ALDER. 189 



Yorkshire, a tract of nearly eighteen thousand acres, yearly 

 overflowed,, but at length reduced to arable and pasture land 

 by Sir Cornelius Vermusden, a Dutchman. An innumerable 

 number of prostrate trees were found at a considerable depth 

 below the surface. The roots remained unmoved, but many 

 of the trunks were lying on the ground heaped one upon 

 the other, while a vast number stood erect, broken or 

 mouldered off about midway. This strange uncovering 

 of old trees developed their peculiar characteristics. Oaks, 

 some of which were upwards of thirty yards long, and 

 which sold for fifteen pounds each, were black as ebony, 

 uninjured and closely grained. Ash-trees, on the contrary, 

 were cut to pieces by the workmen's spades, so soft were 

 they, and, when flung up into the open air, turned to dust. 

 But willows, which are softer than ash-wood, by some 

 strange alchemy preserved their substance, and some even 

 remain to the present day. Patriarchal firs had apparently 

 vegetated, even after their overthrow, and their scions 

 became large branches, equal to those of the parent trunk. 



