228
BLAKENEY POINT, NORFOLK
diagram (fig. 51) shows these lateral beaches numbered in the order of their sequence. They occur in three groups, forming the Marams, the Hood, and the Long Hills and Headland. In length, individual hooks range from a few hundred feet to half a mile, whilst the nature of the vegetation they bear varies according to the age of the hook, or what is the same thing, its position in the system as a whole. Ancient hooks, such as those of the Marams, have acquired by lapse of time a surface soil bearing a turfy carpet of grass; those most recently produced bear little besides that most ubiquitous of the Blakeney
S1*—Diagram of the Shingle Systems of the Distal Three Miles of Blakeney Point, to show the separate banks and their order of origin
The series 1 to 12 with the enclosed marshes form an aggregate known as the Marams;
Nos. 13 to 17 are covered in large part by a sand-hill termed the Hood; the Long Hills overlie Nos. 19 and 20, and the Headland occupies the area within No. 26. Between these two sets of sand dunes is the Salicornia marsh. The last-formed beach (No. 27) is dotted. All the marshes belong to the narrow-mouthed type with the exception of and z, which are of the open variety.
shingle plants, Suceda fruticosa. Between these extremes the Long Hills bank of intermediate age may serve as an example of a transitional vegetation.
   Leaving the sand-hill which has served as view-point, we may proceed along the edge of the marsh about half-way to the Bend. Walking over the low shingle hooks, it will be noticed that the Suasda bushes are dwarf and stunted, and, if it is several days since a tide flowed into the marsh, twigs of Suasda will be found lying about. This destruction is caused by rabbits, which throughout the season never relax the habit of pruning the Suasda. In the aggregate, the result of this constant rabbit pressure is tremendous, as the drift line testifies. An adequate explanation of this Su®da habit has yet to be found. The rabbits do not eat the twigs, which remain lying about till the tide sweeps them up. It is possible that the rabbits sharpen their teeth this way, or the taste may be pleasant; on the other hand it may be merely a mischievous