16 
W. Pengelly on the Red Sandstones, 
The entire coast, however, is not occupied with the Red Rocks : 
thus, for about two miles midway between Branscombe-mouth and 
Seaton the cUffs consist exclusively of chalk and other members of 
the Cretaceous system ; and from Culverhole Point to the western 
end of Charton Bay, about a mile and a half, the cliff is con- 
cealed by the effects of the famous landslip of December 24th, 
1839. Making the proper deductions for these gaps, and measuring 
in straight lines the distances between the salient points, the amount 
of Triassic coast must be about sixteen miles ; whilst, if the minor 
indentations be taken into the account, at least fully fifty per cent, 
must be added to the estimate. 
Though the general direction of the sea-bord is somewhat 
nearer to that of the strike than of the dip of the formation, newer 
and still newer beds, with very few and unimportant exceptions, 
will be constantly brought under inspection by proceeding from west 
to east in the manner proposed. 
Commencing at Littleham Bay, immediately east of the Straight 
Point, the entire cliff, with the exception of a comparatively thin 
overlying deposit of post-cretaceous gravel, is formed of the ordinary 
dull chocolate-coloured marl, in which, however, greenish tints 
appear somewhat abundantly, and take the forms of specks, 
circular patches of variable dimensions, and bands three or four 
inches in width and several feet in length. When seen from a 
distance, the bands have the appearance of interstratified light- 
coloured beds, but on closer examination it is found that they are 
discontinuous, and that though parallel to, they are not coinci- 
dent with, the planes of bedding ; in fact, they are sections of 
comparatively short, thin, unconnected, sensibly-parallel zones, 
which suggest the idea that the prevalent colour of the beds in 
which they occur has been partially discharged in favour of one 
of a lighter hue. Occasionally the walls of vertical joints are 
similarly coloured ; a fact probably attributable to the chemical 
action of water oozing through the joints. Instances occur, also, 
of the exchange of the red for the greenish hue along the paths of 
