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conclusions with respect to this singular district at which it will be necessary to 
arrive with me. First , that the whole of this extensive region has been (at what 
remote period I am unable to say) an extensive and tangled forest; secondly , that 
it has been completely covered by fresh water ; thirdly , that it has been entirely 
inundated by the sea. The facts from which these conclusions are derived, and 
the manner in which I account for them, are as follow : first, that it has formerly 
been an extensive forest is evident, for everywhere you meet with roots of trees, 
and tranks, and branches ; and you cannot dig below the surface to any depth 
without striking against them. I have no doubt that the village of Wroot derived 
its name from the roots of trees which surround it on every side; and it is also 
■possible that our modern word root may formerly have been thus spelt.* It is 
probable the village was originally partly built with these roots, and even at the 
present day extensive fences are made of this material, both in the open fields and 
in the village. In the less cultivated fields (for the country has been partially en¬ 
closed some years) many tranks of trees project above the surface, while in some 
of the best tilled enclosures there are none at all apparent, in consequence of their 
having fallen under the axe of the husbandman. There is no entire tree re¬ 
maining above the ground; the action of the wind and weather, and perhaps 
the necessities of the inhabitants, having long since destroyed every part, except the 
base, and such portions as are under ground. The air being excluded, many roots 
and parts of tranks are left uninjured, and indeed unaltered, save that they have 
become exceedingly dark, indeed almost black in colour, and are harder than any 
modem trees. They make excellent palings, and are sold as such at rather a high 
price, requiring no paint, either for appearance or preservation. The whole face 
of this county is intersected by dykes of different dimensions, crossing each other 
at right angles, at the interval of almost every field. Even with these drains, the 
whole surface has, in past years, been completely covered with water, occasionally 
for three and sometimes six weeks, to the entire destruction of the crops ; but a 
steam engine has been erected for the purpose of emptying the dykes and remedy¬ 
ing this evil. From the observations I made on inspecting the clearing out of one 
of these dykes, I am led to my second conclusion, namely, that the region has been, 
in past times, covered by fresh water, but whether this was prior to the inundation 
by the sea is more than I can, at present, determine. The men employed in clear¬ 
ing out this drain dug down to a depth of about eight feet below the surface, and 
two and a half feet below the low water level of the sea. At the greatest depth 
they find the roots or parts of the tranks of trees in an upright position, and 
exactly as they grew. There are some also, as previously mentioned, growing, or 
rather standing, nearer to the present surface, so that the ground must have been 
formerly undulating and uneven, to what heighth or depth we can only ascertain as 
* Root is derived from the Swedish word rot and the Danish roed. —Ed. 
VOL. I. M 
