90 



Great Level, 



to afford a clearer view of the present state of the drainage and 

 agriculture. 



The extent and boundaries of this great tract of flat country 

 have been already described, and a few remarks may be now 

 made respecting the nature and properties of the soil. The soil 

 of the fens in general consists of a deep deposit of peat or 

 "moor" resting upon the Oxford clunch or fen clay formation. 

 This deposit is a vegetable substance in a partial state of decay, 

 being a congeries of the roots and fibres of about forty different 

 species of plants, mixed with earthy matter, and holding water in 

 excess by capillary attraction. This crust is of varying thickness, 

 in some places being several yards in depth, in others only a few 

 inches. The surface, however, is generally found to be mixed 

 with silt or other soil, and by tillage, cultivation, and the influence 

 of the atmosphere this upper part of the moor has become still 

 more decomposed, forming a black earth, between which and the 

 clay occurs a stratum of the original peat. This subsoil is gene- 

 rally a brown, spongy substance called "turf" or ''moor," which 

 is dug and dried for fuel ; after being thus dried, it will expand 

 enormously when placed in water. This pervades nearly the 

 whole of the peat district, but by good drainage and cultivation 

 it is now, as the fen-men say, fast ''wearing out." On the 

 higher and better-drained lands this turf has become, by com- 

 pression, quite hard, losing its absorbing power, and being inca- 

 pable of expansion ; in which state, sometimes mixed with sand, 

 it obtains the name of "clunch," or "bear's muck," according as 

 it is more or less tenacious. Though the peat principally rests 

 upon a thick stratum of blue calcareous clay called " gault," yet 

 in many parts beds of gravel varying in thickness are found be- 

 tween the peat and the clay, and in some places the bottom-soil 

 is silt. The materials which compose the peat-soil contain the 

 tannin principle in a considerable degree, which has the power of 

 preserving animal and other substances for a great length of time ; 

 and oxide of iron is also dispersed through the whole mass. In 

 consequence of this antiseptic property innumerable relics of the 

 ancient state of this country and its inhabitants are found. Large 

 trees, in a perfectly sound state, are discovered between the peat 

 and the clay ; firs measuring 30 yards in length, and oaks 6 feet 

 in circumference ; fir- apples, hazel-nuts, acorns, and grains of 

 wheat. The horns of red deer, bones, skeletons, coins, weapons, 

 implements, boats, ornaments, and human bodies have been found 

 in various parts of the Fens in a remarkable state of preservation. 

 All sorts of trees are found buried in the higher lands, but 

 mostly oaks; in the lower parts they are usually firs. Immense 

 quantities of shells, plants, &c. are found ; roots standing firmly 



