116 COLE: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE EAST EIDING. 
mantle already alluded to as covering- Holderness. In the neig'hbour- 
hood of Driffield they combine sufficiently to attain the dig-nity of a 
river capable of floating* a barge. 
The drainage of Holderness is not, as mig-ht be supposed, 
towards the coast, but towards this river hi the centre, which finds 
its exit in the Humber, at a place which has now usurped the name 
of the river, beiug called Hull, whereas its proper desig-nation is 
Kin g-ston-upon- Hull. 
Holderness was formerly a land of water ; and Hke the polders 
of Holland, th(^ water of the drains has to be pumped out by 
mechanical ag-ency. One stream in the East- Riding succeeds in 
finding its way direct to the North Sea, but not in a gentlemanly way. 
It hides its diminished head underground between Butterwick and 
Rudston. Rising at Wharram-le-Street, it flows through Duggleby, 
Kirby Grindalyth, The Luttons, Helperthorpe and Weaverthorpe 
(which latter place has been flooded occasionally to a serious extent) 
till, taking advantage of the gravels which form the valley bottom, 
it disappears at Butterwick, and, reappearing at Rudston, where the 
celebrated Monolith is, finds its way past Boynton to Bridlington 
Harbour. 
On the north and west side of the Wolds springs burst forth at 
various levels, as before stated, and help to swell the waters of the 
Derwent in its course towards the Humber. 
There are few lakes or sheets of water in the East-Riding : the 
principal one is Hornsea Mere, which is nearly two miles long, and 
about three-quarters of a mile wide. 
There are several sandy tracts, known as commons, which are 
chiefly met with in the Vale of York, and occur also at Ganton in 
the Vale of Pickering, and at Burythorpe. 
There are also numerous low-lying' districts in Holderness and 
the Vale of Pickering, subject to periodical flooding, known as Carrs. 
In the Vale of York they would be called Ings. 
In the neighbourhood of Sledmere there are very extensive 
woods composed principally of larch, fir, and beech ; otherwise the 
high ground is comparatively destitute of trees. In afl probability 
the Wolds for ages formed an area of open ground, surrounded by 
