WIGHT (Isle of). 
656 
caverns and deep chasms, that seem to enter a great way into 
the rocks; and in many places the issuing of springs forms 
small cascades of rippling water down to the sea. The 
country people take the birds that harbour in these rocks, 
and their eggs, by the perilous experiment of descending by 
ropes fixed to iron crows, driven into the ground. Thus 
suspended, they with sticks beat down the birds as they fly 
out of their holes. The soils are very various, but the pre- 
vailing kind is a strong, loamy earth, well adapted for agri¬ 
cultural purposes, and extremely fertile. The quantity of 
grain annually raised here was formerly computed to amount 
to seven or eight times the quantity necessary for all the in¬ 
habitants. The sorts of grain chiefly cultivated are wheat, 
barley, oats, beans, and pease; turnips, clover, trefoil, vet¬ 
ches, rye-grass, and potatoes, are also grown here. The ro¬ 
tation of crops varies according to the qualities of the soil. 
The meadow lands are extremely rich, and produce from one 
to three tons of fine hay per acre. The grain is in general 
sown broad cast; but the drill system has been introduced 
of late years, and found to answer exceedingly well in the 
light and sandy soils. The manures are lime, marl, and 
the produce of the farmyard: wheat is generally sown in 
October, and cut in August. The elevated tracts are mostly 
appropriated to pasturing sheep; the number annually shorn 
is about 40,000; the wool is extremely fine, and in much 
repute; the breed in general use is the Dorsetshire; about 
5000 lambs are sold annually. The cows are principally of 
the Devonshire and the Alderney breed, though blended with 
other kinds; the butter is very good ; but the cheese, which 
is made of the skim-milk, bears the appropriate name of the 
Isle of Wight Rock; the calves are remarkably fine. The 
horses are in general large; and as the farmers value them¬ 
selves on the strength and beauty of their teams, great pains 
are taken to improve them. The breed of hogs is somewhat 
peculiar; they are large and tall, and make excellent bacon. 
The climate is extremely salubrious, and highly favourable 
to vegetation ; its genial qualities, and near approximation 
in mildness to more southern regions, may be instanced by 
the profusion of genial myrtles, and by a vine plantation 
having been established at Mr. Pelham’s marine cottage, near 
Steep Hill. The central parts of the isle are subject to fre¬ 
quent rains; the high range of hills proving a constant 
source of attraction to the vapours, and in the winter months 
involving all beneath them in gloom and humidity. The 
general fertility, however, is so little affected, and the vege¬ 
tation is so abundant, that this island has often been styled 
the Garden of England; an appellation, perhaps, that is partly 
suggested to the mind by the innumerable plants and flowers 
which grow everywhere in wild luxuriance. All the higher 
parts of the isle are composed of an immense mass of cal¬ 
careous matter, of a chalky nature, incumbent on schistus, 
which runs under the whole isle, and appears, at low water 
mark, on the coast near Mottiston. This becomes so indu¬ 
rated by exposure to the air, as to make very good whet¬ 
stones. The lime-stone is burnt for manure; and in the pits 
where it is dug for that purpose, are found numerous echini, 
sharks' teeth, and ammoniae. These fossils are particularly 
abundant in the range of cliffs which forms the southern 
shore; together with bivalve and turbinated shells of various 
descriptions: the cornua ammonis are of all sizes, from one 
inch to a foot and a half in diameter. A stratum of coal dis¬ 
covers itself at the foot of Bimbridge Cliff, and runs through 
the southern part of the isle, appearing again at Warden 
Ledge, in Freshwater parish. On the north side of this 
stratum lies a vein of white sand, and another of fuller’s earth: 
and on the south side is another of red ochre. The coal is 
reported to be of good quality; the upper part of the stratum 
is about three feet wide; it dips to the northward. A shaft was 
sunk by the late Sir Robert Worsley, at Bimbridge, to ascer¬ 
tain its depth; but the vein was there so thin, that it was 
judged insufficient to defray the expense; and the under¬ 
taking was abandoned. Freestones of several descriptions 
are found here, but none of superior quality; though that 
obtained in the quarries near Quarr Abbey, was, some ages 
ago, in much request; but the superior nature of the Port¬ 
land stone has long destroyed its reputation. Red and yel¬ 
low ochres are particularly observable in Alum bay, to the 
north of the Needles, where their mingled strata variegate 
the cliffs. In this bay, native alum is found in large quan¬ 
tities, and in other respects a considerable field is open for 
the investigation of the mineralogist. Here also, and at 
Freshwater, are immense beds of micaceous or silvery sand, 
great quantities of which are annually shipped off for the 
glass and china manufactories of London, Bristol, and Wor¬ 
cester. Small masses of native sulphur are frequently picked 
up on different parts of the shore, as well as copperas stones; 
the latter are so extremely abundant on the south coast, that 
several small vessels are employed in freighting them to 
London, for the purpose of extracting the copperas. Argilla 
apyra, or pipe-clay, is likewise very plentiful in different 
parts of the isle. Several chalybeate springs have been 
found in different parts of the island. One of them, at 
Sand rock, under Chalk Cliff, according to the recent ana¬ 
lysis of Dr. Marcet, contains an unusual proportion of alum 
and of iron, held in solution by the sulphuric acid, and has 
been reported by Dr. Lempriere, an army physician, who 
gave the water an extensive trial at the depot and iuvalid 
hospital at Parkhurst, to be most eminently useful in chronic 
cases of debility. About half a mile from this, at Pitland, 
is a spring, impregnated with sulphur: and at Shanklin is a 
spring whose waters are slightly impregnated with iron. 
The springs of clear water are very numerous, and in general 
extremely pure and transparent, from the natural percolation 
which they undergo through the lime-stone strata. The 
principal rivers are the Medina, the Yar, and the Wooten. 
The Medina, anciently called the Mede, rises near the bot¬ 
tom of St. Catherine’s Down, and flowing directly north¬ 
ward, divides the island into two equal parts. Gradually 
widening in its course, it passes to the east of Newport, and 
in Cowes harbour unites its waters with the ocean. Numer¬ 
ous smaller streams also exist; and various creeks and bays 
run up from the sea. Timber, which in the time of Charles 
II., was so plentiful that, it is said, a squirrel might travel 
on the tops of the trees for many leagues together, is now 
much reduced in supplying the dock-yards at Portsmouth; 
and even Parkhurst or Carisbrooke forest, which includes 
about 3,000 acres of good land, is almost destitute of trees 
of any value. The woods of Swainston are of considerable 
extent; and those of Wooten and Quarr cover a superficies 
of nearly 1,100 acres; the oak and the elm are the most 
flourishing. Game is very plentiful, though not so abun¬ 
dant as formerly, owing to the great havock made of late 
years by the numerous soldiers stationed here. Foxes, 
badgers, and polecats, are unknown in the island; though 
vipers exist in great plenty, and are caught in large numbers 
for medicinal purposes. Domestic fowls and poultry are 
bred here in considerable quantities, for the supply of the 
outward bound shipping. Great variety of fish is found on 
the coast, and in considerable abundance; those of the crus- 
taceous kind are particularly numerous on the southern 
shores. The lobster and crab are of uncommon size, and 
extremely fine; some of the former are upwards of six 
pounds in weight; the latter is so abundant on a particular 
part of the coast, that a neighbouring village has obtained 
the name of Crab-Niton from this circumstance. The Isle 
of Wight prawns and cockles are very celebrated; the sand- 
eel is also very plentiful; the cuttle-fish is occasionally taken. 
The trade of the Isle of Wight is flourishing; the harbour of 
Cowes is particularly convenient for shipping and unship, 
ping merchandise. The chief imports are coals, timber, 
deals, iron, wine, hemp, and fruits: the principal exports are 
wheat, flour, barley, malt, and salt. The chief manufactures 
are those of starch, hair-powder, and salt; the making of 
woollens, sacks, &c. has been carried to some extent in the 
house of industry; and lately a considerable lace manufac¬ 
tory has been established near Newport. The Isle of Wight 
is divided into two hundreds, called East and West Medina; 
30 parishes; three boroughs, Newport, Newtown, and Yar¬ 
mouth; the whole containing 5,055 houses, and 31,611 in¬ 
habitants, viz., 15,402 males, and 16,209 females; of whom 
3309 
