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of the earth, is more firm, and is of much higher estimation, than 
that which is found nearer the surface. 
The peat is, sometimes, found even near the surface, under a 
slight covering of mould, formed by the more recent decomposition 
of vegetable matter. Sometimes this surface is tolerably well 
stocked with heath and other vegetables ; but more frequently it 
presents to the eye an extensive barren flat moor, which, except in 
the driest seasons, is so wet and spongy, as to be entirely impassable. 
According to Dr. Anderson, well known for his vigilant attention 
to those circumstances, on which the comforts of humble life depend, 
it is found at various depths, vinder strata differing very considerably 
in their composition, thickness, and number. 
Peat, as Mr. Jameson observes, is most commonly to be found in 
valleys and plains, where it forms very extensive beds, varying in 
their depth, fi'om one foot to full forty feet. Sometimes it is dis- 
covered at the sides of mountains ; but even there its beds preserve 
an horizontal situation. Mountains, upwards of two thousand feet 
high, in the Highlands of Scotland, have their tops covered with peat 
of an excellent kind. In Germany, it is also found at very great 
heights ; thus the Blogsberg, a high mountain in Lower Saxony, and 
the Brohen, the highest mountain of the Hartz, are covered to their 
summit with peat. It is also found at the bottom of ponds and 
canals ; and is sometimes brought up, on the coast of Holland, by 
the flukes of anchors ; and also cast on shore in stormy weather, 
which has induced some to imagine it to be of marine origin. In the 
harbour of Oban, in Argyleshire, one part of the bottom appears to 
be formed of quick moss, which affords no sure anchorage. The 
depth of the sea is there about twenty fathoms. 
In Galloway is the great moss of Cree, lying near to the sea, a 
little higher than flood-mark at spring tides. Near Dumfries is 
Locker Moss, only a few feet above high water mark ; it is about 
ten miles in length. In the Island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides, 
