. The earth and its inhabitants .. . as a work of the devil. The South and North Downs enclose between them the triangular Weald valley. THE CHANNEL SLOPE. 129 upon whose denuded surface are exposed rocks of more ancient date than the chalkof the surrounding- downs. When the Normans invaded England, the Forest, orWeald, of Andred, or Andredes, still covered the whole of this region, but the treeshave been cut down and converted into charcoal, and consumed in the smelting fur-naces erected near iron pits which have long since been abandoned as clays, sands, and limestones of th
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . as a work of the devil. The South and North Downs enclose between them the triangular Weald valley. THE CHANNEL SLOPE. 129 upon whose denuded surface are exposed rocks of more ancient date than the chalkof the surrounding- downs. When the Normans invaded England, the Forest, orWeald, of Andred, or Andredes, still covered the whole of this region, but the treeshave been cut down and converted into charcoal, and consumed in the smelting fur-naces erected near iron pits which have long since been abandoned as clays, sands, and limestones of this district were in all probability deposited inthe delta of some river equal in volume to the Ganges or Mississippi. Its hardenedalluvium contains in prodigious quantities the debris of terrestrial plants, marsupials,terrestrial reptiles and araphibiae, mixed with the remains of fishes, turtles, and fresh-water shells. It was to the south of this ancient delta, in Tilgate Forest, near Fig. 71.—BeachY an Admiralty Lewes, that Dr. ^lantell discovered the first skeleton of the gigantic Iguanodon, anherbivorous land reptile. The range of the Northern Downs which separates the Weald from the valleyof the Thames terminates in the east with the cliffs of Folkestone and Dover, but iscontinued on the other side of the strait in the hills to the east of Calais. Allthat part of England is being encroached upon by the sea, which is constantlyundermining the cliffs. In many parts the footpath which conducts along theirsummit terminates abruptly in front of a newly formed precipice, and the travellerdesirous of passing beyond is compelled to strike out for himself a new paththrough the herbage, fatther away from its edge. It is more especially the cliffs116 130 THE BKITISH ISLES. on the Straits of Dover whicli are exposed to this waste, and Shaksperes Cliff; sincethe day Julius Csesar set his foot upon the shore of England, is supposed to havereceded no less than a mile
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
