CHAPTER V. 
Physical Geography of the District. 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 
The topographical divisions of the surface of Yorkshire correspond 
in a striking degree to the limits of the variations of its interior strata, 
and it appears possible not only to characterize these divisions on a 
great scale by general geological distinctions, but even to shew that 
the minute peculiarities of each, the form of the hills, the course and 
features of the valleys, the aspect of the vegetation, and the varying 
effects of the scenery, are all dependent on fundamental differences of 
interior structure. The vale of York separates by a wide interval 
the two billy portions of the county ; but even were this removed, 
the chalk and oolite hills of the east would still be distinguished by 
the topographer, the artist, and the agriculturist, no less than by the geo- 
logist and the miner, from the coal and limestone tracts on the west 
And as, on the eastern side of the county, even the least attentive 
observer acknowledges the real distinction of physical aspect and 
geological structure between the chalk wolds and the oolitic moors, 
so the western hilly tracts naturally resolve themselves into two great 
groups characterized by the presence of the remarkable formations pf 
coal and mountain limestone. 
The great variety of geological interest connected with the lime- 
stone tract of Yorkshire requires that this Volume should be principally 
devoted to it ; but a right understanding of its geology and topography 
can hardly be acquired without a short survey of its connexion with 
the coal tract on the south and the great vale of Y ork on the east. 
