75 



CHAPTER IV. 



1849-1858. 



EASTER EXCURSIONS ' THE WATER-BEARING STRATA '- 

 ' THE GROUND BENEATH US ' FURTHER TERTIARY 

 MEMOIRS. 



FOR several years Prestwich had been in the habit of 

 making a short excursion into the country at Easter, 

 when he was accompanied by two or three geological 

 friends. To him these expeditions were most bene- 

 ficial : he was fagged by the end of the winter, and 

 invariably felt refreshed by the change of air and 

 scene. He delighted in geologising and exploring in 

 the society of personal friends ; and as time went on, 

 these Easter parties became very popular, and were 

 usually composed of four or five " brethren of the ham- 

 mer"; Prestwich, from his knowledge of the ground, 

 being director and keeper of the common purse. It 

 soon became known that to be one of Prestwich's 

 Easter party was a very good thing indeed, and those 

 hard workers who joined it were like so many happy 

 school-boys out for a holiday. Mention is made in a 

 letter to his old friend Mr W. Cunnington of one of 

 these expeditions. 



