THE GEOLOGY OF THE TRACT KNOWN AS “ PARA¬ 
DISE,” NEAR NEWPORT. 
By T. NELSON DALE.* 
This spot, so named for its picturesqueness, and well known 
to every frequenter of Newport, attracted the attention of Dean 
Berkeley a hundred and fifty years ago. He described it in these 
words : “We went down to a beach about a halfa mile off, where 
we walked on the smooth sand, with the ocean on one hand, and 
on the other wild broken rocks, intermixed with shady trees 
and springs of water, till the sun began to be uneasy. We then 
withdrew into a hollow glade, between two rocks. ” In later 
years these “ wild broken rocks ” have served as a foreground to 
artists in their ocean views. Geologists, also, have studied them, 
and allusions to .this spot are to be found in the works of Dr. 
Jackson, the two Hitchcocks and Professor Shaler. 
Situated in Middletown, between the Swamp Road, which runs 
north from the west end of Sachuest Beach on the west, and the 
high 1 and, forming the eastern shore on the east, it may be said 
to extend about a mile back from the beach, thus covering about 
a square mile. It consists of a series of more or less parallel, 
rocky, precipitous or rolling ridges and hillocks of varying alti¬ 
tude, the highest measuring from So' to 173' above sea level. 
There are no less than seven ridges, five high and three low ones, 
all trending N.NE., but in places coalescing to form a lesser 
number. These ridges are indicated by Roman numerals on the 
map (PI. I) which was drawn from the United States Coast Sur¬ 
vey plane table sheet, the contour lines for the higher elevations 
having been replaced by “ hachures. ” 
* Abstract of paper read before the Society August ad, 1SS3. Published in full in Pro¬ 
ceedings Boston Society, Natural History for 1SS3. Vol. XXII. 
