Their present form bears no
resemblance to their name, which was derived from a spiral rock, about
one hundred and twenty feet high, that fell in the year 1764, and left
the present fragments of its grandeur to moulder away, like the base of
some proud column of antiquity. On the opposite coast is Hurst Castle, a
circular fort, built by Henry ~176~~the Eighth; and on the north side of
the promontory is Alum Bay, the most beautiful and unique feature of the
sea cliffs of Albion. For about a quarter of a mile from the Needles the
precipice is one entire glare of white chalk, which curves round to, and
is joined by a most extraordinary mixture of vertical strata, composed
of coloured sands and ocherous earths blending into every variety of
tint, and so vivid and beautiful in colour, that they have been not
unfrequently compared to the prismatic hues of the rainbow. It was on
this spot the Fomone, a frigate of fifty guns, returning home, after
an absence of three years, with some Persian princes on board, in June,
1811, struck upon the rocks and went to pieces: the appearance of
a wreck, in such an extraordinary situation, must have formed a
combination of grand materials for the painter, that would be truly
sublime. At Saint Catherine's, in the cliffs, is the gloomy ravine
called Blackgang Chine, which should be visited by the traveller at
sunset, when the depth of shade materially increases the savage grandeur
of its stupendous and terrific effect.
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