[809] The carriage should here be sent on to the village, and orders given for refreshments.
[810] Good specimens may often be obtained from the piles of stones, and from the walls on the side of the hill.
Having reposed for some time at the foot of the tower to enjoy the glorious prospect spread around us, correct our notes, look over, trim, and wrap up our specimens, we will now descend to the north-eastern side of the hill, that the appearance of the strata on that aspect may also be examined. But ere we leave the summit, again let me call your attention to its external configuration. Were it not on too extended a scale, we might suppose that we were standing on an ancient earth-work, or encampment, formed of limestone, surrounded by a deep fosse or ditch, and flanked by precipitous embankments of millstone grit and sandstone, so strongly defined are the physical features of this remarkable mountain.
We will now visit a large quarry on the eastern side, which presents a fine section of the limestone strata, above 100 feet thick (see [Lign. 271]), and which, like those we have previously observed, are disposed in curves, and enfold, as it were, the central axis of the hill; and the rock is shivered and fissured in every direction. A thick bed of drift, or alluvial debris, covers the limestone strata, as shown in [Lign. 271]; and in it, partially rolled blocks of sandstone, some of them of great size, are imbedded. The direction of the dip of the strata in this quarry is indicated by the arrows.
Drawn by Henry Carr, Esq. C. E. delt. J. Whimper, lignt.
Lign. 271. Quarry of Mountain Limestone, Crich Hill.
VIEW OF CRICH HILL.