• the c,
tract before the subsidence, of wliicli tlicy thus v
aterial pi^ogi'css in tlic depression of the surface ; but by
I Julins, «-ere on the s.
f. Those Si
tc of agitili»
nt a little alior iniduight they obsei ved tlie sea to be in an extraordinaiy
e beach on which they stood róse and fell; amidst the breakei-s near the
k appeared to be rising from the bottom of the sea amidst the deafening
•ks." Those who have inclined to reftr this convulsion to the volcanic
agents' of earthquake have stiongly divclt on the further statement of these men, that they
io observed " flashing lights nttendeJ with an intolerable stench" : as however the same nartive
from which we have copied tiiis statement adds, thut " they fled almost dead with terror
firmer ground»," we may perhaps suspect that they wei-e hardly in a state to give great weight
their testimony; and the tendency of common minds to embellish a talc of terror is well known:
d sven if we should give the fullest reliance to their jiower of observation, and cxact fidelity of
8tii!cment+, tlic violent attrition of the r
sulUcicntly account for tli« ododrs aocoiu
the coi ruscations whieii broken beds of th
inig-ht readily have ))roduced. All the oil
lilished on fully coni|iotcnt testimony, we
>eky masses raised and rifted by this convulsion would
IIonly emitted by mineral substances oa friction, and for
! cherty sandstone violently grinding against each other
iturbance, that these, even if we admit them to be estashould
not hesitate to ascribe to clcctrical disturbance.
Sudi are the statements made by those on the spot concerning the events of tlie night of the
!^tli-26th. Ttirongliout the folloving day (the 26th) the subsided masses of the great chasm
1 bove con tinned gradually sinkiag, and the rocks of the elevated reef gradually risings but by
he evening of that day everything had settled very nearly into the position represented In the
iceompanying series of piatesi i and np to the period of this publication no greater changes have
iii(>pcned than the occasional precipitation of disjointed masses, and the wearing away of the more
)rolicn of thedctached pinnaclcs, excepting tblit along the line of the raised reef the umlerniining
' as been prodnctive of more decided and sensible alteration ; thus the western
end ol
IS produced w
rticular description of the apd
wlb the depwitiou of SpcoKr ud
bcRo»l«igia
,t pcrreiTcä nothinK of a» kind." In ihepsttìel COKI of dc.MBl
t WWlliKi., und tic .ubmnrin. rock. raUi J Stty yon lincc iy lie gre« .uLsidioce ut
KahesweccnotiMd: »¡lb rai«« lo tlo latter, us have hud m opportumcy of ciamimog
e pw>iiing Iheir cmplojnicnt through tte rngbt of that eatutioiAo, imiocdia»!; off tit
i ; these puticdail)' ilcicribed lie crastüog ncnac: tbc; brani, but diitinctl; rated
ler perceptible ¡¡go of wluu waa go
§ IV. PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT CHASM AND ELEVATED
SUBMARINE REEF; -VVITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE APPLICATION
OF THE THEORY OF LANDSLIPS OR FOUNDERS TO EXPLAIN
THEIR FORMATION.
:HASM.
ibyth
Thegi Ubc 8c
le yet continuous fields o
Ì intennediatc portions ol
have subsided less deeply,
ruin, will be best understood by turning tc
;p; its middle
This chasm
fragments, o:
. breadth 200, and depth
I side a long insulated strip containing the
le upper precipitous range overhanging the
s are seen lying in the chasm below in large
n surface, and exhibiting their hedges nearly undisturbed,
30° to 40°, their edges breaking down into deep ya^i'ning
1 pinnaclcs of chalk formed by smaller fragmefits, which
The picturraque an<l wild combinations presented by this scene of
8, Plates III-, IV. and V. The insulated strip
3f fields is itself rifted by numerous broad and i!«i) fissures, and has many subsidences of eight
or ten feet. The precipitous cliff forming the northern scarp of the chasm, exhibits beneath the
vegetable soil aad covering of flint gravel a cap of the lowei' chalk thirty feet thick, the junction
jjacent c . , .
about 150 feet in thickncss beneath; and in the deepest portio
twenty feet of yellowish fox mould, assuming when wet a gr
thern counterscarp of the chasm is entirely composed of chalk.
lie son them than northern scarp Ij. This depression can
which, taken altogether, can exceed fi'oin ten to fifteen
ue, arc displayed,
examination of the
' a chum inSnilcl; grcotcr tkul any produced at LùboQ or Calibrili, lu
ile Flougb.iind iaclf much ab of egricuitonil damage oc.
to not less than : • along the
! that the points beyond this leef under the sea
• as to permit the quicksand to be squeezed out
is upheaving of ponderous rocks; we might well answer
: that pha;nomena necessarily concealed should be shown
proposed, and we might equally challenge the objector
to demons .trate their ÌDc< jnsistency. We have however in the diagram at page 5 inserted a conjectural
bi It very probabl B disposition of the subm arine adjoining rocks, which would fully explain
why the i have taken place veri tlcally rattier than horlzontiilly. We have here
supposed <;h at immediate ly beyond the line of eh: vation subsided heavy masses of cherty sandstone
reposed il mncdiately on the lias without tlie in
rocks and i-hich they were interh jcked upon the rugged surface of the watcrworn
lias paveir lent might hav J forced forward j and under these circumstances
re on the quicksand could only have found a vent by upheaving the very masses now
conslitutii igthe elevated reef.
l'è occurred to our n<
§ V, ACCOUNT OF THE SUBSIDENCE OF
THE BEACH NEAR THE BASE OF WF
On the night of February 3, 1840, about five weel
•HE LAND AND ELEVATION OF
TLANDS CLIFF. Plate II. & IX.
after the great convulsion at Bendon, a
• scale, took place in the adjoining clifT of
n the former eastward. This, though in
ior to that of Bendon, and In picturesque
ui, »djoimnj on die cut to Ibo sm
he nloQg ils aorEhem edge, vL
it has o< ic undulatini
undcreliff, which has occasioned it to display itsi
which rent in sunder the downs along the edge of the superior clilT, The site
subsidence ranges a little above tlie cottages oceupieil by the men on the pre
those are ruined by the settling of the walls aad ui)hcaving of the floora in c
manner as those of Dowlands; and as the ground on which they stood has si
they are considerably inclined in that direction. The land-springs also, havi
inverted by the new inclination of the groiind, have here formed a iittle lake,
flooded the northern end of the building. The
mural precipice (see Plate IX.) ranging for more
some places more than sixty feet in height, and s
feet more; the whole adjoining uiidercliff also, b
minor fissures; but the columnar and pyramidal
the Bendon chasm, are here wanting. As in that
beach here has also occurredf: aud this fciiture
Plate II.). Approacliing from the west a considerable
quarter of a milo towarils tlic c
ted by broken ground for about
which present so striiiing an efl'ect at
remarkable elevation of the submarine
perliaps even still more striking (see
ound pre.senl.1 itself of broken masses
of gi^een fox mould mingled with large blocks of indurated sand.stone (cow stone): this is raised
between thirty and fi.rty feet above high tide, and its summit is crowned by a large rock (nine
feet high, twelve broad, and twenty long,) rising like a vast druidical altar; from this point eastward
a long and narrow elevated crest of fox mould and cherty sandstone extends itself for half a
mile eastward, parallel to and about 100 feet in advance of the old sea clilT. Beyonil this raised
ridge of greensand towai-d the sea is ii second elevated shingle bank J, overflowed at high water:
and between the two as the tide recedes Is left a long but narrow lake of salt water. 'J'his double
elevated beach extends more than half a mile. The pho;nomenon of elevation of the adjacent
submarine bcach thus appears to have been common to both the late convulsions, and also to
mcnta of greea marl aod:nr6Slaceoiu iron ore i thi« mucli rMenUes » bed occumng in the lo»cr mid fernigiooii. pecnaaod
Both ihcie porioM of di.turbedliaa occur within a quarter of a mile of Ihe tepilar cmcrgencc of lhat fomaticn in Ihe cliff, a.
ive been dented near Ibc neat ettremil)' of the raised reef are prohabi; dialoeated m:
immedmld)- adjacrcl in the weat (see Plate II.) : and those submarine disloeste