and south, has been originally de- 

 termined by the fracture and dis- 

 placement of the rocks, seems the 

 more probable, when we reflect on 

 the proofs obtained of a ravine 

 running east and west, which 

 branches off from the eastern side 

 of the valley of the Ouse just 

 mentioned, and which is undoubt- 

 edly due to dislocation. This ra- 

 vine is called " the Coomb" (fig. 

 326), and is situated in the sub- 

 urbs of the town of Lewes. It 

 was first traced out by Dr. Man- 

 tell, in whose company I exam^ 

 ined it. The steep declivities on 

 each side are covered with green 

 turf, as is the bottom, which is 

 perfectly dry. No outward signs 

 of disturbance are visible ; and 

 the connection of the hollow with 

 subterranean movements would 



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