474 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



" Facing this cliff, there are some rocks which appear above the 

 sands of the shore; at first the yellow sandy limestone but just dis- 

 covers itself above the surface of the sand, and here it contains the 

 same fossils as the escarpment itself ; but further on, and distant about 

 120 yards from the cliff, there rises a large wedge-shaped mass, 

 named ' La roche pointue,' composed of yellow sandy limestone, and 

 of white limestone containing Nummulina spissa and Serpula 

 spirulcea. 



" Another depression, traversed by the little stream which is desig- 

 nated ' Ruisseau du Moulin d'Estaigh,' again interrupts the continuity 

 of the cliff. A sort of connexion between the two cliffs is kept up 

 by a bluish argillaceous limestone containing many fossils,* and which, 

 appears here and there above the surface of the sand. * * * 



" Continuing the examination of the cliff, beds of bluish clay are 

 first observed, which dip at about 45° to the S.E.; these beds are 

 alternated with narrow bands of limestone of the same colour, con- 

 taining Pygorhynchus sojritiamis, &c. These beds soon become 

 horizontal, and retain the same position to the end of the escarpment. 



" The alternating beds of limestones are of a yellowish shade (see 

 Sketch of cliff). These and the associated argillaceous beds become 

 much disturbed and bent, then dip almost perpendicularly, and a 

 little beyond the ophite rock, soon to be mentioned, entirely disappear 

 under horizontal beds of alluvium. 



"It is precisely opposite this cliff that the large rock stands which 

 is called ' La roche qui boit :' it is an enormous block, ten or eleven 

 yards high, of extremely hard limestone, very white, and slightly 

 saccharoid. The action of the waves has partially polished its sur- 

 face ; it contains an immense quantity of altered nummulites (iV. 

 spissa). The colour and the quality of this limestone, so unlike the 

 rocks of the cliff, are due unquestionably to the influence of the 

 ophite which appears about thirty-five yards south of the ' Roche qui 

 boit,' under the form of a little rock, visible only at low water. This 

 ophite is of a beautiful green colour, and has gained a fairly good 

 polish under the action of the waves charged with sand, which beat 

 against it perpetually. It is girdled at the distance of about twelve 

 yards by a sort of semicircular belt of magnesian limestone, notched 

 at its upper edge, blackish, and in some part red (also of a lovely 

 grey), traversed by thread-like veins of sulphate of lime, hard enough 

 to be partially polished. The seashore sand prevents the establish- 

 ment of the connexion which exists between the ruptured beds of 

 calcareous rock and the ophite." 



Here M. Delbos omits entirely to mention that the remainder of 

 this escarpment, till it sinks like the previous one, beneath drifted 

 Band-hills, is composed of horizontal beds of modern deposit, from 

 thirty to forty feet in elevation, and rich in vegetable matter. He 

 continues thus — 



" Beyond the last-mentioned interruption in the continuity of the 



* Among others, I have found here remains of a crustacean resembling a crab. 

 —A. D. A. 



