S68 
Mr. Lyell on Jhe Boulder Formation^ 
The most singular and important circumstance connected 
with the great outlier of chalk at Old Hythe is the fact of its 
being perfectly disunited from the subjacent horizontal chalk. 
I could not myself positively determine this point either in 
1829 or 1839, because there was a talus at the base of the 
vertical cliff resting on the projecting ledge of chalk and con- 
cealing the junction; but when the whole was cleared away 
by the waves in March 1840, after a storm, Mr. Simons vi- 
sited the spot, and ascertained the continuity and infra- posi- 
tion of the crag which I had before inferred. My inference, 
previously announced to the Geological Society, was drawn 
from a comparison of the state of the cliff in 1839, with my 
sketches and memoranda made ten years before. At both 
periods I was able to trace the horizontal crag to within 5 
feet of the base of the precipice, composed of vertical beds 
of drift enveloping the chalk ; and as the sea had advanced 
greatly in the interval of ten years, the pan, had it not been 
continuous, must have been entirely removed before my last 
visit, in which case nothing could have been visible but chalk 
on the ledge immediately opposite the pinnacle. 
From the summit of Old Hythe point the land slopes down 
to Old Hythe gap with a rapid descent. It also slopes, though 
at a less angle, directly inland, so that as the sea advances the 
cliff at this point will become less elevated. In 1829 the two 
masses of chalk appeared much more equal in size, and wrap- 
ped round as it were both on their sides and at the top with 
strata of shingle and drift. 
Another included mass of pure chalk was also observable 
in 1839 between Cromer and Lower Runton near the bottom 
of the cliff. It was traversed by several rents, and alternating 
beds of laminated clay and sand were bent round it, as in the 
annexed diagram (fig. 14), which represents a perpendicular 
section 25 feet in height. 
Fig. 1 4. 
Section 25 feet high, west of Cromer. 
This mass, although on a smaller scale, may be compared to 
