448 THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. IV. 



— And thousands of centuries rolled by, and I returned, 

 and, lo ! the ocean was gone, and dry land had again ap- 

 peared, and it was covered with groves and forests ; but 

 these were wholly different in character from those of the 

 vanished Country of the Iguanodon. And I beheld, quietly 

 browsing, herds of deer of enormous size, and groups of 

 elephants, mastodons, and other herbivorous animals of 

 colossal magnitude. And I saw in its rivers and marshes 

 the hippopotamus, tapir, and rhinoceros ; and I heard the 

 roar of the lion and the tiger, and the yell of the hyena and 

 the bear. — And another epoch passed away, and I came 

 again to the scene of my former contemplations ; and all 

 the mighty forms which I had left had disappeared, the face 

 of the country no longer presented the same aspect : it was 

 broken into islands, and the bottom of the sea had become 

 dry land, and what before was dry land had sunk beneath 

 the waves. Herds of deer were still to be seen on the 

 plains, with swine, and horses, and oxen ; and bears and 

 wolves in the woods and forests. And I beheld human 

 beings, clad in the skins of animals, and armed with clubs 

 and spears ; and they had formed themselves habitations in 

 caves, constructed huts for shelter, and inclosed pastures 

 for cattle, and were endeavouring to cultivate the soil. — 

 And a thousand years elapsed, and I revisited the country, 

 and a village had been built upon the sea-shore, and its in- 

 habitants supported themselves by fishing ; and they had 

 erected a temple on the neighbouring hill, and dedicated it to 

 their patron saint. And the adjacent country was studded 

 with towns and villages ; and the downs were covered with 

 flocks, and the valleys with herds, and the corn-fields and 

 pastures were in a high state of cultivation, denoting an 

 industrious and peaceful community. — And lastly, after an 

 interval of many centuries, I arrived once more, and the 

 village was swept away, and its site covered by the waves ; 

 but in the valley and on the hills above the cliffs a beautiful 



