UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 29 



still found within, where it has become a hard 

 petrified mass. 



" The trunks which remain in their natural 

 position, have been broken off about a foot above 

 the surface of the sand: how far they reach 

 beneath it I cannot say, but there were two or 

 three as thick as my body. They all appear to 

 belong to the same species of tree, though of 

 what family I do not think our present know- 

 ledge of the comparative anatomy of timber is 

 sufficiently advanced to determine. 



" This deposit of sand extends about three- 

 quarters of a mile in each direction ; and as innu- 

 merable fossil marine shells are mixed with it, as 

 well as imbedded in the envelopes, it must evi- 

 dently have proceeded from an irruption of the 

 sea, although it is bounded by hills several 

 hundred feet high, on which there is no trace of 

 sand." 



12th. My aunt was so kind as to take Mary 

 and me with her this morning, to pay a visit to 

 Mrs. B., who has always many pretty curiosities 

 to shew. Her cousin, who is captain of an East 

 Indiaman, has a constant commission to bring 

 her any thing that is interesting. Fortunately 

 for us, he arrived a few weeks since, and has 

 lately sent her a collection of Chinese drawings 

 of flowers and insects, which are most beautifully 

 coloured, They are, however, amusingly de- 



D * 



