352 
Isle of Wight. 
of all the form cations of the Tertiary system, from the Upper Eocene 
to the Wealden inclusive. Scarcely one series is omitted in the 
representation, and, with only three exceptions, the names assigned 
to all the Eocene beds, are derived from places in this island. 
There are five river-basins in the island, which may be worthy 
of simple enumeration, hardly of description, for they are neces- 
sarily insignificant in area, in the height of the watersheds which 
divide thenr, and in the volume of water which passes through 
them. In point of size they are not unequal, and in shape they 
are similar triangles, except the narrow valley of the Medina, in 
the upper portion of its course. They are : — 
1. That to the south-cast, drained by the Eastern Yar, the most 
fertile of all. 
2. That to the north-east, forming a succession of clayey and 
sandy valleys, watered by the VVootton sti-eam and many other 
small streams opening separately into the sea. 
3. That to the north-west, of a similar character, having as an 
estuary the Western \ ar, which here takes the place of the Wootton 
stream, though shorter in its course. . 
4. That to the south-west is traversed by many rivulets bursting 
forth from the higher ground at the junction between the chalk 
and the greensand. These tear their way through, and eat deep 
troughs in the retentive wealden clay, and thus form guUeys or 
" chines," more charming to the tourist in search of the pictu- 
resque, than to the agriculturist in search of profit. 
5. That of the centre is drained by the Medina, a very narrow 
stream while in the chalk district, but no sooner does it reach 
the Eocene, than it expands from a brook you can jump over, to 
an estuary navigable at high tides for vessels of some burden. 
In the central chalk range the chief elevations are : Bembridge 
Down 355 feet, Ashey 424, Carisbrook 239, Motteston 661, 
Node's Beacon (Freshwater Down) 483, Needles' Down 450. 
In the southern chalk range : Shanklin Down 736 feet. Dun- 
nose 771, Boniface 783, Appuldurcombe 735, Week 61)0, St. 
Catherine's 775, Chale 323. 
Both ranges throw out spurs — the one to the southward, the 
other to the northward, at right angles to the main ranges — 
dividing the whole surface in every direction into woody dingles, 
smooth or rough coombes, winding valleys, basin-like glens, or 
" bottoms," Such are the depressions at riglit angles to the back- 
bone of the island, between Ashey and Messley Downs, and 
West of Arreton Down, Calbourn bottom, and Shalcomb. 
There is a distinction between the western and eastern 
portions of the north. In the western, one long and open valley 
runs westerly from Newport to Newtown. In the eastern, the 
valleys are short and run northerly at right angles, either to the 
