THE MENBIX'S : A OKOLOniCAL REVERIE. 



243 



Cumbrian Lake District rose as a small island. And in the 

 Mendip Sea the waters were clear and bright bnt not very 

 deep to the north ; to tlio south, however, over Devon they 

 were turbid and muddy owiiiff to the clay and silt brought 



down by the rivers that drained the contiiiontal land lying- 

 in this direction. 



Long ages again rolled by and these seas became shallowed 

 through the unceasing deposition of silt and sand near the 

 river moixths, and, in the clearer water, by the accumulation 

 of the remains of the abundant crinoids, corals, lamp-shells. 



