Some writers have supposed the island to have been once connected with the mainland by an isthmus stretching from Gurnet, near Cowes, to Leap, on the Hampshire roast; but nothing decisive has yet been advanced in support of this strange hypothesis.

The surface of the island presents a constant succession of valley and eminence—­the two principal chains of hills being ... a range of chalk downs of a smooth rounded shape, and from 500 to 700 feet high, that stretch lengthways through the middle of the island, abutting the ocean at Freshwater on the west, and Bembridge on the east:-and a still loftier range, variously composed of chalk, firestone, &c., that skirts the south-eastern coast from Shanklin Down to St. Catharine’s (the latter 830 feet in height,) and whose broken flank on the sea-side forms the celebrated and romantic region of the UNDERCLIFF.

The principal streams in the Isle of Wight navigable for marine craft are the Rivers Medina and Yar, and the Creeks of Newtown and Wootton.—­The Medina, whose source is in the south, and which joins the sea at Cowes, divides the island into two hundreds of nearly equal extent, respectively called the East and West Medene; the first comprising 14, the latter 16 parishes.

The population of the island has doubled since 1802, and now exceeds 45,000.  No manufacture of any consequence is carried on (with the exception of the lace-factory near Newport,) Corn being the staple article of trade,—­for which there are about 42 mills, nearly all of them worked by water.

Almost encompassed by formidable rocks and shelves, few parts of the English coast are more dangerous to ships driving in a storm.  The most dreaded parts are the Needles and Shingles, at the western point; Rocken-end Race at the south, and Bembridge Ledge at the eastern extremity:  few winters pass without the melancholy catastrophe of shipwreck; though the danger is now of course diminished by the establishment of Light-houses—­especially of the new one near Niton.—­Owing to this cause, and to the precipitous nature of the coast itself, the island presents few points favorable to an enemy’s landing, and even those were for the most part fortified by order of Henry VIII:  The forts of Sandown, Cowes, and Yarmouth still remain; and though they might be of little use in the present state of military science, the presence of “England’s wooden walls” at the stations of Spithead and St. Helen’s, renders all local defences needless.

Geology, Agriculture, and Zoology.

The island presents many rare geological phenomena:  and from its smallness, easy access, and the various nature of its coasts, offers an admirable field for scientific investigation.