Process of Wai'ping. 
403 
In June, 1829, a compartment was commenced (a small one 
only) of 160 acres, which was finished in January, 1830 — a period 
of only seven months. During that period a general deposit took 
place of between 1 and 3 feet, but that was an extraordinary 
season, and the compartment lay in a favourable situation for 
being warped. 
The time it takes to warp a compartment cannot be very accu- 
rately defined, there being many circumstances to take into con- 
sideration. Some of the compartments are much farther from 
the mouth of the drain than others ; in addition to which, 
should the lands to be warped be very low, they can only take in 
perhaps every second tide, and even sometimes only every fourth, 
on account of the difficulty of getting the water back again, for the 
tide continues to flow into the compartment until perhaps nearly 
low water in the river. The tide then returning, as it does very 
rapidly, prevents the water from flowing out of the drain, and 
woiild fill the compartment too full of water: the doors are con- 
sequently closed Eigainst the tide. They open themselves, how- 
ever, when the water in the river is of a lower level than that in 
the drain. When the compartment is near the river, that does not 
occur, as the water has time to get off before the tide returns. 
The seasons also vary very much ; but I think, with the drain in 
question, that with a fair average season, from 350 to 450 acres 
might be warped in two years, or two years and a half. 
The immense size of the drain, and its consequent great power, 
facilitates very much the warping of land of a higher level than 
that which could be warped by a small drain ; for the current 
being forced on by the great flow in the drain, can be made to 
flow over the high ground by turning a drain towards it, provided 
that there be sufficient land of a lower level on the other side to 
draw onward the water so forced over the hill. The warp so 
deposited is at first of an inferior quality, the current being so 
strong ; but in a short time the peat-moss becomes pressed down 
by the weight of the deposit. The current is then easier, and the 
deposit becomes better. 
It may be asked, from whence comes this inexhaustible supply 
of mud or warp ? There is an immense quantity of it floating 
about the Humber and its tributaries, and from whence it comes 
people differ. There have been considerable ravages (and they 
still continue) made by the sea on the coast of Holderness, ex- 
tending all the way from Bridlington Quay to Spurn Point ; but 
as the Humber is comparatively clear at the mouth, it is difficult 
to say whether it can come from that source. It does not come 
directly from land-floods, as these always deteriorate, for the time, 
the deposit, although considerable deposit being carried down into 
the Humber by land-floods, may return in the shape of warp. 
VOL. v. 2 E 
