190 



coloured flint, are also frequently picked up on 

 the moors, and are called elf-bolts" 



I asked, if those things were often found in 

 other parts of England, as they must be very 

 interesting in tracing the history of our early an- 

 cestors . 



" Yes," said he, " in all parts of Great Britain ; 

 and not only weapons, but various utensils ; be- 

 sides other articles, of which the uses have not 

 been ascertained. For instance, at Kimmeridge, 

 on the coast of Dorsetshire, where there are beds 

 of a kind of stony coal, there has been found on 

 the tops of the cliffs, what the country people call 

 1 coal money' The pieces are round, and about 

 two inches and a half in diameter, by a quarter 

 of an inch in thickness; one side is convex, with 

 mouldings, and the other is flat and plain, but 

 with two, or sometimes with four small round 

 holes in the surface. They are, in general, two 

 or three feet below the surface, inclosed between 

 two stones, set edgeways, and covered by a third ; 

 and the bones of some animal are always found 

 along with them. A little deposit of this coal- 

 money was also discovered in a shallow bowl of 

 the same material," 



"And was coal ever really used as money, 

 uncle ? It would make rather a bulky cur- 

 rency. 31 



" Some people imagine that they were amulets ; 



