24 Submarine Forest in Largo Bay, 



from the period when the forest existed, or was destroyed by 

 being covered with the tide ? The existence of the peat ex- 

 cludes any such supposition, for it demonstrates the destruc- 

 tion of the forest by ordinary causes, and the substitution, pro- 

 bably for ages, of a peat- moss, no uncommon occurrence 

 before the submergence began to take place ^. It is probable 

 that the tradition on the subject arose from an opinion ex- 

 pressed by some early and meritorious observer, whose very 

 name is now unknown, and by whose influence it became 

 enrolled in the legends of the neighbourhood. The laborious, 

 and generally accurate Sir Robert Sibbald, appears, from no 

 notice being taken of the report in his '^ History of Fife and 

 Kinross," to have been unacquainted with the phenomena on 

 this part of the coast, and likewise with that tradition, which, 

 though recorded at a more recent period, was accompanied 

 with suspicions of its accuracy. 



The natural history of submarine forests does not appear 

 to have attracted that degree of attention from geologists which 

 their importance might have secured, when they are viewed 

 as indications of the changes which have taken place on our 

 shores. Even the variety of situations in which they have 

 been detected on our coast, from Orkney to Cornwall, might 

 have excited the speculative observer to inquire if similar 

 causes had operated in the different localities simultaneously, 

 or in succession, — and led him at the same time to determine 

 whether the phenomena of submerged forests was confined 

 to what may be denominated the '' Modern Epoch" of the 

 earth's history, or had occurred during any of the antecedent 

 periods. 



That deservedly celebrated observer, Dr. Borlase, in re- 

 ference to the submarine forests of Mount's Bay in Cornwall, 

 considered that the ground had sunk or subsided, in conse- 

 quence of earthquakes, and became liable to be covered at 

 full tide with twelve feet of water. 



Dr. Correa de Serra, taking into account the soft matter 



* The existence of the fruit of the hazel, in submarine forests, has been con- 

 sidered by some as indicating the destructive change to have taken place in autumn. 

 Such a conclusion requires us to believe, that the hazels in the same year pro- 

 duced their first fruit, and suffered death. P'or if they had produced fruit during a 

 succession of vears, the nuts must have been lying in the soil below, independent of 

 the period of the year iu which the trees were destroyed. 



