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decision, and we may be certain that he would strike out with 

 energy. Regarding this campaign, Tacitus remarks,* "loca castris 

 ipse capere, aestuaria ac silvas ipse praetentare," from which we 

 are to understand that, like a prudent general, he himself selected 

 the ground for his encampments, and, ere the army advanced, he 

 searched or examined the estuaries and woods. In this we see 

 reason to believe that his advance was by the West coast, and not 

 by the East, as some think, there being no likely estuaries on the 

 East coast. The object of such searching was, of course, to see 

 whether the woods contained a hidden foe, or whether the estuaries 

 were passable for his army ; such estuaries being doubtless those 

 comprising the present Morecambe Bay, with possibly those of the 

 Dee, Mersey, and Ribble. But the fact of his having sounded the 

 estuaries, does not necessarily prove that the army crossed them. 

 Surely if his reconnaissance across the estuaries were unfavourable, 

 no such crossing would take place. He could not but notice that 

 the rapidly rising tide, together with the treacherous sands, would 

 prove a great obstacle in the way of his advance, as also of a safe 

 retreat in case of defeat. How dangerous such a road would be 

 may be understood when we refer to the terrible disaster that 

 overtook King John nearly 1140 years later, when crossing the 

 Wash, the counterpart of Morecambe. Besides, such dangers 

 would be greatly increased in the face of a triumphant enemy. It 

 is true that whilst addressing his army before the battle of the 

 Grampians, A.D. 84, Agricola speaks of their having crossed 

 estuaries — " Nam ut superasse tantum itineris, silvas evasisse, 

 transisse aestuaria."t 



But it seems probable that such statement can only apply to his 

 campaigns in Caledonia, for he went on to say that, " in the event 

 of defeat, these, together with the fens and mountains, would prove 

 most serious dangers." Surely there would be safety behind his 

 line of camps stretched from Clota (Clyde) to Bodotria (Forth), or 

 those from Tyne to Solway, for that they were strongly placed and 

 well provisioned, we may be quite sure, for Tacitus boasts that 

 none of Agricola's camps had ever been taken by the enemy. 

 * C. Cornelii Taciti Agricola, cap. xx. + Ibid., cap. xxxiiL 



