AN UNPUBLISHED LETTER FROM DR. THOMAS BROWNE. 3G1 
to believe that wherever such relics of fish or sea animals are found, 
the sea hath had its course,” but, as will be seen, he accepts the 
Connington find as “authentically testified by all circumstances.” 
The letter is as follows : — 
“ Worthy Sr 
I received your letter and now send you a short paper concerning 
some Queries in your former In the last I sent you I did not make any 
doubt of the truth of the fishbones, butt cast in some doubts more proper to 
some other things of the like nature then this, wch is soe authentically 
testified by all circumstances. & case only its doubt in the place where it was 
first lodged if [found added above] lowo, or drawue ashore if on the toppe of 
the downe. as [4 crossed out ] yeares agoe the head [& bones in the margin] 
of a very great fish [was crossed out ] yet to be seen was found at Hasburge in 
Norfolk when the clifre fell downe, as it is eaten away by the sea, & this 
was within a yard of the toppe. Pray at your opportunity my service 
to Mr. Ashmole I wish I were able to doe you any [services crossed out] 
substantial! service or test i flo my respects unto you in any proportion to my 
desires or inclination towards a person of soe much worth & Ingenuitie as 
yourself. Sr I am very affectionate friend & Servant 
THO BROWNE” 
“Sr I vnderstand a second volume of Monasticon Anglicauu is in the 
Presse & almost finished. I should bee glad to vnderstand, whether it will 
bee a distinct piece or the first also taken into it. 
Your letters will come more safely vuto mee if you leave the [car 3 ’adg 
crossed out ] post uupayd. 
Norwich Nov XVII [1039 ?] 
The expression “ I now semi you a short paper” &c., can hardly 
apply to the brief reference to the fossil bones from Happisburgh 
dill's contained in this letter, and conveys the impression that 
a more detailed account of the occurrence was enclosed; if so, it is 
unfortunate that it is not forthcoming, for the chief interest in the 
letter lies in the statement that the “ head & bones of a very great 
fish ” had been embedded in the cliffs near to the top , which facts 
are incompatible with their having been derived from the Forest-bed, 
but I shall revert to this later on. 
My friend, Mr. Clement Reid, has been so good as to search the 
records of the Royal Society, but can find no reference to these 
Happisburgh bones ; he, however, sends me the following interest- 
ing extract from ‘Hooke’s Posthumous Works’ (p. 313), consisting 
of a letter from Dr. Browne, written some years later, in which 
he gives an account of the finding of certain bones, apparently 
Mammalian remains from the Forest-bed. This is worth quoting, 
