PICTURESQUE SKETCHES 



OP 



CREATION. 



CHAPTER I. 



EXPLANATORY AND INTRODUCTORY. 



LONG, very long ago, many ages before the 

 creation of Man, this world on which we dwell ex- 

 isted as the habitation of living beings, different 

 from those now tenanting its surface, or inhabiting 

 the ocean which covers so large a part of it ; but yet 

 sufficiently resembling them to admit of that degree 

 of comparison by which the general form, the pro- 

 portions, the peculiarities of structure, and even in 

 some cases the habits of these ancient dwellers upon 

 earth may be determined. 



The history of the succession of these beings, in 

 that part of the world now occupied by the British 

 islands, happens to be traceable with remarkable 

 facility and certainty, presenting few breaks in the 

 succession, except those common to most parts of 

 the land hitherto examined. It is a history of anti- 

 quity which ought not to be neglected ; it possesses a 

 deep interest, although man does not figure among the 

 dramatis persona; and the history is clearly made out 

 by a chain of evidence, different indeed in kind from 



