Xlll. 



Other small heaths are found at Gorleston, Belton and Hopton, between 

 Yarmouth and Lowestof t. The large tract of loose sand lying upon the 

 chalk in the N.W. part of the County, known as the Breck district, is a 

 peculiar feature, and its extent may be fairly estimated by the un- 

 shaded portion of the map published by Morris in connection with his 

 Gazeteer. Large tracts of it have never probably been cultivated ; 

 such portions as were broken up by the plough were called Brecks 

 hence the name of the district. Fir plantations have been introduced, 

 and more land is being cultivated, not only rye as formerly, but barley 

 and even wheat are now grown. Hedges are few and far between, and 

 consist at times of fir, and there is very little water. Originally the 

 district was much more open than at present. 



From the fact of the presence of marine plants, insects and birds in 

 this district, it has been surmised by some that an arm of the sea came 

 up from the South Suffolk Coast to Thetford ; Prof. Newton and the 

 Eev. Dr. Hind think that an arm of the Wash reached Thetford from the 

 West; the Wash itself extending as far as Lakenheath, Wangford and 

 Brandon in the line of the Little Ouse, and at Mildenhall, Icklingham 

 and Lackf ord in the course of the Lark. I do not see how the sea could 

 have come from the East. It has been suggested that the marine plants 

 found near Thetford, are attracted by the salts contained in the drift 

 sands from the decomposition of the felspar, and that the insects are 

 attracted by the plants and form in their turn a reason for the presence 

 of seabirds ; I cannot accept this theory in toto, ingenious though it be, 

 for we do not find in inland districts, however rich in felspathic rocks, 

 indications of marine flora or fauna, unless there are also indications of 

 comparatively recent proximity to some sea ; and the chemical composi- 

 tion of the felspars differs considerably from that of sea water ; the 

 absence of chlorine and bromine in the rocks being conspicuous. 

 Perhaps the insects and birds are attracted by the plants, but I think 

 the plants must be considered as the lineal descendants of those which 

 once, when a salt or brackish arm of the sea extended up to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Thetford, flourished on its shores. Various similar examples 

 may be found in this country ; at Claverton Down, Somersetshire, still 

 flourishes the Hairy Spurge; other specimens of which are to be 

 found no nearer than the valley of the Loire ; and on Steep Holme, a 

 rocky islet in the Bristol Channel, is found the wild pceony whose 

 habitat is now in the Pyrenees, a relic of the great ice age. 



