Burrows from the destructive lash of the waves. That the great pebble ridge is moving inward appears to be ascertained, but the rate of progress has not, I believe, been determined. But the gradual movement inward of the Ridge, however fast or slow, exposes all the shore. that is seaward of its protection to the destructive agency of the waves; it is to this, and not to any variation in level of the coast line, that, I believe, the sub entire nodules, while those that are found in the soil that overlies it are fractured flints, demonstrates, I think, that the latter may have been produced from the former, and that the sand-bed has been deposited since the existing beach has been at its present level; that the flints are more recent than the latest elevation of land upon the coast-that is, that the sand-bed itself has been deposited since the date of the raised sea-beaches around our coast; and that the flint flakes found in the surface soil were de-mergence of the forest along the shore posited after the deposition of the sandbed, a circumstance that must place a considerable period between the dates of the epoch of the raised sea-beaches and that of the time when the flint flakes were deposited. The next question that arises is, whether or not, since the flints have been found in the submerged forest at Northam Burrows, they may have been deposited prior to the latest depression of the land upon the coast. To determine this point, it will be necessary to analyze carefully the geological conditions of the deposits that exist in connection with the flint flakes there found. The Northam Burrows form a large, grassy plain, that exists at the level of spring tide, high water. The Burrows are separated from the beach by an ex-tensive pebble ridge, that affords a strong barrier to the destructive force of the sea. The origin of this pebble ridge has not, by geologists, been deter mined; but I think the suggestion is most correct that supposes it to be the result of the wash of the sea removing the beds of clay that overlie a layer of pebbles. This pebble bed we have, by excavations made in several places through the clay, been able to trace within a short distance of the pebble ridge; and a recent boring, made for the purpose of obtaining water, has shown that, in diminished size, the pebbles exist as far up the sides of the shore as the stables of the Westward Ho! Hotel. I think, therefore, that there can be little doubt that the ter rible wash of the Atlantic thins off the clay, and so exposes the pebble bed below to the action of the sea, which, by degrees, carries pebble after pebble to add to the wall that protects the grassy at Northam Burrows is due. The beach, to a very great extent, is covered by sand, which, to a large degree, protects the underlying clay from destruction; but that the sand is of comparatively recent deposition is demonstrated in the quantities of the shells of the Pholas dactylis that are found in the clay beneath, which must have lived, and burrowed their holes after the clay had been exposed to the action of the sea, and before the time that the sand was deposited on the beach; from the presence of which the beach is still free for a considerable distance above low-water mark. The fact, then, that the beach at the shore extremity is scarcely below the level of the Burrows, while the strata of which it is composed gradually thin out as it approximates toward the low-water line, demonstrates clearly, I think, that the submergence of the old forest bed is due to the removal of the superficial layer, and the encroachment of the sea, and not to the subsidence of the land with respect to the level of the sea. Of course, these remarks refer only to the submerged forest at Northam. But there appears to me to be some reason for a reconsideration of the subject, whether a subsidence of land around our southern seaboard has taken place or not. The submerged forests on our coasts are numerous, and lands corresponding with these have existed within the period of history or tradition, and in some places, as in Torbay and Penzance, within the memory of the present generation. These have disappeared and the sea flows over them some fathoms deep, and yet we know of no alteration in the respective levels of land and water along the rocky portions of the coast, or other change by which we might recognize any subsidence of the land. They have also been found in a basin on the top of the Maen rock in the parish of Constantine, near Falmouth. All these appear to me to differ from some that I obtained from an ancient barrow near Trevose Head, only in the circumstance that those found in the barrow are of less artistic forms than the others. cumulated about six feet of peat; at Cornwood, on the moorland; and on Windmill Hill, near Brixham. In all At the period of the general elevation these localities they lie in the surface soil that raised the ancient sea-beaches to of the country, and, as far as there is evithe height of thirty feet above the pres-dence to show, must have belonged to ent sea-level, the sea bottom around our the same common era. coasts must have shallowed to the extent of four or five fathoms, an elevation that must have brought a large portion above the height of the highest tide. It is the old sea-bottom, which, in favorable spots, became arboreal and fertile, that has continued to resist the destructive wash of the sea in the shelter of our creeks and bays until the period of man, that we see in the submerged forests around our coasts; and, therefore, as I before observed, if not in all places, certainly in Barnstaple Bay the encroachment of the sea is due to the destruction of the superficial soil of the district, and not to the subsidence of the land. Assuming this to be true, of which I retain no doubt, it follows that the flints found in the clay must have been deposited since the latest downward movement, if any such has ever occurred upon our Devonshire and Cornish coasts, of which the submerged forests are supposed to afford evidence. In order to approximate the relations that the flints of this barrow hold to those that have been found at Croyde, and elsewhere in the surface soil, it is desirable that we should give attention to the circumstances under which they were found, and the materials with which they were in connection. In the barrow to which reference has been made at Trevose, with the flints were found burnt human bones, inclosed within a coarse clay pot. Within a few yards of this barrow there existed until very recently-some remains of which may still be found along the shore-an ancient shell-bed, The next point of inquiry that sug- formed by the accumulation of the gests itself, is the relation that exists be- waste thrown away by the ancient peotween the flint flakes found at Northam ple who resided there. In making an and at Croyde with those that lie scat- exploration of this Kitchen - midding, tered over the Western promontory. along with the shells of the mussel, The places at which they have been limpet, and horse-whelk, were found found throughout Devon and Cornwall large quantities of the bones of the roeare sufficiently numerous to induce one buck and sheep, stone hammers such to believe that they may be found to ex- as were found at Croyde, being roundist universally throughout the two coun-ed pebbles brought from the adjointies. Around Barnstaple, in an area of twenty miles' diameter, they appear to be abundant. They have been found at Hartland Point; in some considerable numbers, on the moorland round Dosmare pool; at the Stepper Point, near Now, if we turn our attention to the Padstow; in the Scilly Isles; in the discovery at Croyde, we find that both neighborhood of Penzance, Mr. Buller Mr. Whitley and Mr. Hall obtained described them as scattered over the specimens of coarse pottery as well as surface, from St. Just to Tol Pedn-Pen- beach stone hammers, both of which with; on Crusa Down, in the Lizard closely approximate in character and district; on the Plymouth Hoe, in the appearance to those that were found in peat at Shaw Bridge, as well as at the barrow and the Kitchen-midding, in Princestown, where some beautifully Constantine Bay. In either case, the worked specimens have been found with pottery assimilates in appearance with others, by the prisoners, on the surface that of the clay found in close proximof the gravelly soil, over which had ac-ity, and is of a quality that will bear ing beach, together with specimens of pottery of different qualities, the coarsest of which cannot be distinguished from that found in the neighboring barrow. . comparison with the present bricks of the country. I think that we are justified in arguing that a uniformity of material, when combined with a uniformity of design, and application of material, existing under similar geological conditions, is suggestive of an approximation in time. Thus the pottery found at Baggy Point assimilates nearly to that found both in the Kitchen-midding and the barrow at Trevose, so also the character of the stone hammers from the Kitchen-midding resemble those found with the flints at Baggy Point; whereas the flint flakes found in the grave of the ancient chief are far less capable of adaptation as implements than the best formed of those that have been found at Croyde, Dosmare pool, the Lizard, and elsewhere, and thus I think that we are not stretching the probabilities beyond fair reasoning when we suggest that the flint flakes of Devon and Cornwall are of the same age as those found in barrows containing cremated human bones. But it must strike the observer as peculiar, that the flint flakes that some archæologists pronounce as being of the most primitive form of human implement, are found in such abundance in the subsoil of the western promontory, while the more perfect flint tools, such as have been found at St. Achieul, Abbeville, Hoxne, and in the drifts and caves of Europe; thus placing the more complex and perfected structure at a date, geologically speaking, far more early than the simple flake, a fact that is scarcely consistent with the latter being the earlier or more primitive form of the two. In this point, it appears to me that those archæologists are at fault. My reason for so thinking is, that we find flakes, such as those found in Devon and Cornwall, still in present use by the native tribes of Western America; while I am not aware that the most degraded race is so far imperfect in skill, at present, as to use flint inplements of the Abbeville type. The reason appears to me to be simply this, that the flint flakes represent parts only of more perfect tools, some being the heads of arrows, others being imbedded in wood so as to represent knives or crude saws, others being the armor of small javelins, and so on. To suppose any of them as being arrow-heads is to assume that they were used in connection with a stringed bow,* an implement that evidently required a higher degree of thought to invent than either the hatchet or spear. Now, as arrows were in use, and retained as instruments of chase and war until a late period in this country, it must be tolerably certain that flint was retained, owing to the scarcity of metal, until long after the use of iron was known. In a Fougou, or subterranean artificial cave, recently explored by the Natural History Society of Penzance, in one of the gal leries was found a flaked flint implement alongside of an iron spear-head (?) and some pottery. Some observers have questioned the adaptation of these sharp flints as having been designed for the points of arrows, because they are the result of single blows in their separation from the core, and bear no evidence of having been afterward touched to render them more perfect; while we find in some places flint arrow-heads beautifully formed, with the barbs perfect, showing the manipulation of the manufacture. ability displayed in the manipulation is evidence of skill in workmanship and of time required in the execution. But we are not to suppose that the highly wrought and skilfully labored flint tool was one that was less prized than the expensively finished weapon of modern The Columbia, says: "The Indian bow is a masterpiece of skilful manufacture; its elasticity does not in any way depend on the wood used in its construction, but on the elastic ligament procured from the fore-leg of the elk; this is affixed to the wooden frame-work of the bow by a kind of glue made from the skin of the 'white' salmon, a glue when hardened resisting the influence of wet to redissolve it. This elastic back to the wood acts as would an india-rubber band; in length, which it propels with a force equal, the bow when bent takes an arrow about a yard for a short range, to that of a rifle-bullet. When an Indian shoots, five or six arrows are held in the left hand, and as the string, which is made of tendon, is hauled back, the right hand brings seized, and as rapidly as one could reasonably with it an arrow; this one is fired, another is count, the six arrows held in the left hand are discharged."-Vol. II., p. 252. *Mr. J. K. Lord, in his Naturalist in British It may be thought, that although flint is present in these graves, yet the character of the materials found with it, as well as the mode of interment, suggest a considerable separation in time from the flints found with the pottery in the north of Devon and Cornwall. times, and therefore valued by the chief, | iron were in use, flint was still valued the skilful warrior, or huntsman, as an after the Roman invasion. ornament to his quiver or belt. An instance of this kind was told to me by Mr. Lord, the naturalist who accompanied the commissioners who defined the line of boundary between Canada and the United States; he found great difficulty in purchasing, from an Indian Chief, a flint dagger that he wore at his belt, and which had been retained as an heirloom for several generations, the value of which appeared to lie in its ornamental character. In time of war between rival tribes, or in the excitement of the chase, it is not to be supposed that the highlywrought and valued weapon would of ten be shot away in the dense forest, or over the marsh, or any place where the chance of recovery was less than certain. For ordinary purposes the easiest made would supply the greatest quantity in the shortest amount of time, and therefore be the most in demand and most extensively used. Thus we may assume that the majotity of flake arrow - heads are chance productions, more or less so, according to the practise and skill of the maker; and the warrior or huntsman selected from the chips those flakes that he found most readily adapted to his need, without reference to the original intention of the manufacturer. Just as Zipporah, Moses' wife, when in the Desert, in obedience to her husband, made use of a sharp stone, because it was the best suitable for her purpose at the time. Recently, while pursuing research in an ancient British burial-place, in which the Roman feature of civilization has largely entered, we found in one grave a human skeleton, together with two vases, a bronze fibula, some rings-that from their position appeared as if they had been worn on the toes-parts of an armlet, a specimen of black flint, a core, from which flakes had evidently been struck. Now, the presence of this core is witness that, although bronze and In comparing the pottery of these several places with one another, those that resembled each other most in character were of necessity selected, but in the Kitchen-midding in Constantine Bay there were found specimens of pottery of various degrees of quality and workmanship, though neither assimilates perfectly with that found in the Romano - British graveyard at Mount Batten. Yet they approximate so nearly that an archæologist would not hesitate to pronounce them, historically speaking, of a uniform age, produced under different degrees of civilization. In his Commentaries, Cæsar tells us that the southern coasts of this island were inhabited by a different race from the inland parts; that central England was inhabited by those who called themselves the natives of the country, dyed their bodies, and wore the skins of wild animals for clothes; on the seacoast, but not extending into Devon and Cornwall, by the Belgic Gauls, who were more highly civilized, used iron, and went to war in chariots, that came thither to plunder and invade the island. Here we have the element of discord, that must have kept the southern parts of England in continual ferment, which having quieted down, when their wars were ended the interlopers settled, and began to cultivate the land. It is upon reasoning such as this that I contend there is no evidence to show that the flint flakes which we find scattered over the surface of Devon and Cornwall may not have been coëval with the history of the period that immediately preceded the introduction of Roman civilization into this country. "SWEET VIOLETS." POETRY." IN THE SHADOW. SITTING in the shadow, singing Sure thou dost the merry season Is the garland won. Fame and honors are the guerdon While thy slow reluctant fingers And thou sittest, singing, singing, To the same sad burden ringing And the busy will not hearken, The ambitious do not prize thee, Come forth to the sunshine, singer, Tune thy harp to blither measuresThey will hear thee then, Far above my compeers Not a soul unmoved- And the proud hold dear, Should not, could not, tempt me, To a softer strain; I must sing my song out, As the Master guides it, So the hand must play, And the words He whispers Need'st must have their way. Let the world turn from me With a mute disdain, I must speak my message, Let men hurry by me, There will come a morrow When they need'st must stay, |