218 Tlie New Forest: its History and its Scenery. 



Beginning at the extremity, we soon came upon a kiln, which, 

 Hke the others discovered by Mr. Bartlett, only showed its 

 presence by the crumbling red brick earth. An enormous old 

 oak-stump had grown close beside it, and around the bole were 

 heaped the drinking-vessels and oil-flasks, which its now rotten 

 roots had once pierced. 



Nothing could better show, as the excavation proceeded, 

 the former state of the works. Here were imbedded in the 

 stiff yellow putty-like clay, of which they were made, masses 



Necks of Oil-Flasks- 



of earthenware, the charcoal, with which they were fired, still 

 sticking to their sides — pieces of vitreous-looking slag, and 

 a gi*ey line of cinders mixed with the red brick earth of the 

 kiln. The ware remained just as it was cast aside by the 



Necks of Wine- Vessels and Oil-Fiask 



potter. You might tell by the bulging of the sides, and the 

 bright metallic glaze of the vessels, how the workman had over- 

 heated the kiln ; — see, too, by the crookedness of the lines, 



218 



