1*24 _ FILLING UP OF ESTUARIES. 
on the one hand, and by the rivers on the other. 
During this period it should be remembered, Dart¬ 
moor boasted of its forest, and since, the size or 
number of rivers materially depends on the quantity 
of wood in their vicinity, it is reasonable to con¬ 
clude, that at that date, it yielded to the sea a far 
greater bulk of water than it now contributes. Old 
river courses are not unfrequently met with on the 
moor, and, in meadows through which our rivers in 
the South of Devon pass, an abundance of gravel 
and pebbles can be discovered for the depth of two 
or three feet;—proving, that at one time the size of 
the currents was far greater. I may add also to these 
last statements, that a large number of our vallies 
excite by their appearance strong suspicions that 
in the place of the little brooks which now traverse 
them, they were at the time above named, occupied 
by branches of those large rivers which Devonshire 
then contributed to the sea. 
Still however, the quantity of matter deposited 
in our estuaries and inlets is wonderfully great,* 
and this circumstance, connectedly with the bodily 
retreating of the sea, has produced changes in the 
immediate vicinity of Plymouth very worthy of 
remark. On referring to the map here given, it will 
be seen that at the date of 1643, the proportion of 
water around the town was perhaps double what it 
now is,—and again further back about one hun¬ 
dred years, namely in the reign of Henry VIII. the 
proportion was still greater, as the reader will per¬ 
ceive by reference to the second map accompanying 
this description (which though it serves our present 
purpose, is from its age less satisfactory in outline 
than could be desired); so that, independently of 
* A piece of oak bearing marks of the axe was taken up some 
years ago in sinking a shaft in the bed of the Lara, at a consider¬ 
able depth. It may be seen in my brother’s Museum, Plymouth. 
