20 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



but he was almost incredulous on the subject of 

 Smith's views respecting their relations to peculiar 

 strata as a general fact. He acceded to a pro- 

 posal made by Smith that they should undertake 

 some field examination to test the truth of his views. 

 The Rev, Joseph Townsend, author of " Travels in 

 Spain," was associated with them. One of the 

 places they visited was Dundry Hill. From its form 

 and position with respect to the lias at KeyiT- 

 sham. Smith had inferred, without having visited 

 it, that this hill was capped by the lowest of the 

 Bath oolites, and expected to find on it certain 

 fossils which that rock contains near Bath. To 

 the astonishment of his associates Smith's predic- 

 tions were verified, both as to the nature of the 

 rock and the fossils it would be found to contain. 

 On one occasion, when the three friends were 

 dining together at Richardson's, it was proposed 

 that a tabular view of the main features of the 

 subject, as expounded by Smith and verified by 

 their joint observations, should be drawn up in 

 writing. Richardson, at Smith's dictation, wrote 

 down the strata according to their succession, in 

 a descending order, commencing with the chalk, 

 and numbered in a continuous series down to the 

 coal, below which Smith's researches had not ex- 

 tended. To this was added, in their proper places, 

 a list of the most remarkable fossils obtained from 

 the several strata. The names were principally 

 supplied by Richardson. Of this document thus 

 jointly arranged each party had a copy, with no 

 stipulation as to the use that should be made of 

 it. It was extensively distributed both at home and 

 abroad, and remained for a long time the standard 

 for descriptions of the strata near Bath. 



The great object of Smith's ambition was to 

 map the strata of England and Wales ; and the 

 wetness of the year 1799, which caused attention to 

 be directed to the drainage of land, in which his 

 knowledge of the alteration of porous and reten- 

 tive beds gave him great advantage, caused him to 

 be extensively employed in works of this kind, 

 which he prosecuted with great success. During 

 his connection with the canal company his remu- 

 neration had been one guinea a-day, with allowance 

 for extraordinary expenses. From the demand, 

 however, for his services in his new occupation, 

 he raised them to two guineas from 1801 forward. 

 This, at a later peiiod, was increased to three 

 guineas. " Any other person," says his nephew, 

 " equally moderate in his personal expenses, and 

 engaged almost every day in the year, would at 

 least have escaped poverty. But at no time in his 

 life did Smith abound in money. The cause of 

 this was the lavish manner in which he expended 

 it, in endeavouring to complete his favourite object, 

 the mapping of the strata of England and Wales. 



For this purpose he walked, or rode, or posted in 

 directions quite out of the way of his business ; 

 and when "he had thus emptied his pockets for 

 what he deemed a public object, he was obliged to 

 have recourse to night travelling, in order to enable 

 him to keep his professional engagements. Those 

 who deem such a course imprudent," adds his 

 nephew, " can scarcely blame the motive on which 

 it was founded. His personal loss became the public 

 gain; his individual strength performed what ought 

 to have been a national work ; and the suflTerings 

 to which the system ultimately conducted were 

 borne with more than common fortitude." 



Smith was employed in a great variety of works 

 by that renowned agriculturist, Lord Leicester, 

 who not only availed himself of his services in 

 draining and forming water-meadows, but recom- 

 mended him extensively to others. Among his 

 most successful performances of this kind was the 

 draining the Prisley bog for the Duke of Bedford, 

 on which the celebrated Elkington had expended 

 large sums in vain, and its conversion into a valu- 

 able water-meadow. 



In 1801, at the urgent advice of his friend 

 Richardson, who was apprehensive of another 

 publishing those views which should only emanate 

 from Smith himself, he issued proposals for a work 

 on the strata of England and Wales. By Lord 

 Leicester he was introduced to the Duke of Bedford, 

 by whom he was not only extensively employed 

 as at Holkham, but encouraged, and aided in his 

 geological investigations ; Mr. John Farey, the 

 duke's agent, was commissioned to accompany 

 Smith in an exploration of the county near 

 Woburn, for the purpose of determining the true 

 succession of the strata there, their most suitable 

 agricultural appropriation, and the best means of 

 improvement. On this expedition Smith astonished 

 Farey and Mr. Brown, of Leighton Buzzard, who 

 had joined them, by predicting, as he had pre- 

 viously done at Dundry, the kind of fossils they 

 would find in the strata at the base of the chalk. The 

 Duke of Bedford, being thus satisfied of the truth 

 and value of Smith's geological pursuits, autho- 

 rized the collection of rocks and fossils from all 

 parts of the kingdom, for the purpose of arranging 

 them in the order of stratification, and instituting a 

 chemical examination of them. Nothing could 

 have been more congenial with Smith's wishes. 

 The death of this nobleman, however, put an end 

 to the plan. 



Through his connexion with these influential 

 patrons Smith became introduced, during his at- 

 tendance at agricultural meetings, to Sir Joseph 

 Banks, Arthur Young (the Secretary to the Board 

 of Agriculure), Mr. Crawshay (the Iron King), and 

 others. He had also the honour of exhibiting and 



