126 ALTERATIONS IN OTHER SPOTs. 
“The best lands in the valley beneath the city 
“appear to have been once overflowed, and the 
“ancient boundaries of the stream may even now 
“be traced up and down the river.”* 
The following passage points to similar geological 
proceedings in another neighbourhood. “ At Tiver- 
“ton, the alterations in the bed and course of the 
“river Exe are remarkable. In 1771, St. Peter’s 
“‘ Church and Tower were declared to be in danger 
“from the encroachments of this river, and that it 
““ was navigable much higher than at present, there 
“is no doubt. Anchors have been found at Cowley 
“* Bridge, far above the present navigation. Formerly, 
“mills were at work on the banks of the river a 
“little under the road towards this bridge, from 
“which spot, the water has now retired to a con- 
“ siderable distance. In the suburbs of Exeter, 
** some of the lands now dry were once overflowed. 
“ Half a century ago, a man digging for a well in 
“his garden in the parish of St. Thomas, found 
“first a stratum of sand, after this, several other 
“‘ strata of different kinds; and under the whole 
“ about fifteen feet deep, a bed of hazel leaves five 
“‘ or six inches thick, on the removal of which, nuts 
“* swam about on the surface of the water. Hither 
“therefore it should seem they must have been 
“ drifted, and afterwards covered.”+ Did not other 
causes conspire, the mere “ filling up of estuaries” 
would tend greatly to a retreat of the sea from 
those spots, and accordingly, Le Lucf{ on this sole 
account argues that our estuaries were at one time 
much larger. Many centuries ago, there was a 
harbour at Seaton of considerable importance. Le- 
- land who wrote about the year 1538, takes notice 
of this fact in the following terms. “ Ther hath 
* Moore’s “ Devon,” p. 37. + Ibid. p. 29. 
t Travels in England. : 
