688 



DEVONSHIRE. 



Devon- 

 shire. 



and other places, where it is used in the manufacture 

 of the coarser articles of brown or common earthen 



Devon « 



shire. 



•ware. 



Some years ago, a vein of culm was found nearChitfle- 

 hampton, varying from about four inches to one foot 

 in thickness ; dipping to the south-ward about one foot 

 in three. It was wrought for a short time, but the ex- 

 pence being very considerable, it was abandoned. In 

 the extensive flat, called Bovey Heathfield, which seems 

 to have been formerly covered by the tide, and to be 

 below the level of the sea, that remarkable substance 

 Bovey coal, called Bovey coal is found. Its strata run nine miles to 

 the southward, keeping to the west of the beds of pot- 

 ters clay in this neighbourhood. The uppermost strata 

 rise to within a foot of the surface, and are from eighteen 

 inches to four feet thick ; the lowermost stratum is six- 

 teen feet thick. Between the strata are beds of brownish 

 clay, that diminish in thickness downward. At the 

 bottom of the lowermost stratum of coal, there is also a 

 bed of clay ; below this is a bed of sand, and then clay 

 again. The coal retains the vegetable structure, is of a 

 black or blackish brown colour, with very much the 

 appearance of charred Avood ; light, friable, easily split 

 into irregular laminae, and strongly impregnated with 

 bitumen. It is divided into two kinds ; the stone-coal 

 and the wood-coal ; the last has more of the peculiar 

 properties of the Bovey coal than the former. When 

 this coal is burning, a thick heavy smoke, of a foetid 

 and disagreeable nature, arises from it. The small coal, 

 thrown into a heap, and exposed to the weather, will 

 take fire of itself. Its specific gravity is from 1.4 to 

 1.558. Its' proportion of pure carbon from 54 to 75 

 per cent. It has been carefully analysed by Hatchett, 

 and his analysis will be found under the article Coal. 

 Among the clay which divides the strata, but adhering 

 to the coal, are found lamps of a bright yellow resinous 

 earth, which is extremely light, and so completely sa- 

 turated with petroleum, that it will burn like sealing- 

 wax : if the burning is not carried too far, it produces 

 an agreeable aromatic vapour. By analysis, it appears 

 to contain, of resin 55, asphaltum 41, and earthy resi- 

 duum 3. About two miles from the coal pits, root coal, 

 having the form of roots, and broad or compressed coal, 

 have been found, as well as in the coal pits. A strong 

 appearance of the trunks and roots of the Scotch fir, 

 may be traced in the root coal. 

 Fish. Devonshire is remarkably well supplied with fish; 



the Tamar, Tavy, Exe, and Dart, abound in salmon of 

 a peculiarly fine flavour ; and the trout of the river Otter 

 are highly celebrated. Besides these, Devonshire is 

 celebrated for soals, plaise, and the John Doree (Zeus- 

 faber). It is said, that the last never made its appear- 

 ance at English tables, on account of its hideous ap- 

 pearance, till it was introduced by the celebrated epicure 

 and comedian Quin. Another species of the Zeus 

 ( Zeu9 Luna, ) is also sometimes found on the coast of 

 Devonshire. This fish, commonly called the opah, or 

 king fish, is not common on the British coast ; one of 

 them was taken at Brixham, near Torbay, in the year 

 1772. It weighed 140 pounds. It was four feet and 

 a half in length, and two and a quarter in breadth, 

 while its thickness was only four inches. The torpedo 

 has been sometimes taken in Torbay, and in the river 

 Dart ; and the sepia, or cuttle fish, is not unfrequently 

 caught in the nets of the fishermen off Teignmouth and 

 the neighbouring coast. There are very large oyster- 

 beds, said to cover 100 acres, at Starcross, Topsham, 

 and Lympstone. It appears, by a grant of liberties 

 from King John to the inhabitants of Devonshire, that 



the wolf was not extirpated at that time in this county • 

 and a passage in Hooker would seem to prove that it 

 existed here even so late as the reign of Elizabeth. 



In the lanes leading to the village of Upton Pyne, an N.vural 

 uncommon variety of hieracium umbellalum is found, history, 

 which is described by Haller as " H. foliis pene ovatis, 

 vix dentatis, caule humili, pene unifloro." In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Thorverton quarries, teucrhtm scorodonia, 

 (wood sage,) grows in great abundance, the fruit of 

 which is used by the poor people instead of hops. Li- 

 num an gusti folium, (narrow-leaved flax,) may be truly 

 considered as a Devonshire plant ; it decorates the road 

 sides in great luxuriance between Ashburton and Tot- 

 ness. Valeriana rubra, (l'ed valerian,) grows in the 

 crevices of the stone of the old castle of Dartmouth ; it 

 is not uncommon, in such situations, along the western 

 coast. Campanula hederacea, (ivy-leaved campion), is 

 found on some of the large stones, which are sprinkled 

 by the spray of the romantic water-fall of Lidford. 

 Lichen vidpinus, with its lemon-coloured threads, adorns 

 the old branches of oak and ash near Hartland priory ; 

 a place well worth visiting, on account of its romantic 

 and agreeable scenery. On the shore near Hartland 

 quay, scilla vema and cochlearia danica are found. On 

 the eastern side of the haven of Teignmouth, there are 

 some rare species of shells, especially mactra lutraria, (See 

 Conchology, p. 93-) and nerita glaucina. Near Saltash, 

 a species of turbo is found, which, though similar to turbo 

 littoreus, (the common periwincle, ) has some characters 

 that seem to point it out as a different shell ; it has a sort 

 of distorted or rude contour, without any appearance of 

 s trice; from this, and other circumstances, DrMaton, who 

 found it, is disposed to name it turbo rudis. Its colour 

 is greenish. In the bay of Barnstaple, aslerias papposa, 

 (the helianthemoides of Pennant,) is found. Of the 

 natural curiosities in Devonshire, the Valley of Stones 

 is undoubtedly the most singular and curious. It lies 

 about half a mile north west of Linton. The length of 

 this valley is nearly a mile ; its breadth at one end near- 

 ly 300 feet, but at the other end much narrower. It is 

 entirely covered with immense masses of stone, thrown 

 together sometimes in the grandest and sometimes in 

 the most grotesque manner. The stones consist of a 

 fine grained argillaceous grit ; the fracture is lamellar ; 

 and in some instances the texture friable and loose. 

 Some of the masses of rock are completely covered with 

 turf, others are just acquiring a clothing of moss, while 

 others again manifest only incipient traces of vegetation. 

 The rocks between Torbay and Teignmouth have many 

 considerable openings or fissures in them, of which the 

 largest and most remarkable is Kenls Hole. The depth 

 of this cavern is about 682 feet. The roof of another 

 cavern, which has three entrances, is nearly 30 feet 

 high, and the length of it 130 feet. 



There are many extensive and very beautiful views in s cenery , 

 Devonshire ; indeed nearly the whole of the coast along 

 the British Channel presents scenes, grand, picturesque, 

 or beautiful ; but the view from Mount Edgecombe is 

 the most celebrated. This place lies near Plymouth, 

 and commands a view, almost unequalled for variety 

 and magnificence of objects. In front, the town and 

 harbour of Plymouth ; to the left, the dock yards and 

 fortifications, with ships of various sizes, sailing in and 

 out of the Tamar. On the right, the eye takes in the 

 whole sweep of the channel, with several of the bold 

 headlands, which start out from the coast. If the eye 

 is turned to a nearer prospect, immediately below 

 Mount Edgecombe, appears a fine declivity richly 

 planted;, and ornamented with statues, temples, and 



