had already been decapitated by the inroads of the sea west of the Needles, and the remains of this big valley were occupied by a small river flowing eastward through the middle of the present Solent. In its course it received numerous tributaries on either side. It probably opened out into an estuary where it joined Southampton Water, and so continued to and beyond Spithead, receiving other tributaries from the valleys now occupied by Portsmouth Harbour, Langston Harbour and Chichester Harbour.
In time we may be able to make a more complete reconstruction of the physical geography of this area for definite dates; but the point now to be insisted on is that the Isle of Wight was part of the mainland up to quite recent times, so that its fauna and flora could readily pass backwards and forwards without crossing the sea.
Perhaps to the geographer or geologist one of the most striking confirmations of a recent submergence affecting this part of England will be found in the strange series of enclosed harbours extending from Chichester westward to Fareham. These harbours are not each distinct and separate; all of them have cross connexions in the form of shallower channels some four or five miles inland fi-om Spithead. I have often been asked what is the meaning and origin of these peculiar harbours, which are not forming or widening now, but rather tend to silt up.
