192 
THE AGE OF THE WYE. 
directly exposed to the action of the stream measures 110 yards 
on the salient cliff. On the retreating cliff the measurement 
would average much less, as has been before explained, hut the 
retreating cliff does not claim our attention at present. 
We will again take for our example, therefore, the salient cliff 
just below Ross, at the part where the section across the river 
course was made. 110 yards of this cliff will then be under 
direct exposure to the wearing of the stream, and along the 
remaining 1,580 yards the base of the cliff will be covered by 10 
or 12 feet of alluvial soil. These are the comparative lengths 
in a “ bend ” at the present day, but it must be remembered that 
the “ bends ” were shorter when the width of alluvium was less. 
Starting, in fact, from the beginning, the length of the 
bends ” would at first be zero ; but, as the river began to 
wear away its cliffs, the formation of the alluvium would begin, 
and then would begin also the “ bends.” Let us now con- 
sider what the length of the bend would be when there was 
only a five yards’ width of alluvium. The river w'ould then 
have pressed against the cliff for 110 yards (which we must 
consider a constant quantity), have then left it, gone five 
yards away, and then returned to the same cliff. Now, 
judging from the present curvature of the stream, it could 
not have done that in less average distance than 180 yards, 
making the whole ‘‘bend” 1804-110 = 290 yards. Again, 
looking at a part of the river where the breadth of alluvium 
is now about 150 yards, we find the length of the “bend” 
1110 yards, or 1000 4 110. Putting these figures into a 
tabular form, we have 
0 
5 
0 
180 
150 
400 
,. 1000 
1580 
Breadth 
Length ... 
