THE ESSEX FIELD CEUH. 209 



betoie the Royal Commission, ' that whatever pollutions there may be, and they 

 are not many, they are all oxidised by the natuial forces before reaching 

 the East London intake or that of the New River to which I have before 

 referred.' " 



Our attention was arrested by a most abominable odour just below Ware 

 Lock, and at Once came questions to Major Flower as to its cause. Could he do 

 otherwise than admit that the cause was the Hertford sewage discharge into the 

 famous " Manifold Ditch " and refer the Club to pp. 20 and 21 of " The River 

 Lee up to Date " for explanation ? He did more ; he explained a scheme of his 

 own for intercepting this abomination and taking it down below Ware Tumbling 

 Bay, a point which he subsequently pointed out, and there filtering the effluent 

 through earth on a sufficient area of land. The only question seemed to be, 

 " IV/io h to pay for it ? " 



It was interesting, as passing along the river through Ware, to note the 

 dry mouths of the disused sewers which conveyed all the filth of the town into 

 the Lea, and other indications of abandoned sources of pollution. 



We noted also " Ware Prior)'," the pretty home of Mr. Walters, who greeted 

 us as we passed. The Priory, relics of which remain, belonged to a body of 

 Benedictines, who were subordinate to the Abbey of St. Ebrulf, at Utica in 

 Normandy. 



About a mile below Ware was noticed the junction of another tributary, the 

 Ash river. 



Arriving at Stanstead St. Margaret's, a halt was made, for, whether it was 

 the odours of the Manifold Ditch, or otherwise, " all hands " were ravenous — some 

 suggested "breaking bulk" of ample provision provided for "afternoon tea " ; how- 

 ever, this was " barred," — and some of the more agile of the passengers leaped ashore 

 as a foraging party, soon returning with an ample supply of scones, biscuits, fruit, 

 and other creature comforts, sufficient to allay the cravings of hunger, for our halt 

 for lunch (ordered at 2) was not likely to be attained before 3 p.m. We were late, 

 but no one wished to hurry, and with such lovely weather and pleasant scenery 

 and surroundings, who cared } 



We soon arrived at the Rye House, famous as the place where the plot 

 against King Charles H.'s life was hatched. The Castle is reputed to have 

 been built in 1440. 



Between Rye House and the junction of the Stort, great interest was shown 

 in the large quantity of the Yellow Mimulus {Mimulus /uteus, Willd.), which was 

 growing on the Herts bank of the river. It was apparently quite wild, and we 

 were told that it had been naturalised there for years. 



The sewage of Ware is carried down to this place and disposed of on an 

 area of land, the sub-soil being the drift gravel of the valley. 



We next reach Fieldes Weir, a point of extreme importance, for here is the 

 junction of the River Stort with the Lea, and the volume of water passing down 

 the Lea is gauged. The party landed to examine the process of gauging the flow 

 of water, which was explained by Major Flower. The River Stort, from Bishop's 

 Stortford to Harlow, was traversed by the Club on July l8th, 1888 (see ESSEX 

 Naturalist, vol. ii., pp. 224-227). 



At this point also the rainfall is measured by one of Mr. Symons' gauges. 

 This was an object of much interest on the part of one distinguished member, who 

 promised us a few words on the subject at a later period. 



