78 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 



coins, have been found within the last century. They proceeded 

 to Alnmouth, where they dined, and elected two gentlemen as 

 members of the Club; and returned to Newcastle by the 6*55 

 P.M. train. 



I much regret that the Third Field Meeting, which was 

 appointed for the 5th July, at Beal, Kyloe Crags, and Etal, was 

 a total failure, Mr. St. John Crooks being the only member 

 present. I trust, however, that this very interesting district 

 will not be forgotten in the arrangements for some future year, 

 and that the members will on that occasion, by a numerous 

 attendance, compensate for their absence on this. 



The Fourth Field Meeting was held on the 2nd August, at 

 the Northumberland Lakes, and was attended by nine members. 

 The party left Newcastle by the 6'30 a.m. train for Bardon Mill, 

 whence the lakes are easily accessible ; and although the district 

 has been visited by the Club more than once before, it is so rich 

 in interest to the naturalist, the antiquary, and the lover of 

 the picturesque, that it will bear revisiting again and again; 

 and its wild grandeur and historical associations possess an 

 undying interest. From the deep waters of Crag Lough rise 

 gigantic basaltic cliffs, along the summit of which runs the 

 great Roman wall, here in a state of wonderful preservation. 

 From this point the great work of Hadrian may be traced either 

 way for miles across the country ; the neighbouring station of 

 BorcovicuSy with its roads and gateways worn by the feet of 

 Roman soldiers, and the wheels of chariots, tells of days when 

 these solitudes resounded with the tramp of legions and the din 

 of battle. While the antiquary and the architect thus moralised 

 on the past, or learnedly discoursed on Roman masonry and 

 Roman mortar, the naturalists and microscopists ransacked the 

 waters of the lakes for the Algcc^ Sjmnges, and Bryozoa, with 

 which they abound. The geologist's hammer revealed the mys- 

 teries of the rocks, and the botanist filled his case with flowers ; 

 so that, what with learned words and scientific nomenclature, 

 the old crags might have refreshed their recollection of the well- 

 nigh forgotten tongue of the builders of that wall which, for 

 sixteen centuries, has looked down into the still waters of the 



