4 LANDSCAPE IN HISTORY 



aspect to him, either spontaneously on her own part 

 or as the result of human interference with her ways, 

 he too will in some measure be affected thereby, and 

 his relations to her will be influenced. What then have 

 been the kind and amount of the mutations in the face 

 of nature since man first appeared ? Although the 

 answer to this question will here be sought in the 

 evidence furnished by Great Britain alone, it will 

 be understood that the principles laid down for the 

 conduct of the inquiry with regard to this country 

 must be of general application to other regions of 

 the globe. 



Let me remark at the outset that considerable 

 progress has been made in the investigation of this 

 question, both from its scientific and its historical side. 

 Lyell, and Prestwich, with the geologists who have 

 followed them, laid a solid foundation of knowledge 

 regarding the later mutations in the physical geography 

 of Britain. Guest, Pearson, Freeman, Green, and 

 others, have shown in how many ways the historical 

 development of the people has been influenced by the 

 topographical features of the country. Yet in spite 

 of all that has been done, I do not hesitate to say 

 that we are still only a little way beyond the thres- 

 hold of this wide subject. No one has realised more 

 vividly at once the importance of the inquiry and the 

 imperfection of the available data than the late Mr. 

 J. R. Green. He would fain have been able to re- 

 construct the successive phases through which our 

 landscapes have passed since the dawn of history ; and 

 he did more in this respect with his materials than 

 perhaps any other living man could have done. But 



