SECTIONS AT ABBEVILLE. 
283 
exceed 600 to 650 feet above the sea-level, and that more in the interior of the depart- 
ment*. The pits in which the flint-implements have hitherto been observed are all in 
or near the main valley of the Somme (Map, Plate X.). 
AhheviUe . — According to M. Boucher de Perthes, the principal localities where flint- 
implements have been found are — the village of Menchecourt, a suburb at the foot of the 
hill on the N.W. side of Abbeville, — the town of Abbeville, — the rising ground on the 
S.E. side of the town on which is situated the Champ de Mars, the Moulin Quignon, 
and the suburb of St. Gilles — and Mautortf on the W. (Plan A, Plate X.). 
Menchecourt has been long celebrated for its mammalian remains, of which a large 
collection was made by M. Bailloh. Many of these specimens were examined and 
described by Cuvier J. The chalk hills rise immediately above the village to the height 
of 214 feet. They are capped to the depth of a few feet by drift loam and clays : the 
upper part of their slope is bare, and the lower part is covered by the deposit we have 
to describe, and this passes under the recent peat and silt deposits of the valley. One 
of the largest of the Menchecourt pits is that of M. Dufour, towards the further end of 
the \illage, and on the right hand side in proceeding from Abbeville. An extensive 
section of the upper beds is here exhibited. The lower beds (those below level of ground 
in figs. 1, 2), of which d is worked during the winter, I had opened out by trenches. 
The one in fig. 2, which afibrded the evidence of most interest, was excavated near the 
entrance of the pit where the upper beds are thin. The variation in the thickness of 
the strata is shown by another section I took at M. Deliquiere’s pit (fig. 1), situated on 
about the same level, and at the further end of the village. 
* The heights of the hills on the small outline Map in Plate X., are taken from the admirable maps of the 
“Departement de la G-uerre;” I have, however, changed the datum-line from the level of mean tide at 
Havre to the same level at St. "Valery at the mouth of the Somme, which is 7 feet higher, and reduced the 
heights to English feet. I have adopted the same datum-line in the plans and sections. 
t It is only lately that I have had the opportunity of visiting this locality, which is mile W. of Abbe- 
\'ille, and on the opposite side of the Somme. There are two pits at Mautort where Hint-implements have 
been found, one, a shallow one, no longer worked, in the valley near the church, and another one on the 
side of the hill on the road leading to MoyenviUe, and at a height probably about equal to that of Moulin 
Quignon, or about 90 feet above the valley. The section, which was badly exposed on the two occasions 
when I was there, consists probably of — ft. 
1. Brown sandy clay and a few angular fragments of flint 6 
2. Sub-angular ochreous and ferruginous flint-gravel 4 
3. "White and yellow sand, irregular 3 
4. Coarse light sandy, chalky, and marly flint gravel ; — no bones : flint-implements said to be 
met with at a depth of 6 to 8 feet ; — reposing upon an irregular surface of chalk 12 ? 
The flint-implements here are remarkable for their bright white colour. The bed of gravel ceases at this 
elevation, but the hill rises to a height of 252 feet, showing chalk with a slight covering of red clay and flints. 
I also visited Drucat and St. Biquier. Near the former place there is a bed 30 feet thick of sand and gravel, 
but we could hear of no flint-implements or fossil bones. Nor were we more successful at St. Biquier, but 
our visit there was too short. (See Antiq. Celt, et Anted, vol. ii. p. 118 to 122.) — Sept. 1860. 
X Becherches sur les Ossemens Eossiles, edit, of 1821, vol. i. p. 110 ; vol. ii. p. 50, 111 ; vol. iv. p. 96. 
