S82 Mr. Horner on the Geology of the 



the forest, and took away above forty cart-loads of the trees, part' 

 of which he used as timber, and the rest as fuel ; but for the latter 

 l^urpose it was very unfit, on account of the offensive smell it 

 produces when burning. He shewed me a gate post, which he 

 said was one of the sub-marine trees ; it had been put into the 

 ground 40 years before, and was quite entire : he had no doubt of 

 its being yew. 



§ 54. From the place where the forest first appears it continues 

 westward about three quarters of a mile without interruption, and 

 it may be most advantageously examined opposite Ham Wall, a 

 barrier erected against the encroachments of the sea. From this 

 point the shore is occupied by the lyas strata for nearly two miles ; 

 when, near Shurton Bars, there is a great disturbance in the strati- 

 fication, and the rocks totally disappear on the shore for some way, 

 although they continue in the cliff to the height of 20 feet. Here, 

 about a quarter of a mile from high water mark, more remains of 

 the forest are found ; and in this place I saw the greatest depth of 

 the brown matter and the largest tree. It was about three feet in 

 diameter, and from the concentric circles it was evidently of a 

 great age : Mr. Acland had no doubt of its being an oak. It was 

 of a dark brown colour, and had a greater degree of soundness 

 than most of the wood that is found. There is no appearance of 

 the forest westward of Shurton Bars, as far as I could discover, 

 nor indeed is it likely, for the coast from a little way beyond that 

 point is rocky, and the remains of the forest are only found in 

 those places where the curvature of the lyas strata has formed 

 hollow basins. Warner however, in his Topographical account of 

 Somersetshire, mentions some remains of trees on the shore be- 

 tween Dunster and Minehead. I carefully examined that part of 

 the coast without finding any thing of the kind, but they have 



