162 
THE FERN WORLD 
path we reach a point from which further progress is impos- 
sible. Here, however, there is a grassy sward on the gicldy 
height of the cliff from whence we can command almost the 
entire length of Mewstone Bay. 
A scene of rare beauty lies below and around us. On the 
south of the bay a hill crowned on its top with rich meadow 
and corn-field sloping even over its brow to the cliff-top, 
inclines at one point to the Channel, and at another to the 
verge of the red sandstone cliffs which overhang the waters 
of the bay, and are there covered with their green shrubbery 
of gorse and Brake, whilst their sides, here a dull red and 
there a dark hue, are freckled with a sparse mantle of green. 
On our right, broken cliffs of limestone, covered too with their 
complement of grass and gorse, slope unevenly to the beach, 
whose sandy and shingly surface is washed by the restless 
waves. If we turn and look in the opposite direction we can 
follow the line of rugged inlets of the coast away in the direc- 
tion of Berry Head, whilst away to the east are the waters of 
the Channel. 
A few steps from our point of view, a narrow, steep, and 
winding path, just wide enough for foothold, leads us down 
the limestone cliffs into the bay. Arrived at the bottom of 
our path, we turn to our left, and reach in a few minutes the 
south side of the bay, where the limestone cliff assumes a 
remarkable appearance, its base being deeply hollowed for the 
space of some thirty or forty feet, possibly by the slow but 
certain force of great sea-waves, which during rough weather 
roll in here with enormous power. Over this hollow base of 
rock the overhanging cliff frowns out threateningly, its sides 
forming a massive and jagged canopy of limestone slate-rock. 
One half, indeed, of the cliffs of Mewstone Bay, including its 
south corner, is limestone rock, the remaining half being red 
sandstone. 
As we stood under this giant canopy of rock, the scene 
