The New Forest and the Isle of WightWith eight plates and many other illustrations . tharines Point and BlackGang Chine, till it becomes a high rugged wall of sandstone, like one ofthe scarrs which jut out at the top of a Yorkshire moorside. Fromits summit the sloping hills and downs still rise. Hence its name, theUndercliff. Over it the earth constantly slides and topples in massesgreat and small, and by slow degrees has formed a shelf, now broad,now narrow, between the Undercliff and the sea. On the shelves,and against the face of this cliff below St. Boniface Down, the Ventnorpeople have bu
The New Forest and the Isle of WightWith eight plates and many other illustrations . tharines Point and BlackGang Chine, till it becomes a high rugged wall of sandstone, like one ofthe scarrs which jut out at the top of a Yorkshire moorside. Fromits summit the sloping hills and downs still rise. Hence its name, theUndercliff. Over it the earth constantly slides and topples in massesgreat and small, and by slow degrees has formed a shelf, now broad,now narrow, between the Undercliff and the sea. On the shelves,and against the face of this cliff below St. Boniface Down, the Ventnorpeople have built their houses, like the puffins and guillemots in the THE ISLE OF WIGHT 41 Freshwater precipices, sheltered from all rough winds by the monsterdown above them. The discovery of Ventnor and the Undercliffonly dates from the last fifty years, when Sir James Clark wrote, It isa matter of surprise to me, after having killy examined that favouredspot, that the advantages which it possesses in so eminent a degree inpoint of shelter and position should have been so long overlooked in. Shore near Ventnor. After Peter Tie Wint. a country like this, whose inhabitants have been traversing half the globein search of a climate. The search for a climate made Ventnor ; but the beauty of theUndercliff is enough to satisfy the most robust traveller. Thisnarrow irregular shelf, backed by the wall of cliff, has a doubleshare of spring and catches the last breath of summer. Little richmeadows nestle under the crags between cliff and sea, woods and grovesof ash, sycamore, beech, and maple cluster on the slopes, showing thatform of beauty scarcely seen elsewhere in England, trees and foliage 42 THE ISLE OF IVIGHT outlined against a background of blue sea. This juxtaposition of treesand fertility, with clifT and sea, lasts for several miles west of Steephill Castle are narrow meadows at the foot of the crags ;broken rocks crop out from turf which is rich with primroses andflowers ;
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcornishc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1903
