STRAY NATURE-NOTES 271 



in various directions, and putting themselves into 

 all kinds of curious attitudes in order to get at their 

 food. 



Some of the geological peculiarities of the dis- 

 trict had for him a special interest. Among the 

 places near Doncaster which he, as a naturalist, 

 found well worth visiting was the curious level 

 district known as Hatfield Chase. What the history 

 of this striking formation was afforded food for 

 inquiry and speculation. From observations which 

 he made on the occasions of his visits to the Chase, 

 he came to the conclusion that it had been at one 

 time a tangled forest ; at another, covered by fresh 

 water ; and at another period, inundated by the sea. 

 On one of these visits he came across workmen en- 

 gaged in clearing out a deep dyke. When at about 

 eight feet below the surface, and two and a half 

 below low-water sea-level, they found parts of the 

 trunks and roots of trees in an upright position ; 

 others of a similar kind were seen nearer the present 

 surface ; so that he came to the conclusion that the 

 ground at the time when these trees were growing 

 was more undulating than it is at present. In other 

 places he discovered that many curious land-shells 

 had been dug up, together with nuts and acorns. 

 The bones of animals, probably deer, were also from 

 time to time unearthed. In a paper which he con- 

 tributed [to the Naturalist he gave the following as 

 the most probable theory as to the history of this 

 curious region, namely, that at some remote period 

 "a vast stream must have flowed through these 



