forms flanks, which defend its east and west sides, and on the south part is semicircular: in former times there was a platform for cannon. On the east and west sides there are embrasures for guns, and below them two tiers of loop-holes for small arms-the lowest almost level with the ground. The north part is nearly destroyed, but the remains of an arch or gateway show that the entrance was on that side. The whole edifice seems to have been cased with squared stones; the walls were thick and lofty; and the buildings, though small, were not inelegant. The north, east, and south sides were, at a small distance, surrounded by a deep ditch and earthen rampart, through which, on the east part, was a gate faced with stone, part of which is still remaining.

From Sandsfort Castle to Portland Bridge, a distance of rather more than a mile, there is one of the finest expanse of sand anywhere to be met with along our coasts. These sands, at low-water, are a quarter of a mile in width. The fineness, equality, and smoothness of these sands render them a delightful place either for walking or riding, almost immediately after the recession of the tide. Pedestrians, horsemen, carriages-all move over them so noiselessly, and they are reflected in the still moist and smooth surface of the sand so correctly, that one can scarcely imagine them moving on terra-firma. Many of the humbler classes of inhabitants take these sands in their route from Weymouth to Portland, or vice versa, as being more pleasant and expeditious than the coach-road.

The Smallmouth Sands terminate southward, in the immediate vicinity of the narrow creek which separates Weymouth-or, in truth, the mainland-from Port

medium of communication but by the tow-boat, men tioned by Leland-"The trajectus is by a bote and a rope bent over the haven, so that yn the fery-bote they use no ores." In later times the means of transit was by a row-boat, which ferried across the creek to and fro. It is only within the last few years that a bridge has been thrown across. This bridge is of timber, and is of unusual length for such a structure; but as the water is shallow, and as it is not necessary to provide for the passage of vessels higher up, there has been no great difficulty in laying the foundation of the bridge. A small toll is demanded from all passers, whether riding or on foot. This is the only land-communication between the mainland and Portland; although Portland, as we shall presently see, is not, in the strictest sense of the word, an island. When we stand on this bridge, and look onward from its southern extremity, the view is a remarkable The island of Portland is marked out pretty plainly, rising to a considerable height above the level of the water, and presenting its scarped cliffs boldly towards the harbour or roadstead. But westward of the island, the eye is caught by a long, dull, horizontal, dreary line, unmarked by trees, or grass, or houses, or people, and rising some thirty or forty feet above the level of the water. This line marks the extraordinary Chesil Bank-the pebbly ridge which unites the island with the mainland. Portland has been oddly compared to a "breast of mutton hanging by a string." If we admit the simile, then the Chesil Bank is the string; and a pretty long string it is too, extending considerably more than a dozen miles. But as this ridge of pebbles is evidently a secondary feature in the district, formed after the island itself, and totally

one.

2 E.-VOL. III.

differing in character from the island, it may be well to postpone any description of it until we have rambled and talked over the island.

Portland is evidently connected with some great geological change or changes; for not only is the stratum of stone which has given it its celebrity a remarkable one, but there are evidences of intermediate strata, that could only have arisen from some grand changes in the earth's crust. Sir Gideon Mantell, whose works on the Geology of the Southern Counties of England are in such high repute, has made Portland the theme of a vast and highly scientific conception, involving the whole of the shores on both sides of the English Channel. In his Treatise on the Geology of the South-east of England, he examined in detail the stratification of Portland; and then, by comparing it with other stratifications elsewhere, he arrives inductively at a general view of the whole district at a remote but unknown era. The following is Sir Gideon's account of the subject:

In the Island of Portland, the limestone employed for building constitutes the uppermost division of the oolite system, a kind of stratum containing marine organic remains only. On these oolitic strata are placed deposits of a totally different character. Immediately on the uppermost marine stratum, (which abounds in ammonites, terebræ, trigonia, and other marine shells,) is a bed of limestone, much resembling in appearance some of the tertiary lacustrine limestones. Upon this stratum is what appears to have been an ancient vegetable soil; it is of a dark-brown colour, containing a large proportion of earthy lignite, and, like the modern soil on the surface of the island, many water-worn stones. This layer is called the dirt-bed by the quarrymen; and in and upon it are a great number of silicified trunks of coniferous trees, and plants allied to the recent species of cycas and zamia. Many of the stems of the trees, as well as the plants, are still erect, as if petrified while growing undisturbed in their native forest; the former having their roots in the soil, and their trunks extending into the superincumbent strata of limestone. On one occasion, a large area of the surface of the dirt-bed having been cleared preparatory to its removal, for the purpose of extracting the building-stone from beneath; several stems, from two to three feet in height, were exposed, each standing erect in the centre of a mound or dome of earth, which had evidently accumulated around the base and roots of the trees; presenting an appearance as if the trees had been broken or torn off at a short distance from the ground. Portions of trunks and branches were seen, some lying on the surface, and others imbedded in the dirt-bed; many of these were nearly two feet in diameter, and the united fragments of one tree measured upwards of thirty feet in length. The silicified plants allied to the cycas are found in the intervals between the trees, and several have been dug up from the dirt-bed that were standing erect, evidently upon the very spot on which they grew, and where they had remained undisturbed amidst all the

revolutions which had subsequently swept over the surface of the earth.

The dirt-bed extends through the north of the Isle of Portland, and traces of it have been observed in the coves at the west end of Purbeck; and a stratum, with bituminous matter and silicified wood, occurs in the cliffs of the Boulonnois, on the opposite coast of France, occupying the same relative situation with respect to the Purbeck and Portland formations. A similar bed has also been discovered in Buckinghamshire, and in the Vale of Wardour, proving that the presence of this remarkable stratum is coextensive with the junction of the Portland and Purbeck strata, as far as they have hitherto been examined. Above the dirt-bed are thin layers of limestone; the total thickness being about eight feet, into which the erect trunks extend; but no other traces of organic remains have been noticed in them. These limestone beds are covered by the modern vegetable soil, which scarcely exceeds in depth the ancient one just described; and instead of giving support, like the latter, to a tropical forest, can barely maintain a scanty vegetation, there being scarcely a tree or shrub on the whole island.

From these data, Sir Gideon Mantell formed the following theory of Portland Isle:—

There was, in the first place, in and about the region now occupied by the English Channel, an ocean or sea, on the bed of which gradually accumulated a deposition of oolitic strata, such as those composing the Portland limestone beds. We next find the bed of this sea gradually rising to the light of day, either by an upheaving force from beneath, or by some other agency; and on the dry ground thus produced, plants and animals began to appear, forming, by their growth and decay, that stratum of vegetable soil of which the Portland dirt-bed' is a part. We find this district again submerged beneath the waters; not, as before, beneath the salt-water of a sea, but beneath the freshwater of some very large river-estuary. In this position, an alluvial soil, formed by the earthy and other materials brought down by the rivers, became gradually deposited, and formed those layers of which the Purbeck beds are a portion, above the dirt-bed of the Portland series. Lastly, some internal convulsion appears to have detached Portland from the rest of the mass, and protruded it upwards to a height of some hundreds of feet above the general level of the Purbeck beds. When, after many other changes and depositions, the district again became covered with water, forming the present English Channel, Portland stood out in the midst of it as an island: and so it has since remained.

We must now notice more particularly the size and form of Portland, and the arrangement of the strata composing its mass. The isle is about four miles long, and, in the widest part, nearly one and a half broad. The highest point in the island is 458 feet above the level of the sea. The cliffs on the western side are very lofty; but those at the point or Bill of Portland are not more than twenty or thirty feet high. There

The arrangement of the different layers in the island, according to the description read before the Geological Society by Mr. Webster, is as follows: Immediately under the soil, which seldom exceeds a foot in depth, is a series of thin beds, all together about three feet thick, called slate by the quarrymen, which split readily into layers from half an inch to an inch in thickness. They consist of limestone, of a dull yellowish colour, extremely compact, and nearly without shells. Below this is another mass of calcareous stone, considerably softer, and of a lighter colour than the preceding it is divided into two by a slaty bed, the upper being called aish, and the lower the soft burr. The latter stands upon a bed, about one foot thick, consisting of a dark brown substance, and containing much earthy lignite, and numerous fossil trunks of trees: this is the dirt-bed before noticed. The bed below this is called the top-cap, and varies considerably in its structure: some parts of it are entirely compact; in other places it contains compact parts imbedded in a softer rock; and in others, again, it is slightly cellular. The next bed is called the school-cap, and is of a very remarkable structure: it consists of a compact limestone, extremely cellular; the cavities being almost filled with groups of crystals of carbonate of lime. Under the school-cap is a layer called chert, composed of about six inches thickness of flint, containing imbedded shells and oolitic grains. The bed below this is the first which is worked for building-stone: it is called roach. This bed, which varies greatly in thickness, is entirely oolitic limestone, and yields some of the largest and best blocks for architectural and engineering purposes. The next layer, called the rubbly-bed, contains | innumerable impressions of shells, which somewhat detract from its solidity, and render it useful only for filling in thick walls and foundations. Below the rubbly-bed is another layer of excellent stone, harder than the roach, and about six feet thick. At greater depths the stone loses its solidity and fitness for building purposes, and has but little commercial value.

The manner of quarrying the stone at the present day does not differ much from that described by Smeaton. It is very laborious work, and requires a muscular race of men for its due performance. We must first remember, that the earth and stone which have to be dug away, before the good stone can be reached, is more than thirty feet in thickness; and it is evident, that, unless the market value of the good stone covered the expense of the removal of this load of obstacle, the practical working of the quarries would cease. The mode of apportioning the proceeds between master and men is peculiar. Portland being a part of the ancient demesne lands, the quarries are held by the sovereign as lord of the manor, and let out to proprietors under various forms of tenure. They are not, however, all of them let out in this manner; for, of the total number of nearly a hundred quarries, a small number are worked by the Crown: the rest being worked by about half a dozen proprietors or lessees. These lessees pay a nominal rent per acre, and a real rent of two shillings per ton for all the stone raised and shipped. The immediate management of the quarries is in the hands of stewards or agents, at fixed salaries. Under them are several 'masters' or foremen, who take charge of a certain number of men, and whose pay is between that of a steward and a quarryman. The quarry itself is usually worked by a company of six men and two boys, whose pay in all cases depends on the quantity of good stone wrought or won,' in a given time, at a certain stipulated wages per ton. This being the condition, it follows that no money is earned by the quarryman until the thirty feet of rubbish and bad stone have been removed; and this removal, in the case of a new quarry, is said to occupy a space of three years with the labours of six men and two boys! The men must, therefore, either have a little store of accumulated earnings by them, or they must have money advanced on account by their employers, to support them until the good and merchant

is said to be as follows:-Ten shillings per ton is fixed by common consent, as the average price paid to the quarrymen for their labour; and this is supposed to include the value of all the preliminary work. The money thus earned is placed to the credit of the quarrymen; and at the end of six months an account is made out, and a balance determined. During the interval,

the agents or stewards open chandler's shops, from whence the men can purchase their provisions, on the credit of their forthcoming account. The average wages of a quarryman are set down at about twelve shillings a-week, if at full work; but there are many drawbacks from this sum. If it rain before nine in the morning, no work is to be done that day; if the wind be high, the dust in the quarries is so dangerous to his eyes, that he has to leave work; if the markets are dull, his labours are restricted to four days a week; if a burial occur in the island, he is expected, by immemorial usage, to refrain from work during the rest of the day; if accidents occur, which are very probable, expenses of one kind or another follow-so that the real earnings are not supposed to reach ten shillings a week, on an average.

Without entering minutely into the processes described by Smeaton, it may be interesting to trace the history of a block of stone till it leaves the island. First, the layers of surface-soil and rubbish are dug up, and carried in strong iron-bound barrows, to be thrown over the fallow fields in the neighbourhood. Some of the next layers are then broken up and removed, by picks and wedges, and carted away from the quarry, either to be thrown over the cliffs into the sea, or to be piled up in large mounds at a distance. When the roach is attained, the labour becomes more arduous, on account of the thickness and hardness of the mass. This is usually separated into blocks by blasting, in the following way:-A hole, nearly five feet in depth, by three inches in width, is drilled in the rock, vertically; this is filled at the bottom to the height of two or three inches with gunpowder, tightly rammed, and connected with a train on the outside; the train is fired, and an explosion follows, which splits the stone for several yards around into perpendicular rents and fissures. The masses included between these rents sometimes weigh as much as fifty tons; and yet the quarrymen manage to detach them from their places. This is done by means of screwjacks, which are pressed against the mass of stone in convenient positions, and worked by winches. The labour is immense and long continued, to move the block one single inch; and when, as often happens, it has to be moved by similar means, over a rough and crooked road, to a distance of a hundred yards, one can with difficulty conceive that the stone beneath can repay the quarrymen for such exhausting toil.

But when the good stone is reached the cutting is performed in a more systematic manner. It would not do to have rents and fissures in all directions: the rents must be symmetrical and rectangular with respect to each other. There are, however, many natural fissures, called 'gullies,' which separate the mass into smaller pieces; and these pieces are loosened and removed by means of wedges, picks, levers, jacks, &c. As each one is removed, its shape and size are carefully considered, and the men decide among themselves what purpose in building it is best fitted for, without any considerable waste of material: whether

a pier, a shaft, a baluster, and so on. Having come to a decision, the quarrymen drag the mass of stone to a convenient spot, where it is brought by the action of the kevel, and other instruments, to a rough approx. imation to the required form. The block is then measured, weighed, and marked, and finally lifted or. a stone cart, having solid wooden wheels, such as are to be seen in Spain and Morocco. Several horses are yoked to the cart, and the stone is dragged to a particular spot, where a railway declines to the edge of the sea. The railway belongs to a distinct proprietor or company, and is employed by all the quarry lessees to bring the stones down to the place of shipment.

This descending railway is in some parts a remarkable one. It winds round in a circuitous form, in order to break the abruptness of the descent; and in certain parts it descends one straight path of uniform declivity, by chains and drums. If the block of stone on its cart were allowed to descend at its own speed, it would acquire a tremendous velocity before it reached the bottom, and would precipitate stone, cart and all into the sea. But there is a chain fastened to this cart at one end, and to a string of empty carts at the other; and by being worked over large drums or rollers, the chain pulls up the empty carts while it lowers the filled ones. At the place of shipment, near the Chesil Bank, a large number of vessels, from 50 to 150 tons burden, congregate to convey the stone to its various places of destination. It is said that nearly fifty thousand tons of stone are annually carried away from the island.

In the Annual Report, for 1845, of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, under whose control much of the Crown property is placed, there is an entry relating to the leasing of certain rights at Portland. The property granted was said to be 'The Demesne Lands and Quarries,' containing 307 acres, 17 perches; they were granted to John William Barrington Browne and Richard Seward Wardell; the term for which the grant was made was 28 years, from Oct. 10, 1845; the estimated annual value was £133 17s. 9d. for the demesne lands, and an average of £687 1s. 23d. for the quarries; the rent reserved in the lease was £133 17s. 9d., and a royalty of two shillings per ton of stone raised from the quarries, not to be less than £800 per annum. Under the preceding lease, the annual rentals had been rather larger, but the royalty or per centage was smaller.

In 1839, a Commission of scientific men was appointed, to investigate the qualities of various kinds of stone available for the building of the New Houses of Parliament. The Commissioners visited nearly all the quarries in the kingdom: those of Portland being among the number. In the Report which the Commissioners presented to Government, the following points of information were given concerning the Portland quarries and the stone thence procured. Several different quarries are mentioned by name; such as Trade Quarry, King Barrow, East End Quarry, Vern Street Quarry, Castles Quarry, Waycroft Quarries,