192 L ittleboroiigh . 



from the plateau, we have the opportunity of finding that 

 extremely rare moss, the Atrichum laxifo'Iium, which 

 grows in the bed of the mountain-torrent towards the 

 left ; and here also, among the grit, are found fragments 

 of stems of Calamites. So little of nature's archaeology 

 can be read upon the surface, near Manchester scarcely 

 any, indeed, is within access, except in those great bitu- 

 menised herbariums the coal-pits that to pick up 

 such relics in our path is a pleasant novelty. 



While standing upon the western borders of the lake, 

 or traversing it in the little steamer, and even from the 

 platform of the station below, we may observe protrud- 

 ing from the crest of the highest hill upon the Yorkshire 

 side, some curious masses of rock. These indicate the 

 point to aim at, when wishful to inspect the remark- 

 able old roadway which mounts over the hill a little to 

 the left of the crags, and which is attributed to the 

 Romans. Littleborough was an important Roman sta- 

 tion, and many relics left from the time of the Roman 

 occupancy have been discovered ; no ruins, however, are 

 traceable, except a portion of the site of some of the 

 defences, now bearing on the summit the ancient man- 

 sion called " Windy-bank." Not easy is it to realise to 

 the imagination what Manchester and the neighbour- 

 hood were then like. Much of the surrounding district 

 was covered with forest, in which the wolf and the wild 

 boar found shelter ; on the rocky and precipitous banks 

 beside the confluence of the Medlock or " Fair-water," 



