112 I)ay — Ancient Beach and Submerged Forest. 



debris of tlie Sangatte example (Fig. II. 4) ; but, on examination, 

 the well-rolled character of the Chalk-pebbles especially, convinced 

 me that it was a genuine ancient beach. In places the shingle is 

 capped by a bed (Fig. I. 5) six inches thick of greenish sand, greatly 

 resembling the sand occurring above the beach, north of Blanc-nez, 

 and this fact confirmed my impression that the whole was of sub- 

 aqueous origin. I now regret, however, for a reason given in the 

 sequel, that I did not examine the sand more closely. 



Eesting upon the patches of greenish sand, or where this is absent 

 directly upon the shingle, is a stratum so largely composed of 

 vegetable remains as to appear to be a layer of bog-earth. This bed 

 (Fig. I. 3), a foot in thickness, throws out much water, which 

 strongly marks the beds below with ferruginous stains ; it would 

 seem, however, to contain a considerable proportion of fine greenish- 

 grey sand. Its dark colour renders this deposit a conspicuous object 

 in the low cliff, contrasting as it does so strongly with the lighter- 

 coloured beds above and below. Brown sand rests upon the last 

 stratum, and is apparently the same as that of the dunes, but it 

 is separated from the latter, in places where the cliff is sufficiently 

 preserved to show the complete sequence, by a second but much 

 thinner layer of vegetable debris (Fig. I. 2 and 1). Such is the 

 series of deposits that here intervene between the older formations 

 and the Sand-dunes. 



On a subsequent visit to the same locality, whilst availing myself 

 of low-w;,ter to search for the nethermost beds of the Lower G-reen- 

 sand exposed on this coast, I came upon a most instructive example 

 of an ancient and partially submerged forest. Black patches 

 (Fig. I. 7), which I mistook from a distance for secondary rocks, 

 stood lip out of the sand of the shore at low- water level, about 

 200 yards seaward of the raised beach. On examination, I found 

 them to consist of a peaty formation embedding numerous stumps of 

 trees of various sizes, still standing upright and with their roots 

 running down into the mass below. I traced these trees for a 

 considerable distance along the shore opposite to the raised beach, 

 but time did not allow me to examine the stratum as closely as I 

 wished to do. I noted, however, that the black peaty bed, in the 

 lowest part that I could find exposed, contained numerous white Chalk 

 pebbles scattered through it ; and I was further successful in obtain- 

 ing from amongst the roots of a tree a single bone, the larger portion 

 of the metatarsal of a ruminant, which had every appearance, from its 

 dark colour and great weight (apparently due to an infiltration of 

 iron), of being coeval with the forest. As, however, it contained all 

 or nearly all its animal matter, and I found the colour to be super- 

 ficial, and as I am, moreover, inexperienced in these recent reliquiae, 

 and there was CA'^ery possibility of its being a modern intrusion into 

 the ancient deposit, I was glad on my return to have an opinion 

 upon its antiquity. Mr. Wm. Davies, of the British Museum, who 

 kindly compared it for me with corresponding bones in the national 

 collection, tells me that, in his opinion, it may be assigned to the 

 Aurochs (Bison prisons f), which puts its contemporaneity with the 



