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I DISCOVERY OF A REMARKABLE…

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I DISCOVERY OF A REMARKABLE SUNKEN FOREST AND BOG IN THE CENTRE OF SWANSEA. HAZEL NUTS, FERNS, GRASSES, MOSSES AND BEETLES. THE INTERESTING GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS WHICH PREVAILED LONG AGO. ATTENTION has often been called to the evidences which exist on the shores of Swansea Bay, just below high water mark, that the land formerly stood at a greater height above the sea level, and that there was a belt of forest all round the coast. The remains of this "forest primeval" have been uncovered from time to time, not alone in front of Singleton Estate, but at Port-Talbot on the east, and at various points on the west, from Mumbles to Porteynon. Geologists declare that the same kind of arboreal and vegetal remains exist all round the coasts of Britain. When the Swansea Harbour Entrance has been deepened, at different in- tervals, and alike when the excavations were being made, in turn, for the South Dock and for the East Dock, beds of intercalated clay and peat were laid open, and a very handsome chair, now in the Committee room of the Harbour Offices, w?s made out of the bog oak which was foundl embedded in the peat. It is to be regretted that more careful drawings and sections were not made and preserved when these facts were brought to light. Very much of what might have been very useful geological information, pertaining to our own district, has been thus lost; but, happily, a new and keen interest appears to be now awakened in this and similar subjects, and, as the discoveries of to-day are being recorded in the transactions of the Swansea Scientific Society, those who come after us will be in a better position than we ourselves are, to arrive at just conclusions concerning the local conditions which pre- vailed preceeding the modern era. Many of our readers must have been struck, by the large quantities of clay and peaty material which have been tipped during the last few months on the Foreshore, outside the South Dock. Passing that way a week or so ago, the Rev. Mr. Jackett and ourselves were puzzled to think where it had come from, but failed to get any information on the spot. By an accident, however, it was discovered, on Saturday last, that the material came from some extensive excavations which are going on on the site of a new Gasometer, in the ground belonging to the Swansea Gas Company. ° D On Monday afternoon, a party of amateur explorers met at the Royal Institution, at four o'clock, consisting of Colonel Morgan, Mr. C. W. Slater, Dr. Lancaster, Mr. B. Evans, Mr. Evans, F.G.S., Mr. John Thomas, Surveyor; Mr. C. Poly blank, Mr Fitt, Mr. Da vies, Mr. E. H. Parry, Major Trick, Mr. S. C. Gamwell, Mr. E. Lewis, Mr. John Dixon, and several others. After examing the specimens of wood, bark, moss, grass, fern roots, clay, shells, nuts, &c., which had been previously found in the excavation, and brought to the Museum, the party marched off to the Gas Works enclosure, where they were courteously met by Mr. Thornton Andrews, the able manager of these success- ful works, who, we are glad to see, seems to be very much the better in health for the extended voyages he has recently made in search for strength. We were also met by Mr. Smith, the very kindly Foreman of Works, jnder Messrs. Aird, of London, the eminent ;ontractors for the extension works now in course of progress. It is not easy to convey in words, without ;he aid of diagrams, anything like a correct lotion of the kind of thing which presented tself to the eyes of the visitors. The mag- aificently walled pit, which is to hold the jottom of the new gasometer, is, roughly j 'stiinated, about a hundred yards in diameter. rhe walling has been carried down a very jonsiderable depth, so as to get a firm foun- lation. It was not, at first, intended to ixcavate the pit so deep AS it is at present, jut, as the work proceeded, it was discovered jhat the bottom was disappointingly soft and fielding, so that it would have been risky to ay the bed of puddle," or waterproof lin- jig of clay on so yielding a substratum. It, iherefore, became necessary to cut down to a greater depth. The first step was to make ;rial pits, so as to see what the soil con- ;isted of beneath. These pits revealed suc- ;essive layers of earth (on top), then clay fairly stiff), then peat, with roots of trees, fcc., then clay, then, thick bed of vegetable i natter, then "sand and comminuted stone of various sorts, including limestone, Old Red, md Grit pebbles, then clay, this time )f a stiff consistency again. It became neces- sary to remove a very large mass of this varied and uncertain bottpm material, and the labour is still proceeding. When we were there on Monday, about three-quarters of the svork had been got through, but sufficient of the material was still left in its imdisturbed state to exhibit some very interesting sections of all the characteristic strata. The coloured sectional drawing which Mr. Thornton i Andrews held in his hand was also of great service in elucidating the condition of things which first revealed itself to the workmen. # A study of the drawing, and of the stuff remain- ing in situ, shows that the so-called forest bed is really an old Bog, or a depression, in which a rich vegetation grew, or into which vast quantities of vegetal growth were ve" washed. The numerous trunks of oak trees unearthed, point to a very long continuance of the local conditions of forest life, while the remarkably well-preserved remains of grass, moss, silver birch, alder, hazel, sedge, reeds, &c., lend additional interest to the inquiry. But what most of all awakened curiosity was the discovery of large quantities of fine large hazel nuts, and seeds of various plants, em- bedded in the softer mosses. The nuts, which we found on the spot, are now kernel-less, but they are as big as filberts, and, on being cut open, they discharge discoloured water, with which the whole of the peat deposit is still saturated. ■. The party descended to the pit, some by means of the long ladder, and some in the bucket of the excavators, and we pottered about for some time, trying to find specimens of animal as well as of vegetable life. In this we were unsuccessful, but Colonel Morgan was keen enough and fortunate enc ugh to unearth several beautiful purple wing cases of a species of beetle, who had evidently gone to sleep their last sleep among the soft fibrous roots of the ferns. One of the workmen declared that he had. found the jaw of a young shark above the upper clay, and his testimony was received with due incredulity, until he went off and produced one side of a fish's jaw, between three and four inches long, with the teeth remaining in it. He further astonished the hearers by the statement that he had also found several tobacco pipes, with the impress of "the Prince of Wales's" feathers. The pipes were not forthcoming, but the fish-skull, and specimens of all the other-finds, are now on view at the Royal Institution. The site of the Gas Works enclosure is one that was, undoubtedly, within comparatively recent geological times, under water from the sea But there is sufficient evidence to con- clude that the whole of this bog vegetation, Z!l 0 and most of the material lying beneath, above, and between it, owe their origin to fresh water action Within the last hundred years this spot was known, and is still mentioned in some deeds dealing with properties in the locality as "Goose. Island," and many of the older residents of the place say thev recall the time when' the "Town Ditch "or Open Sewer, ran over the fields here- abouts This remembrance, however, is a very recent and superficial affair, and is evidently almost immeasurably remote from the time when the l-oo- was formed, in a natural depression of the ground, which then stood much higher above sea level than is the case to-day. There is some reason for believing that this little bof is of about the same date as the Sunken Forest on the shore, and that this. in turn, points back to a pirt of the long period when the Osborne Hotel Cavern, and the remainder or the Gower Caves, were used as HvamaV Dens. Probably a closer investigation of the veget- able and insect remains which have just come to light, will help us to clear up some of the mist and darkness which still hang over the earlier geological and palseontological history of the Swfnsea district. The assistance of anyone who can throw any light on the subject wil! be cordially welcomed.

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