BY THE REV. W. HOWCHIN, F.G.S. 211 



good account. But the fumes, as they are finally emitted from 

 the chimneys, are still so strongly charged with sulphureous 

 gases, that the ground for many acres around the point of their 

 termination has been totally bared of its vegetation. "When the 

 grass is thus destroyed and gone, a thin bed of peat, averaging 

 about a foot in thickness, becomes exposed to atmospheric waste. 

 This peat is so rotten as to resemble the finest silt, and when dry 

 the wind catches up the fine particles as they lie bare and ex- 

 posed, transporting them in clouds to great distances. I ascer- 

 tained, from enquiries made on the spot, that, at times, when 

 the wind has been strong over the hill top, parties working in 

 the fields on the opposite side of the valley, fully two miles away, 

 have been compelled to leave their work in consequence of an 

 incessant drift of this almost impalpable dust, which, by the irri- 

 tation it causes, becomes unendurable. 



The action of the pernicious fumes, the wash of rains, and 

 then the force of winds, have, in their combined action, absolutely 

 bared a very considerable portion of ground — the peaty soil hav- 

 ing been removed from the greater part of the ground as effectu- 

 ally as the vegetation, — and by such means the implements 

 referred to can now be picked up on the new surface caused by 

 these denuding agents. 



A gentleman, living in the neighbourhood, informs me that 

 the spot has been long known as a locality for flints, and that he 

 himself, when a boy, frequently passed over the site in company 

 with an old gamekeeper, who was accustomed to look for these 

 flints to light his pipe with. How many of these precious relics 

 have been sacrificed by popular ignorance no one can tell, but 

 there can be no doubt that a large number have been destroyed 

 or lost in this way. In my first visit to the ground, in company 

 with one or two friends, a shepherd and his dog passed us wliilst 

 pursuing our eager search. It had already become known in the 

 neighbourhood that these flint stones possessed some interest, 

 and not a few of the curious had been upon the ground and car- 

 ried off several arrow-tips. Thinking that our friend of tlio 

 ^^ plaid'' ^ might be able to give us some information of import- 

 ance, one of the party hailed him, and said — '* Do you ever find 



