Geologically, Yorkshire is too large a subject for us to do more than touch ' The vale of Yorkshire, rarely more than 100 ft. above the sea, has on its western side the long slow elevations which culminate in the Pennine chain, while on the e. rise the lower but more sudden eminences of the wolds and the high grounds of Hambleton and Cleveland. On the w. are the millstone grit and mountain limestone, the two coming together in lofty opposing eminences in many parts of Craven, where, along the line of what is called by geologists the "Craven fault," the limestone rises into magnificent cliffs many hundreds of feet in height, and nearly 2,000 above the level of the sea. The limestone is in many places very rich in lead ore. On the e. lie the chalk welds, and the oolitic and has formations, with the Kimmeridge clay of the vale of Pickering, and the accumulations of sand, gravel, and other sediments which make up Holderness. In the south-western district is a splendid coal-field, intermixed with ironstone, extending over 600 sq. miles. Valuable deposits of iron ore have also been discovered recently in Cleveland, in the north-eastern part of the county.
In the n.w., the lower parts.of the North Riding, Craven, and the East Riding, the land mainly supplies occupation to the inhabitants. Craven is almost purely a grazing district, and so are most of the upper lands and dales in the county. Excellent corn is i grown in the vales of York and Cleveland, and the East Riding has many large and excellent farms. The horses of Yorkshire. both for the race-course and for use, are too well known to need eulogy. The manufactures of the county. are immense. Leeds is the center of the woolen, as Bradford is of the worsted trade. Sheffield is the princi pal seat of the cutlery manufacture; while the Cleveland district is rapidly rising into importance for mineral wealth and enterprise. The large iron-works of Low Moor, Bowling, and Rotherham, and the flax and linen manufactures of Leads and Barnsley, merit a passing notice, with the blankets and cloths of the Huddersfield district, and tile new llama and alpaca industry introduced at Saltaire near Bingley, by sir Titus Salt. Harrogate, Ilkley, Askern, and Croft are the principal inland health-resorts of the county; Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, and Whitby take the lead on the coast.
The public works of Yorkshire rank with the finest in the kingdom. Among them are the Aire and Calder navigation, 15 in. long; the Calder and Hebble navigation; the navigation of the Don and Sheffield region, 40 m. ; and the Huddersfield canal, one of the most surprising engineering works in England. This canal is 20 m, in length, and rises between Huddersfield and Marsden by 42 locks to the height of 656 feet.. At this elevation, the highest canal-level iu the country, it passes by a tunnel more than 3 m. long under Standedge, a range of hills between Marsden and Saddleworth. The canal
terminates near Dukinfield. Add to these the Leeds and Liverpool canal—which cost 46 years of labor, and is 129 m. long—besides many smaller but very costly undertakings, and some idea may be formed of the activity of Yorkshire in this direction. Its railway communications are excellent, and grow in number and completeness every year. Ou these lines, in consequence of the mountainous districts through which many of them pass, are to be found some of the longest and most difficult tunnels, viaducts, bridges, embankments, and cuttings which have yet been attempted by encrineers in England.
A very brief reference to the antiquities and natural curiosities of the county must suffice. Traces of great Roman roads are found in many places, as well as of Roman, Saxon, and Danish encampments. In the "'voids are many tumuli; and it is supposed, by some that the singular and imposing mass of rocks called Brimham crags, which overlook Nidderdale, about 4 m. from Pateley bridge, was once a Druidical temple. The ruins of ancient abbeys and priories are numerous and beautiful. Few can rival the glories of fountains and rievaulx, and the scenery which encompasses Bolton priory is delightful. Besides these there are the ruins of Kirksta11, Roche, and Selby in the West Riding; St. Mary's at York; Jervaux, Byland, and Whitby in the North Riding; and ninny others. Of castles we may name, in the West Riding, Conisborough castle, near Doncaster, one of the oldest and most interesting ruins known to antiquaries; Knaresborough, Pontefract, and Skipton, the last still used as a residence: in the North Riding, Richmond, with it unrivaled Norman keep; Middleham castle, where the king maker, Warwick, lived, and where Edward IV. was immured; and Bolton castle, the prison for a time of Mary queen of Scots: in the East Riding, Wressle castle, once the home of the Percies. Of old York castle nothing now remains but its massive Clifford's tower.
The lover of the picturesque will find the Yorkshire scenery full of charms. The rapid of Caldron Snout, on the Tees, 200 ft. in descent; High Force, on the same river, a perpendicular fall of 69 ft. over a cliff of greenstone marble; Aysgarth Force and Har draw Force, on the Lire; the Strid, immortalized by Wordsworth, in Bolton woods on Wharfe; the magnificent Gordale Scar and Malham Cove, each nearly 300 ft. in height, on the upper waters of the Aire; and the uncounted glens and streams among its myriad hills are sufficient to indicate the attractions of its river and mountain aspects. It would require a volume to do them justice.—See Allen's History of the County of York; Whit aker's Histories of Riclzmondshire, Craven, and Leeds; Hunter's Hallamshire; Gent's York, Ripon, etc.; Phillips's Geology of Yorkshire, and Rivers, Mountains, and Seacoasts of Yorkshire.