The Needles themselves are stacks of upper chalk, with flints,
and are the remains of an extension of the chalk. The cliffs here
are about four hundred feet in height, and at their base the sea
breaks frequently in a long surf line on the steep shingly shore.
In calm weather visitors engage boatmen at Totland and Alum Bays to
take them in boats through the Needles and land them in Scratchels
Bay.
[Illustration: _Shanklin Old Village._]
SHANKLIN OLD VILLAGE.--One of the most charming old-world pictures,
which still retains its rustic simplicity. Multitudes of visitors
from all parts of the world yearly visit this relic of Old Shanklin.
Pretty thatched cottages can be seen in many parts of the Island,
but nowhere is there such a combination, there being three different
styles of roof in thatch, the setting in a background of trees
completing the illusion of the country. In the angle where the
figures stand is the rustic fountain on which hangs the shield with
the verse written by the poet Longfellow when staying at Hollier's
Hotel, Shanklin, in 1869.
"O traveller, stay thy weary feet,
Drink of this fountain cool and sweet,
It flows for rich and poor the same:
Then go thy way, remembering still
The wayside well beneath the hill,
The cup of water in His name."
[Illustration: _Stone Bridge in Shanklin Chine._]
STONE BRIDGE IN SHANKLIN CHINE.--About half-way through the Chine
the ravine is spanned by an arched Stone Bridge which, in conjunction
with the steep banks with trees and ferns, makes a fine pictorial
effect.
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