39 



the capture of fisli. But my wanderings are becoming tedious. 

 Were I to take you with me along that most remarkable sea- 

 coast extending westwards from Northam, where ancient " rock 

 platforms," old pebble sea-beaches, and strata contorted in 

 eveiy imaginable form abound, you would soon be wearied 

 out with detail. Suffice it to say that these specimens before 

 you were found on every likely headland on that part of the 

 coast, sticking out of the " heads," scattered over the sloping 

 downs, especially numerous near those ravines and hollows 

 leading down to the coast, where the land by its contour gave 

 the readiest access to the beach, and where probably the 

 native picked up flint pebbles well adapted to his purpose. 

 I could as plainly picture to myself the primaeval native 

 squatting upon his haunches in the primitive fashion, knock- 

 ing off flake after flake with rapid and uneri-ing certainty, until 

 out of many worthless fragments he at last got an implement 

 adapted to his purpose, as I could see the native ploughboy 

 of to-day sitting under yonder lime-kiln clearing the shell 

 of the patella vulgaris of its raw and juicy contents with a 

 rapidity sharpened by hunger. In both cases the traces of in- 

 dustry are most apparent, in the former the scattered "flakes" 

 and chips, in the latter the heaps of empty limpet shells. In 

 either case the evidences of design are equally traceable when 

 sought for with an intelligent eye. One may almost apply the 

 words of Professor Eamsay on the Amiens and Abbeville 

 flints, — " For more than twenty years, like others of my craft> 

 I have daily handled stones, whether fashioned by nature or 

 art, and the flint hatchets of Amiens and Abbeville seem to 

 me as clearly works of art as any Sheffield whittle." (" Athe- 

 naeum," July ] 6, 1859.) 



Not only on the North Devon but also on the Cornish 

 coast do these flint " flakes," " cores," and " scrapers," occur. 

 During a short stay at Bude I found them on each side of the 

 haven. Many were lying about on the surface of the head- 



