From the foot of the cliff the general
course of the ground, which is pasture, inclines in a moderate
descent for half a mile, and is interspersed with some hillocks,
which were rifted, in every direction, as well towards the great
woody hanger, as from it. In the first pasture the deep clefts began:
and running across the lane, and under the buildings, made such
vast shelves that the road was impassable for some time; and so
over to an arable field on the other side, which was strangely torn
and disordered. The second pasture field, being more soft and
springy, was protruded forward without many fissures in the turf,
which was raised in long ridges resembling graves, lying at right
angles to the motion. At the bottom of this enclosure the soil and
turf rose many feet against the bodies of some oaks that obstructed
their farther course and terminated this awful commotion.
The perpendicular height of the precipice, in general, is twenty-
three yards; the length of the lapse, or slip, as seen from the fields
below, one hundred and eighty-one; and a partial fall, concealed in
the coppice, extends seventy yards more: so that the total length of
this fragment that fell was two hundred and fifty-one yards.
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