24 Remains of a Mammoth, 



of the strata above the chalk, from containing a most extensive 

 mixture of land and sea remains, notoriously point out that 

 they were formed in the sea at the mouth of some immense 

 river, of which the mud or clay of the Isle of Sheppey may 

 be given as an example ; indeed, were the mouths of the Mis- 

 sissippi or Ganges to be laid dry, we might expect to see simi- 

 lar formations. That the chalk hills immediately above the 

 site of the remains, as well as that of the highest portion of 

 the North Downs, were actually denuded of superior strata, 

 the following fact may be taken as a proof: 



At one of the highest parts of the ridge of the North Downs 

 where the old road 'from Rochester to Maidstone crosses it, I 

 observed a fissure in the chalk of various widths from ten to 

 thirty feet, which I traced half a mile in length running in an 

 east and west direction parallel and close to the edge of the 

 chalk ; the most remarkable of the contents of the fissure were 

 huge tabular masses of the siliceous sandstone, known by the 

 name of grey withers. These are very numerous and disposed 

 in the most irregular manner possible ; the intervals between 

 the blocks are filled with flints not water-worn, and the intervals 

 of the flints are filled chiefly with clay. Now as this occurs on 

 the highest part of the ridge, it is obvious that the materials 

 filling the fissure could be derived only from strata that were 

 superior to, and incumbent on, the present surface of the chalk; 

 some of these tabular masses of sandstone are ten feet in length, 

 others of the same sort but much smaller in dimensions, and 

 partially rounded, are found sparingly scattered about the 

 surface of the chalk, and among the gravel alluvium. The 

 great quantity of this stratum preserved in the fissure, compared 

 with the small quantity found on the surface, and the hard 

 quartzose nature of the rock, demonstrate the force and duration 

 of the current which swept the surface of hills, now 600 feet 

 above high-water mark, and removed extensive strata of great 

 hardness. If such has been the fate of a bed of such seeming 

 durability, the traces of strata of sand or clay cannot be ex- 

 pected to exist, though from the strata we see incumbent 

 on the chalk, in other places it is most probable the same were 



