ALLUVIUM. 289 



Felpham levels, probably as far as the village of Barnham. Large por- 

 tions of the trunks of trees, and heaps of reeds, oak-leaves, &c., matted 

 together, were observed, permeated throughout with a bituminous stain. 

 This storm also exposed on the strand, at low water, upwards of forty 

 large oak trees, lying with their heads toward the south-east. The body 

 of the largest measured four feet in diameter, the wood was extremely 

 black, and emitted a strong sulphureous smell during combustion. Trees 

 of this kind have often been observed by the inhabitants of Bognor after 

 a north-east storm, and doubtless, may again be witnessed under similar 

 circumstances by any curious inquirer*. 



In Pevensey levels the trunks of large trees have often been observed, 

 imbedded in a mass of decayed vegetables. The substratum is an inferior 

 peat, with an intermixture of sand, reposing upon a thick bed of blue al- 

 luvial clay, containing marine shells of the same species as those that occur 

 in Lewes levels. In that division of the marsh called Hoo Levels, a sub- 

 marine forest was discovered a few years since. It lies in the western 

 extremity of Bexhill parish, just above low water mark, adjacent to a 

 manor farm of the Duke of Dorset, called Conden, nearly midway between 

 Hastings and Eastbourne. The following description, from an anonymous 

 correspondent, was pubHshed in the Gentleman's Magazine for 17 — . 



" In this place, there are the remains of 200 or more trees, which are 

 firmly rooted to the soil, now become sand, and still retain their perpen- 

 dicularity, and original position. Some of the trees are four or five feet 

 above the surface, others have been cut down, or rather I conjecture worn 

 away by the continued flux and reflux of the water. The ramifications, 

 &c. of the roots are very perfect. The trees are of the same species as 

 those of which our Sussex woods are composed, being principally oak and 

 birch. At high water this spot is covered by the sea to the depth of ten 

 or twelve feet ; so that it is evident, that the earth must here have ex- 

 perienced some grand convulsion, as it is utterly impossible, under present 



* Communicated by the late Rev. J. Douglas, F. A. S. of Preston. 



P P 



