HOLDERNESS. 
27 
under what circumstances it was collected together, it is not easy to con- 
jecture. That., at the time of its aggregation, the sea flowed up the 
channel of the Humber, appears probable, because the first deposits 
which cover it are of the same kind as those now dropped by the tide ; 
that its formation happened soon after the diluvial era, may be inferred 
from the fact that it rests almost immediately upon the diluvial detritus ; 
that some remarkable general agency, probably a great land-flood, was 
concerned in the production of the phenomena, is evident from the ex- 
tent of the vegetable accumulation. 
The following statement of substances found in sinking a well at 
the Block-house mill, on the east side of the town of Hull, derived from 
two accounts communicated at different times by my friends, will shew 
what are the accompaniments of this remarkable layer of peat in Hol- 
derness. 
Alluvial deposit. 
Feet . 
Soil 
11 
Clay 
6 
Silt sand 
23 
Moor or peat, with large 
trees, &c 
2 J 
Feet. 
32 
Diluvial deposit. 
Blue clay... 
Brown clay. 
Loamy clay 
Quicksand . 
Chalk 
Feet. Inches. 
1 6 
22 6 
12 0 
26 0 
16 
Mixed with chalk frag- 
ments, carbonized wood, 
&c 
62 
Total depth 110 
In Ottringham marsh the layer of peat, one yard thick, was found 
forty-one yards beneath the surface ; thirty-six yards of various diluvial 
matter lay beneath, and the chalk was found at the depth of seventy- 
eight yards. 
These accounts are interesting in another point of view, for, by means 
of them, we can determine correctly the dip or declination of the chalk. 
E 2 
