in.] THE STONES IN THE WALL. 79 



lifted up to look out of the window, unconscious of all 

 that they are passing of the reverend antiquities, the 

 admirable agriculture, the rich and peaceful scenery, 

 the like of which no country upon earth can show; 

 unconscious, too, of how much they might learn of 

 botany and zoology, by simply watching the flowers 

 along the railway banks and the sections in the cut- 

 tings : then it grieves me to see what little use people 

 make of the eyes and of the understanding which God 

 has given them. They complain of a dull journey : 

 but it is not the journey which is dull ; it is they who 

 are dull. Eyes have they, and see not ; ears have they, 

 and hear not; mere dolls in smart clothes, too many 

 of them, like the idols of the heathen. 



But my readers, I trust, are of a better mind. So 

 the next time they find themselves running up south- 

 ward to London or the reverse way let them keep 

 their eyes open, and verify, with the help of a geological 

 map, the sketch which is given in the following pages. 

 Of the " Black Countries " the actual coal districts 

 I shall speak hereafter. They are in England either 

 shores or islands yet undestroyed, which stand out of 

 the great sea of New Eed sandstone, and often carry 

 along their edges layers of far younger rocks, called 

 now Permian, from the ancient kingdom of Permia, in 

 Russia, where they cover a vast area. With them I 

 will not confuse the reader just now, but will only ask 

 him to keep his eye on the rolling plain of New Red 

 sands and marls past, say, Birmingham and Warwick. 

 After those places, these sands and marls dip to the 

 south-east, and other rocks and soils appear above 

 them, one after another, dipping likewise towards the 

 south-east that is, toward London. 



