Partridge is seen hurrying to the shade of the waving corn and the beautiful and stately Pheasant occasionally becomes a denizen of our plantations, though the society of the other birds appears but ill adapted to its own natural elegance.

From these observations it will be seen that although this part of our country cannot boast of such scenery as is combined where mountain and cavern, lake and cataract blend their picturesque beauty, and although the banks of the Nene cannot be placed in competition with those of the Derwent or the Wye; yet, when, after having spent years of dull and tedious uniformity in this flat uninteresting land, we are permitted to visit such enchanting landscapes as the heights of Matlock or the Isle of Wight present, how much more do we appreciate their value and their beauty, than if we had been accustomed to them from our infancy;-and should we never chance to quit these cheerless scenes, yet there is much around us that ought to induce content. Our pastures exhibit the same profusion of fleecy flocks and herds of lowing cattle as other counties do. The heavenly bodies move around us in all their majestic grandeur,—the sun emits the same glittering rays, and the moon beams forth the same quiet and consoling light, cheering us in the hours of our solitude and retirement.*

The floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patens of bright gold.

The Aurora Borealis is sometimes seen casting forth its streaming light; the clouds are tinted with the beautiful shades of the setting Sun, and assume all their more wild and gigantic features; the Omnipotent 'rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm' or 'scattereth his hoar-frost like ashes' and the Rainbow, that gracious token of promise, with its expansive arch is stretched out from horizon to horizon. These are glorious scenes which the inhabitants of the fens can partake of in common with those of more delightful districts. With the thick fogs that formerly enveloped the atmosphere has vanished that Baotian dulness, which was said to have hovered around the intellect of the fenman ;-his mind like the soil he walks upon has become more cultivated, and he is not insensible of the Being 'who sits supreme at the head of the universe, is armed with infinite power, and pervades all nature with his presence,' in short he now can

Look through nature up to nature's God,

Ꭰ

CHAPTER II.

History of the Fens.

HAVING in the preceding chapter, endeavored to

present a faithful picture of the Fens in their past and present aspect, it now only remains for us to trace their History.

Little beside vague conjecture and uncertain tradition invests the early history of the most flourishing kingdoms of the world, it would therefore be presumptuous to hope to gather much, relating to this obscure part of the country, from the remote ages into which we would' now seek to penetrate. In our last chapter we remarked that general opinion confounded this wide tract with the sea, where the tides ebbed and flowed in the first ages of the world; an hypothesis supported by many writers, who have carefully studied and analysed the geological formation of the Fens, as well as by the representations of the most ancient of our Historians. Conceiving this to be correct we are led to suppose, that

ર

the earliest desertion of the waters was caused by the continual deposit of soil, until the tides could no longer regularly overflow it. Vegetation of course succeeded, till in time, the entire country became overspread with trees, and assumed the character of an immense forest, traces of which are to this day perceived in many parts. As society began to spread we are told that those portions of the country which were of highest elevation, and most favorable for habitation, were cleared and peopled; but as any considerable swell of the ocean must, at that time, have been dangerous to so low a country, unprotected as it was by banks or any artificial means of keeping the sea within its boundaries, the very precariousness of the situation must have prevented any considerable population from settling here; and it appears that not many ages elapsed ere this immense waste was again deluged, and so effectually that during an unknown length of years a powerful flood remained on the soil. By what means this important change was effected is also involved in darkness; but no common invasion of the sea could have produced so enduring and formidable a devastation.

It was thought by Sir Wm. Dugdale, whose important research and indefatigable labor on subjects connected with drainage ought to induce us to place confidence in his opinions, that the Fens were never inundated by the sea, or a part of it; but were always firm dry land, covered with woods and verdure, and in part abounding in deer; and that the formations which lead us to suppose the sea formerly overspread the country, were occasioned by a great land flood, which,

*

meeting with obstructions at its outfall, covered the entire land, and effected, by a long continuance, every peculiarity which we attribute to the usurpation of the ocean. These characteristics of the country, though they are interesting foundations for conjecture, afford little satisfactory evidence to the mind, however, as the ancient condition of the Fens has called forth much speculation from authors, and occasioned geologists to expend upon it much anxious research, we will here give a few examples, illustrating the former state of the land.

In the Philosophical Transactions for 1799 a paper appeared, written by Dr. J. C. de Serra, which gave an account of a Submarine Forest at Sutton, on the coast of Lincolnshire. The author, who seems to have bestowed much of his attention and learning on the subject, observes that he was induced to his task by a report that a large extent of Islets or Moor, situated along the coast, and visible only during those periods of the year when the tides ebb lowest, was chiefly composed of decayed trees. During repeated visits, though the tide was rather unfavorable for complete observation, the Dr. was enabled to ascertain that the Islets consisted almost entirely of roots, trunks, branches, shrubs, and the leaves of trees and aquatic plants,-some standing on their roots, but the trunks of the greater part lying scattered on the ground. Birch, Fir, and Oak were still

* Ellstob, like Sir. Wm. Dugdale, is of opinion that the upper and principal part of the great Level of the Fens, was anciently and originally good and sound ground, plentifully stocked with wood and large timber trees.' Hist. Bed. Level p. 234.