116 BARENESS OF PEAT 



strength of a country." In crossing the fell, I 

 learnt that it is enclosed though an extent of 

 many miles the enclosing wall the work, at a 

 distant period, of the Calder Bridge people ; and 

 I remarked that though called fell, it yields good 

 pasture, is little infested with rushes, and, as far 

 as I could see, is entirely without peat or bog, 

 indeed, the absence of bog in the Lake Dis- 

 trict, comparing it with the Highlands of Scot- 

 land, or with most parts of Ireland, surprises me. 

 PISCATOR. The absence is not entire. There 

 are some low situations in the district, or on 

 its confines, where, there is perfect peat, and 

 others, even on the high grounds, where it is 

 met with in the act of forming. Of the former 

 a good example is afforded in more than one of 

 the valleys lying between the mountains and 

 the sea, between Broughton and Ulverstone. 

 Why peat is not so common here as in Ireland 

 and Scotland may be owing to some difference 

 in the features of the country, and also to some 

 difference of climate. The steepness of the 

 declivities, the rapid descent of most of the 

 valleys, are hardly favourable situations for the 

 formation of bog ; and the heavy rains producing 

 torrents, with occasional drought, must likewise 



