on \he Sajl CofiJ cf England. 28^ 



^ith confidence refpefting their fpecies. In general the. 

 tainkp, branches, and roots of the decayed trees were confi- 

 derably flattened ; which is a pfienomenon obferved in the 

 furtarhrand, or foffil wood of IcfeLind, and which Scheuchzer 

 remarked alfo in the foffil wood found in the neighbourhood 

 of the lake of Thun in Switzerland. 



The foil to which the trees are affixed, arid In which they 

 grew, is a foft greafy clay ; but for many inches above its 

 furface, the foil is entirely compofed of rotten leaves fcarcely 

 diftinguifliable to the eye, many of which may be feparated 

 by putting the foil in water, and de.xteroufly and patiently 

 ufing a fpatula or blunt knife. By this method I obtained 

 fome perfeft leaves of Ilex aquifolium, which are now in 

 the herbarium of the Right Honourable Sir Jofeph Banks; 

 and fome other leaves, wliich, though Icfs perfect, feem to 

 belong to fome fpecies of willow* In this ftratum of rotten 

 leaves we could alfo diftinguifli fome roots of Arundophrag^ 

 mites. 



Thefe iflets, according to the moft accurate information, 

 extend at leaft twelve miles in length, and about a mile in 

 breadth, oppofite to Sutton fhore. The water without them, 

 towards the fca, generally deepens fuddenly, fo as to form a 

 ftcep bank. The channels between the feveral iflets, when 

 the illets are dry, in the loweft ebbs of the year are from 

 four to twelve feet deep : their bottoms are clay or fand, and 

 their direftion is generally from cp.ft to wefti 



A well, dug at Sutton by Joflma Searby, fliows that a 

 moor of the fame nature is found under ground in that part 

 of the country at the depth of fixteen feet, confequently 

 very nearly on the fame level with that which conftitutes 

 the iflets. The difpofition of the ftrata was found to be 



nearly as foUov.s: Clay, i6 feet — Moor, fimilar to that 



of the iflets, 3 to 4 ditto — Soft moor, like the fcowerings 

 of a ditch bottom, mixed with fliells and filt, 20 feet — • 

 Marly clay, i foot — Chalky rock, from i to 2 feet — Clay, 31 

 yards— Gravel and water; the water iias a chalybeate tafte. 

 Vol, IV. U In 



