48 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. in. 



Dartmoor, and their associated sands and clays, were 

 formed in a lake at least fifty fathoms deep, and spread 

 over an area of about twenty-four square miles, fed by 

 the rivers Teign and Bovey, which did not then unite as 

 they do now. In other respects, the leading features of 

 the district were then nearly as they are now, and the 

 heights of Dartmoor and the neighbouring hills com- 

 manded the lake very much as they stand at present 

 over the plains of Bovey. The woods then growing on 

 the sides of the lake and on the banks of the rivers were 

 to a large extent composed of a huge conifer (Sequoia 

 Couttsice), analogous to the mammoth tree (Sequoia 

 (Wellingtonid) gigantea) of California, and in general 

 appearance identical; its leaves, however, were shorter, 

 and its cones smaller. Cinnamon trees (Cinnamomum 

 lanceolatum and C. Scheuchzeri) were abundant, and an 

 evergreen oak (Quercus Lyelli), somewhat like those now 

 living in Mexico. There were* evergreen figs also, and 

 custard apples (Anona), and a species belonging to the 

 genus Gardenia. Vines leapt from tree to tree, and the 

 prickly rattan-palm (Palmacites dcemonorops) was to be 

 seen among the dark green foliage of the Dryandroides, 

 which calls to mind the banksias of Australia. Gum 

 trees were also there ; and the spindle trees, now found in 

 the warmer regions of Europe, North America, Asia, and 

 Africa, are represented by a species of Celastrus. In 

 the shade throve numerous ferns, one of which (Pecop- 

 teris lignitum) seems to have formed "trees of imposing 

 grandeur/' and the undergrowth was largely composed 

 of various species of the North American genus Nyssa. 

 On the margin of the lake clusters of water-lilies raised 

 their beautiful blossoms and dark-green leaves, shedding 



