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THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. IV. 



2. Geological phenomena between London and 

 Brighton.' — The direct turnpike roads from London to 

 Brighton pass over the whole series of these deposits, as 

 well as those described in the previous lectures. Proceed- 

 ing from the Thames, the observer successively traverses 

 the modern silt of the river — the ancient drift and alluvium, 

 containing remains of elephants and other large mammalia — 

 and if he proceeds by Reigate, his road, through Clapham 

 and Tooting, lies over beds of clay and gravel, which are 

 part of the ancient shores of the London basin. At Sutton 

 he ascends the chalk hills of Surrey, and travels along an 

 undulated tract of country, formed by the elevated masses 

 of the ancient cretaceous ocean-bed just described. Arriving 

 at the precipitous southern escarpment of the North Downs, 

 a magnificent landscape, displaying the physical geography 

 of the Weald, and its varied and picturesque scenery, 

 suddenly bursts upon his view. At his feet lies the deep 

 valley of Gait in which Reigate is situated, and immediately 

 beyond the town, appears the elevated ridge of Greensand, 

 which stretching towards the west, attains at Leith Hill an 

 altitude of one thousand feet ;* and to the east forms a line 

 of sand-hills, by Godstone and Sevenoaks, through Kent, to 

 the sea-shore. The Forest-ridge of the Wealden occupies 

 the middle region, extending westward towards Horsham, 

 and eastward to Crowborough Hill, its greatest altitude, and 

 thence to Hastings, having on each flank the wealds of 

 Kent and Sussex ; while in the remote distance, the smooth 

 and undulated summits of the South Downs appear like 

 masses of grey clouds on the verge of the horizon. 



Pursuing his route, the traveller passes through Reigate, 

 along the valley of Gait, and over the Greensand of Cock- 

 shut Hill, and arrives at the commencement of the Wvalden, 



* See my "Memoir on the Geology of the Country seen from the 

 summit of Leith Hill," in Brayley's History of the County of Surrey, 

 published by Mr. Ede, of Dorking. 



