Vol. 59.] SOUTH DEVON" AND THE MIDLANDS. 315 



the Pebble-Bed, but the entire series of red rocks above and below. 

 The dip is easterly. The pebbles, as they rise from the beach at 

 Budleigh Salterton, form a nearly perpendicular cliff, and finally crop 

 out on the surface about a mile west of the town, where they form 

 a belt of wild heather-clad country. I estimated the thickness of 

 the bed at about 70 feet. Earlier estimates are somewhat higher, 

 which may be accounted for by the wearing away of the cliff and 

 the northerly thinning of the bed. It overlies and is succeeded by 

 soft red sandstones, which at Straight Point, near Exmouth, pass 

 into a harder sandstone with breccia. 



There is no passage-bed between the pebbles and the sandstone. 

 They come on suddenly, and appear to depart suddenly, although 

 there is no apparent unconformity, at least at the base. The pebbles 

 are thickly crowded in a matrix of hard purple or red sand. 



The cliff is rather dangerous to approach, as it wears away 

 rapidly ; but the bed of pebbles may be seen in a chine made by a 

 small watercourse, by which the cliff may be ascended. Here may 

 be observed the promiscuous way in which the pebbles are arranged. 

 They do not lie all in their angle of rest, but with their long axes 

 in various directions. I mention this, as the contrary has been 

 stated. 1 So simple a matter can easily be cleared up by further 

 observations. The pebbles vary in size from half an inch to a 

 foot in their longest dimension. They are not sorted as pebbles 

 frequently are, by tidal or current-action ; but all sizes are 

 mingled together. 



I took particular notice of the shape. Prof. Bonney 2 has 

 described them as varying 



' from subrotund to well-rounded, the larger specimens being sometimes almost 

 subangular ; ' 



and while remarking that the general resemblance to the Cannock- 

 Chase Bunter pebbles is ' very marked,' he observes that the ' sub- 

 rotund to subangular stones from 8 inches to a foot long ' are rather 

 more numerous at Budleigh Salterton. I am willing to accept this 

 description. The fact is that the pebbles are variable in shape, and 

 (the larger ones particularly) imperfectly formed ; yet in many of 

 them there is the tendency to be longer than broad and broader 

 than thick. Some, however, are more or less what may be called 

 ' sausage-shaped.' The shape is not unimportant, because it will 

 help us to understand the mode of transport ; and it does not 

 support the view of those early observers who regarded this pebble- 

 bed as a marine beach. 



What marine action is may be seen in the modern beach at 

 Budleigh Salterton. This is composed to a very large extent of 

 pebbles which have fallen from the pebble-bed in the cliff. As soon 

 as these come within reach of the waves, they are quickly reduced 

 in size and flattened. The shore being steep, this action is very ener- 

 getic. As each wave recedes, the stones can be heard slipping back 



1 H. J. Carter, in Davidson's ' Monogr. Brit. Foss. Brach.' vol. iv (1881) 

 p. 318 (Palaeont. Soc. vol. xxxv). 



2 Geol. Mag. 1895, pp. 76, 77. 



