. The earth and its inhabitants .. . England resembles the east, but the western rises intobold cliffs of old red sandstone and granite. It is deficient in natural harbours,and cliffs of chalk alternate with stretches of marsh and flat tracts of clay ; butimmediately to the west of Selsey Bill the safe roadstead of Spithead opens outbetween the mainland and the Isle of Wight, communicating with the spaciousharbour of Portsmouth and the well-sheltered estuary leading up to Southampton. 14 THE BRITISH ISLES. Farther west still, amongst the many bays which indent the coasts of Devonand Cornwall,
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. The earth and its inhabitants .. . England resembles the east, but the western rises intobold cliffs of old red sandstone and granite. It is deficient in natural harbours, and cliffs of chalk alternate with stretches of marsh and flat tracts of clay ; butimmediately to the west of Selsey Bill the safe roadstead of Spithead opens outbetween the mainland and the Isle of Wight, communicating with the spaciousharbour of Portsmouth and the well-sheltered estuary leading up to Southampton. 14 THE BRITISH ISLES. Farther west still, amongst the many bays which indent the coasts of Devonand Cornwall, the foremost place belongs to Plymouth Sound, which ranks withChatham and Portsmouth as a great naval station. If we now turn to a consideration of the principal features of Ireland, weshall find that they differ essentially from those presented by the more favouredsister island. Less varied in its contour, it exhibits likewise greater simplicity in Fig. 8.—Plymouth Sound and the Hamoaze.From an Admiralty Chart, Scale 1: 150, 000.. IjPad^j-A *r W , J 9 , -^sW, j, .R ii^^^^O 2 Miles. its geological structure. Broadly speaking, it may be described as consisting of agreat central plain of carboniferous limestone, stretching across from sea to sea, and bounded in nearly all directions by mountain masses composed of the most ancientgeological formations.* The highlands of the north-east, north-west, and westconsist of t}ie same crystalline and Silurian rocks which are so extensively developedin Scotland. The south-eastern highlands likewise consist of Silurian strata pene-trated by granite, and overlying Cambrian rocks, thus repeating the features which * E. Hull, « The Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland. RIVEIIS AND LAKES. 15 distino-uish North-western Wales, on the other side of St. Georges Channel. Butwhilst in Wales the old red sandstone occupies the region to the east of the moreancient rocks, it extends in Ireland to the south-west, rising into a succession ofranges, amon