ON THE LEA VALLEY. 9 



appeared at the surface in the bottom of the old channel shown 

 towards the southern end of Fig. 5. A few yards beyond the 

 southern limits of Fii?. 5 the section resembled that seen at its 

 northern end. 



I do not propose to say anything here about the fossil 

 remains found in these reservoir excavations as a list of mam- 

 malian or molluscan genera and species, or to touch upon them 

 in any way except so far as they may tend to throw light on 

 various questions connected with the deposition of the beds and 

 their relations to each other. Judging from the great variety of 

 views which have been expressed by geologists of more or less 

 eminence as regards river deposits of somewhat greater age, it 

 seems desirable to point out the bearing on those questions of 

 the evidence of these more recent beds. For light may fairly be 

 expected from an appeal from the more obscure and fragmentary 

 remains of the older river deposits to the fuller and more com- 



Fig. 6. New Reservoirs. Section from the Old Channel of the Lea north- 

 ward, near the spot where the ship was found. October ist, 1900. 



plate evidence of the newer. It is true that in very recent times 

 rivers like the Thames and Lea have been canalized more or 

 less, and that, consequently, floods and specially high tides no 

 longer deposit mud on the marshes adjacent to the streams as in 

 more ancient days. But in the present case we have, on the 

 other hand, the very unusual advantage of being able to inspect 

 an old disused channel, which would be impossible but for the 

 canalization of the stream for navigation. And, as I have 

 already remarked, the length and varied direction of the sections 

 shown in these reservoirs have given almost unique opportunities 

 of noting the nature and variations of the strata and the way in 

 which changes occur. As we have seen, the constant consti- 

 tuents of any section are tne loam or clayey loam at the surface 

 and the gravel towards the base. Their respective thicknesses 

 may vary, but where they only are present the gravel always 

 makes a larger proportion of the whole section than where peat, 



