Revietcs — Walks in Ej^ping Forest. 369 



area of nine square miles in extent, which, by the munificence of the 

 Corporation of the City of London, and at a cost of over a quarter of 

 a million, has been secured as a place of recreation and enjoyment 

 for the public for ever. This district, moreover — notwithstanding 

 all the cruel curtailments it has suffered — is actually a bit of 

 primeval forest land, and is the last remnant of the great forest of 

 Essex, once extending over the whole county. Here in the merry 

 months of May and June — especially in the middle of the week 

 (avoiding the jjeriod embraced from Saturday to Monday) — one 

 may hear the pleasant harmony of the thrush, the blackbird, the 

 lark, and the linnet, with all the finches for chorus ; whilst a host of 

 rare birds may be seen by the early riser, who knows their haunts, 

 who may watch tlie kingfisher by the brook, or listen to the 

 entomologising woodpecker, or discover the heron knee-deep in 

 some rushy pool. 



Then too there are the wild animals. The fallow-deer (Cervus 

 dama) have never been entirely exterminated, and are now on the 

 increase. They are said to be lineally descended from the primitive 

 stock first introduced by the Romans into Essex, and to differ from 

 those preserved in other park-lands elsewhere. 



The Red-deer (Cerviis elaphus), and the Roe-buck (Cervus 

 capreola), have both been re-introduced. These deer were abundant 

 in this very district in prehistoric times, and probably down to 

 the 17th century, if not later. The other denizens are hares, rabbits, 

 foxes, badgers, pole-cats, martens, and some lesser forms of Miisteliclce. 

 In prehistoric times, as we know from the excavations at Waltham- 

 stow (see Geol. Mag. 1869, pp. 385-388), we had in addition to the 

 above, the Wolf, the Beaver, the Wild- boar, the Elk, wild Oxen, 

 and Goats. In Pleistocene times we had a still larger number of 

 forms which are now extinct or exterminated in this country, com- 

 prising Elephas primigeniiis, E. antiquus, Spermophilus, sp., Ehinoceros 

 tichorhinus, B. megarhinus, and B. leptorhiuus ; Hippopotamus major ; 

 JBison prisons ; Bos primigenius ; Ooihos moscliatus ; Cerviis megaceros, 

 Cervus tarandus ; Felis spelcea ; and many others. 



The forest then of to-day has a wonderful history of its own ; 

 going back through Historic, to Prehistoric times, and thence to the 

 Pleistocene period, we can trace, by means of the peat-deposits, the 

 Alluvium and the Brick-earth, one fauna as it succeeds another, 

 marking not only great changes in the animals, but also in the 

 climate and physical conditions of the district. 



Mr. Horace B. Woodward, F.G.S., in his excellent sketch of the 

 Geology of the Forest-area, takes us even beyond this point, to the 

 Boulder-Clay, the Glacial Deposits, the Bagshot Beds and the London 

 Clay ; we cannot however give a fuller notice of this Guide here, 

 but all who take an interest in the suburbs of our great Metropolis 

 will secure a copy of this excellent little Guide for themselves. 

 The illustrations are charming, and give an admirable idea of the 

 beauty of the scenery of this delightful suburban resort. 



DECADE III. — VOL. II. — NO. VIII. 24 



