Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/598

Rh 562 W I G W I G the north coast, and may also be studied to great advan tage iu White Cliff and Alum Bays. In the neighbour hood of Gurnet Bay there is a very remarkable bed, con taining beautifully-preserved remains of insects and spiders. In Alum Bay, in the extreme west, the strata are vertically disposed, and consist of a very curious series of coloured sands and clays. Here also the junction between the Eocene and the underlying Chalk is admirably shown. The central range of chalk downs is part of the northern slope, and the downs behind the Undercliff are part of the southern slope of a lesser anticlinal axis, the upper portion of the Chalk strata having been denuded in such a way as to expose the underlying Greensand, of which the greater portion of the southern half of the island is composed. The Greensand formation may best be studied in the cliff section from Atherfield Point to Rocken End. Beneath the Greensand the Wealden is exposed in the section from Brook to Atherfield, and also, to a much less extent, in Sandown Bay. The Wealden strata have yielded abundant fossil remains of extinct reptiles (Iguanodon), especially in the neighbourhood of Brook and Cowleaze Chines ; and at Brook Point an extensive fossil forest exists, being the remains of a great raft of timber floated down and deposited in estuarine mud at the mouth of a great river. At Brook also the characteristic Wealden mollusk, Unio valdensis, occurs abundantly. The climate is mild and relaxing, and enjoys the reputation of being peculiarly salubrious. In winter and spring, however, the east winds are very trying, and in summer the heat is at times very great. The climate of the Undercliff is especially mild, and a large consumption hospital (the Royal National Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest), arranged on fhe cottage principle, has been established here. Partly owing to the mildness of the climate, and partly to the beauty of the scenery, the island has long been a favourite resort of tourists, and within recent years several fashionable watering-places have sprung up. Of these the principal are Cowes, at the mouth of the Medina, the headquarters of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Ryde (11,461 inhabitants in 1881), Bembridge, Sandown, Ventnor (5739), Shanklin (1780), Fresh water (2809), and Yarmouth (787). Newport (9357), on the Medina, is the capital of the island, but is comparatively little frequented by visitors. Hitherto many parts of the island have been more or less inaccessible owing to the deficiency of railways ; but it is being rapidly opened up, and a railway is now in course of construction between Newport, Carisbrooke, Yarmouth, and Freshwater. There are few industries in the island. The population is chiefly agri cultural, a large proportion of the land being devoted to sheep- grazing. Fishing is also carried on to a considerable extent on the south coast, lobsters, crabs, and prawns being plentiful. Oyster cultivation has been attempted in the Medina, in Brading Harbour, and in the Newtowii river. At Cowes shipbuilding is carried on, and on the Medina there are cement-works. In the towns, how ever, the chief occupation of the inhabitants consists in provid ing for the wants of the summer visitors ; in winter very little business is done. The island is divided into two liberties, East and West Medina, excluding the two boroughs of Newport and Ryde ; and it forms one petty and special sessional division of the county. Until 1885 there was one member of parliament for the island and one for the borough of Newport ; now, however, there is only one member for the whole island. Episcopally the island has for many centuries belonged to the see of Winchester. In 1881 the population was 73,633, as against 66,219 in 1871. History. The Isle of Wight (Roman Vectis) was originally inhabited by Celts, and was conquered for the emperor Claudius by Vespasian in 43. The Romans remained in possession for four centuries. In 530 it was conquered by Cerdic and Cymric and added to the kingdom of Wessex. Later on it again became free from the control of Wessex and remained independent until the inhabitants of their own accord submitted to Edward, the son of Alfred. William the Conqueror gave the island as an independent lordship to AVilliam Fitz-Osborne, but it was again forfeited to the crown on the rebellion of his son, the earl of Hereford. Henry I. gave the lordship to Richard de Redvers, in whose family it remained until 1293, when Isabella de Fortibus, the lady of &quot;the island, sold it to Edward I. Richard II. again appointed a lord of the island, and the office continued until the reign. of Henry VII., when it was finally abolished. From that date onwards the govern ment has been vested in a captain or governor, whose office is now honorary. Charles I. was confined in Carisbrooke Castle for some time in 1649. The antiquities include the British pit villages near Rowborough, the Celtic tumuli on several of the chalk downs, the long stone at Mottistone, the Roman villas near Brading and Caris brooke, the ruins of Quarr Abbey, and numerous ancient churches. Carisbrooke Castle, almost in the centre of the island, is a fine old ruin built upon the site of an ancient British stronghold. The British fortifications were probably occupied as a camp by the Romans under Vespasian, and they were subsequently held by the Saxons, who made the high mound known as the keep. The inner walls of the castle were erected in the llth century, and the outer defences were constructed in the reign of Elizabeth. The Roman villa near Brading contains some beautiful and well-preserved ex amples of tesselated pavements ; that at Carisbrooke is smaller and not so interesting. WIGTOWN, or WIGTOX, a maritime county in the south-west corner of Scotland, forming the western division of the old. district of Galloway, is bounded N. by the Irish Channel and Ayrshire, E. by Kirkcudbright and Wigtown Bay, S. by the Irish Sea, and W. by the Irish Channel. It is of very irregular form. Its greatest breadth, east and west, is about 33 miles and its greatest length, north and south, about 26 miles. The area is 310,742 acres or 485^ square miles. Physical Features. The coast-line has a total length of about 120 miles. On the eastern boundary the estuary of the Cree expands into Wigtown Bay. Between Wig town and Luce Bays is the peninsula of the Machers, of which Burrow Head is the southern extremity. Luce Bay has a length of about 15 miles and an average breadth of 12. By its indentation on the south and that of Loch Ryan (about 9 miles long and nearly 3 broad) on the north the two-pronged peninsula of the Rinns is formed, of which the Mull of Galloway, the most southerly point in Scotland, is the southern extremity, and Kirkcolm Point the northern. The coast is more or less precipitous, with many small inlets, few of which, on account of dangerous hidden rocks, afford suitable landing-places for vessels. Loch Ryan forms, however, a splendid natural harbour, of which Stranraer is the port. Portpatrick on the Irish Channel is the nearest port in Great Britain to Ireland, and 7 miles to the south is Port Logan. With the excep tion of Port William on its eastern shore, Luce Bay is destitute of harbours. Wigtown Bay includes on the Wigtown side the small harbours of the Isle of Whithorn, Garliestown, Wigtown, and Carty, but the upper portions of the bay are not navigable at low water. The county is occupied almost solely by Silurian strata, its characteristic feature being a series of rocky hills, which extend more or less over the whole county, attaining their highest eleva tion in the north, on the borders of Ayrshire. A con siderable number range between 400 and 800 feet in altitude, the highest summits being Miltonish (970 feet), on the northern border, and Craigairie Fell (1000 feet) in Kirkcowan parish. A great part of the county has a wild and bleak appearance, the hills being covered with heath and whins, while in the lower parts there are long stretches of bog and moss. The Silurian rocks are in some parts interpenetrated by small areas of granite ; and immense granite boulders are occasionally scattered over the lower grounds, doubtless the result of the Glacial action of the Kirkcudbrightshire ice bed. Along the western edge of Loch Ryan there is a narrow band of Carboniferous strata, consisting of sandstones which have been classed as calci- ferous. They rest unconformably on a narrow belt of Permian strata separating them from the Silurian rocks. In the Carboniferous strata various plant impressions are met with. Between Luce Bay and Loch Ryan, and on the upper shores of Wigtown Bay, there are raised beaches. Galena, copper pyrites, and barytes have been found in small quantities ; grey shales for roofing slates and flags for pavement are dug at Cairn Ryan on the eastern shores of Loch Ryan, where sandstone is also quarried for build ing purposes; from the clays in the neighbourhood of