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THrs island lies off the south shore of Hampshire. The The island is divided between one liberty and one hllll>< Soleni sea, separating it from the mainland, varies from dred; the following is a list of the places in each:- three to five miles across, while at one point, near Burst East Medina Liberty :-Arreton, Binstead, Bonchnrch. Castle, it is little more than a mile. The island is of a Brading, Calbourne, Godshill, Newchurch, Niton, St_ lozenge shape, 22! miles from east to west, 13 from Helens, St. Lawrence, Shanklin, Whippingha.m, Whitwell, north to south, about 6o in circumference and includ­ Wootton and Yaverland. ing 93,342 acres. On the north the land slopes to the West Medina Hundred: Brixton, Brook, Carisbrooke, margin of the sea, woods and meadows stretching to the J]hale, Freshwater, Gatcombe, Kingston, Mottistone, water's edge; but on the southern shore is a precipiltous Newport, Northwood, St. Nicholas-in-the-Castle, Shal, barrier of cliffs, with here and there a stream falling Heet, Shorwell, Thorley, West Cowe~t u.nd Yarmouth. through a ravine; occasionally the coast curves iuward, The whole of the parishes in the island are incm·por­ lllld at either extremity is a bold ncky promontory. Its ated, for poor law purposes, under a local Aot : the Union geological structure is interesting, as it includes several workhousll_ is at Carisbrooke. The following is a list oi strata, from the tertiary to the wealden formation, and parishes:- which in some places are closely compressed together. • Arreton North *East Cowes *Sandown A high range of chalk hills, or downs, stretch from east *Arreton South Freshwater Shal1leet lio west, and a. still higher range runs southward, ter­ •Ashey Gatcombe Shanklin minating abruptly at the undercliff, which enjoys a high *Bembridge Godshill Shorwell reputation for its picturesque scenery and the mildness Binstead Kingston Thorley of the atmosphere: it consists of various shelves, from a Bonchurch Mottistone *Totland quarter to half a mile in breadth and 6 miles in length, Brading Newchurch Ventnor gradually sloping to the sea, caused by landslips from the Brighstone Newport Whippingham chalk downs. St. Foniface Down, at Ventnor, is the Brooke N iton Whitwell highest in the island, being abom goo feet in height; Calbourne Northwood *Wroxall on Ashey Down, which is 420 feet above the sea, is a sea Carisbrooke Ryde Yarmouth. mark, built of stone by the Trinity Board in 1795. The Chale St. Helens Yaverlanlk" Needles, at the western extremity, are isolated masses of *Cowes St. Lawrence rock, principally chalk and flint; the Needles lighthouse 'l'he parishes marked thus * were formed in ~ 894 under­ is on the highest point Blackgang and Luccomb are SW, London the principal. The principal bays are Alum Bay and Tot­ • land Bay, at the western end of the island, remarkable for TERRITORIAL FORCE. S€e Hampshire. AAnds of variegated hues; Sandown Bay, with its fine MARKET. sands, on the south-east; Freshwater and Brixton Bays, on the south-west, Osborne Bay on the north-east, and Newport, market days, tuesday B'Rturday, the< Thornes Bay and Newtown Bay on the north-west. The latter for corn. principal river in thQ island is the Medina, which runs from south to north, dividing the island into two parts, The island is under the control of a governor, who is­ termed respectively East and West Medina; it rises in St. styled the Governor and Capt.-General, and a Depnty­ Catherine's Hill and falls into the sea ot Cowes ; the Gvvernor~ who is also the custodian of Carisbrooke Castle .. portion from Newport to Cowes (4 miles) farming an It forms a magisterial division of Hampshire, and con­ estuary a quarter to half a mile wide; it is navigable for tains the. liberty of East Medina, with 14 townships and' 1hips of small tonnage to Newport. The river Yar, a.t hundred of West Medina with 16: it forms a single Poor' t.he western eitrremity, flows from a little north of Fresh­ Law Union and a County Court District, in circuit 5'1,with. water to Yarmouth, and the river Newton flowing from Jurisdiction in Bankruptcy Courts, being held at N ew-f near Calbourna through Shalfleet into Newton Bay. port and at Ryde, and for ecclesiastical purposes it; is­ within the archdeaconry of the Isle of Wight and diocese The seapom cJJrive some advantage from supplying the I of Winchester, and is divided into the rural deaneries oP ahipping lying Spithead and the neighbouring roads ; fn East Wight and West Wight: as a parliamentary di!ij;ric1; but the chief source of prosperity to the isl!md is from it returns one knight of the shire; the bor