70 



lutes the islets. The disposition of the strata, was found to be 

 nearly as follows : 



Clay 16 feet 



Moor, similar to that of the islets ... 3 to 4 feet 

 Soft moor, like the scouring of a ditch bot- 

 tom, mixed with shells and silt 20 feet 



Marly clay 1 foot 



Chalky rock from i to 2 feet 



Clay . . . 31 yards 



Gravel and Water ; the water having a chalybeate taste. 



In order to ascertain the course of this subterraneous stratum of 

 decayed vegetables, Sir Joseph Banks directed a boring to be made, 

 in the fields belonging to the Royal Society, in the parish of Mable- 

 thorpe. Moor, of a similar nature to that of Searby 's well, and the 

 islets, was found, very nearly on the same level, about four feet 

 thick and under a soft clay. 



The whole appearance of the rotten vegetables which were found, 

 perfectly resemble, according to the remark of Sir Joseph Banks, 

 the moor which in Blankeney Fen, and in other parts of the East 

 Fen, in Lincolnshire, is thrown up in the making of banks ; barks, 

 like those of the birch tree, being there also abundantly found. The 

 moor extends over all the Lincolnshire fens, and has been traced 

 as far as Peterborough, more than sixty miles to the south of Sutton. 

 On the south side, the moory islets, according to the fishermen, 

 extend as far as Grimsby, situated on the south side of the H um- 

 ber ; and it is a remarkable circumstance, that in the large tracts of 

 low land, which lie on the south _banks of that river, a little above 

 its mouth, there is a subterraneous stratum of decayed trees and 

 shrubs, exactly like those observed at Sutton ; particularly that of 

 Axholme Isle, and that of Flatfield Chace, which have been already 

 described. 



