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elevated—(the mistake as to depth, if any, cannot he greater)—I have not, at 
present, the means of ascertaining. 
There are various theories entertained with regard to this singular region ; 
but the most reasonable supposition appears to be this: that, in the olden times, 
some vast stream must have flowed through these tracts ; that its course, on some 
occasion, must have been impeded by an accumulation of fallen trees, (whether a 
sudden or a gradual accumulation it is now difficult to determine, though probably 
impetuously carried down by some storm and flood); its outlet being thus obstruct¬ 
ed, the natural consequence was the overflowing of the low land in its vicinity; and 
the water was, in all probability, prevented from running off into the sea again by 
such low eminences as still exist and now are useful to keep out the tide in the Trent 
from forcing its way, in its turn, over the land inside. The deluge of this river 
probably remained for some considerable time, until, at length, some obstruction was 
removed from staying its onward course; and when it retired it left an accumula¬ 
tion of soil, such as a river will always bring down, upon the previously levelled 
surface which the action of the sea (i. e. on the supposition that the sea was the 
first invader) had already prepared for its reception. Whether it was the sea 
that prepared it thus, as I have supposed, for the overflowing of the river—or the 
overflowing of the river for the irruption of the sea—is more than I can take upon 
me to assert. 
All the substratum of this tract is a very black and rich looking' soil, and is no 
doubt an amalgamation of vegetable matter; but it, as well as the superjacent 
earth, is poor and unproductive; though, with plenty of manure, when well culti¬ 
vated, it will produce a very fair average crop. Much of the wood below the 
surface has a thin coating of a bright indigo-blue colour. I am entirely at a loss 
even to guess as to what it can ow r e its formation. 
The Level of Hatfield Chase, was first drained by a Dutchman, on the plan of 
the dykes used in the low countries of Holland for keeping out the sea. I have 
in my possession some bones of animals, which were dug out of one of these 
dykes, which I have not alluded to, doubting whether, though found at con¬ 
siderable depth underneath the slough, they might not have sunk gradually into 
it, having been cast in there at some comparatively recent period. One is a large 
thigh-bone, apparently of a horse; the other, I imagine, the skull of a deer. On 
inspecting the latter again rather more minutely, I discovered, in one of the orifices 
for the arteries, a beautifully perfect shell, nearly hidden in the hollow, but which 
I safely extricated in an entire state. This probably may, in some measure, cor¬ 
roborate the original supposition, as to their having been deposited coeval with the 
inundation of water. I wall only add, that the word Chase signifies a forest, 
which is in favour of my first conclusion, that this tract formerly wore a similar 
appearance to Cranborne Chase, in Dorsetshire, and many others. 
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