1869.] TRAVELLING NOTES ON GARDENS. 513 



rhinoceros, and marine animals which now only exist in warmer 

 latitudes, have been found in the alluvial deposit. By directing the 

 eye across to the opposite side of the vale, it catches the northern range 

 of the Cotteswold Hills, formed of argillaceous limestone and marl. 

 They, too, have been wholly or in part, at some unknown period, covered 

 with water, attested by their physical outlines, consisting of boldly- 

 marked promontories and deeply-receding bays ; and we might extend 

 the evidences by saying that this formation is found to be embedded 

 with marine shells, and is also the last resting-place of the ammonite, 

 the belemnite, with a great variety of other fossil forms. Here have also 

 been discovered the remains of that marvellous creature, the lizard fish, 

 or ichthyosaurus, possibly the most savage reptile that ever existed, 

 possessing a very peculiar combination of structure. Any description 

 of mine would very inadequately represent so complex a form, still I 

 cannot help noticing some of its most prominent characters. For 

 instance, it possessed the teeth of the crocodile, the snout of the por- 

 poise, the head of a lizard, the paddle of a whale, and the vertebrae of 

 a fish. Not less curious in form is the plesiosaurus, found in the same 

 locality, uniting various types of organisation peculiar to the former, 

 but with this difference, that the neck is very much longer, while the 

 back and tail have the properties of a quadruped ; so, in some respects, 

 it may be said that these two reptiles form an intermediate link be- 

 tween fishes and mammals. Whoever feels an interest in these cur- 

 ious creatures, and desires to become acquainted with their external 

 form, cannot do better than consult the figures given by Watei^house, 

 as they faithfully represent the exact conformation. 



Posterior to this era the scene completely changed — the sea was driven 

 back by some mysterious agency, probably by an upheaval in one part 

 and a depression in another, which gave possession of the dry surface 

 to the hyena, the elephant, and other wild animals, whose remains have 

 been discovered in this locality. 



Possibly there is nothing that yields more real pleasure than to 

 possess a knowledge of the flora of the district, the eventful changes 

 that the earth's crust has undergone, and its extinct organisms, in 

 the country through which we pass during our pedestrian journeys. 

 Night had now nearly enclosed creation by her sable mantle ; so rum- 

 inating over the preceding details, somewhat chilly and rather wet, I 

 pushed onwards to Eastnor Castle, and so soon as I got under the 

 hospitable roof of Mr Coleman, his amiable and kind-hearted wife 

 ministered to my necessities, which made me easily forget the toil and 

 anxiety of the past day. Alexander CkxVMB. 



ToRTWOKTH Court. 



{To he continued.) 



