Sentence:  It was after noon, for the sun was past the meridian, and very hot for the time of year, when the face of the country began to change; and instead of the short sward of the open down, sprinkled with tiny white snail-shells, the ground was <WSD>brashy</WSD> with flat stones, and divided up into tillage fields. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  brittle, crumbly