to wonder why mgre vines are not planted in CornwaHr fo^mueh
nearer as we.are to the. foutherq fuft than any other M a t England ;
hut being more foutherly in fituationrc; not the only'thing requiiite
to vhieySds ; our: Autumn, is the time, for gathering grapes,
is generally wet ; then, our fummers are never hot, {itheing hotter
in memoft northern inland counties^ of England than with us) con-
fequently M cannot ripen the W to lhat; flavour
which making of good wines indifpenfably requires: I much g u h t
therefore whether vineyards in Cornwall will , ever anfwer.- Hopgardens
have been much improved of late years, .and m many parts
of the county fupply the inhabitants with a fuffiaency for their malt-
liquors; but the major part of what is. ufed, is imported from
London.
M F rom trees above ground, let us defcend to the
Foffil-trees. vegetables called Fdfil-trees.. In the year 1740, Chnftopher Hawkins,
Efq; of Trewinard, draining a marlhy piece o%roqnd on
the banks of the river Heyl in Penwith, found feverat) pifeces oi
oak buried four feet deep or more under the furface, u> a fait clay,
one’krge flock of a tree about ten feet long, had no branches^ its
top part pointed to the downhill, the colour of it very black. The
timber was hard and firm, and indeed timber never decays as lo iy
as the oil, one of the chief ingredients in the compofibon of plants,
is kept in its proper place ; perpetual moifture .effe<ftually performs
this; but let the warm air exhale this oil, and the ligneous parts
{ball imbibe and evaporate their moifture, extending alternately, and
then contra&ing and flirivelling the tubular veffels: a feparation
then (in which all definition cofififts) enfues, rnd the parts difu-
nite, which were before glewed together by arf inimitable mixture
of oil, earth, and water. Land-floods feem to have lobfened and
overthrown thefe trees, and the adventitious foil,'wafhed down from
the neighbouring hills and tin-works by the river Heyl, (Which has
contributed to choak the harbour below) gradually interred thefe
trees deeper after they were fallen. In fuch fituations, that there
Ibould be foflil-trees is not to be wondered at, and 1 believe there
are few fuch without them; but we muft look but for other caufeS,
where the circumftances of the ground, and the properties of the
trees difcovered, manifeflly difler. In the year I j M John Roberts,
of the parifli of Senan, digging for tin near Velindreath, found, at
the depth of thirty feet, an entire Ikeleton, about the bigneis ol
that of a large deer, but fuch a fet of bones as he had never before
obferved: The beaft lay on its fide, and near it, m a line
parallel to its vertebra, a proftrate tree of twenty feet long, about
the diameter of a moderate man’s wafte; great numbers of leaves
were
tl|q^mprëfliófr?
9¥t^».*Tpe tfép ffie.Ó’ak^kSidf'
'and„-^b(foft in fqmejparts,j^|,t -ihg^Qyelrflué^n'lt, but extreamiy
hafd, At.. the km|4^a-nd ■ fpuryinc^ffir from' the Ikeldtoif, but un-
^nndéted, da S g arft of < fiprf^* WptfMèt >( And a halF-föng,
Hhickjer tha^a rnm^&£p^wifl>3)vit>H.'thé brantjiecr'antlersjto it; one
,of ïlhelknste.y^^-laW-^a part o f
the frorniy s*,tqpAed. it ci iiiuble(lf,fedi|^-f| phc)toóth-whk;h I havé
feas ta'keni froiwij^he^lMetom :wit^TévéM7,Sfinêï pphes.j^tddfet’s or
jelk’sfchoBn^ fcÉjn43i#nat^e fam^ place, i.in 1 ,thg ffa, jtwenty
feqtf under .tfie .furface.^; The ’■< they .Mr/’ \yas,j,the
larhe fhefly fandag &ha£ of the^ffa-ftr^nd^adj^cgnt^fóR he (épt,t tHerLd
jhndy.'p^Êl)|iMWpiixqd .with»fclaU f lQ ^ ,J^ ichf, the pinner's call
IQothan,' (whefgin the. fahdrtin)K,rfu^ryjfoupdk)|,;g^p^t^d^J|1aiid a
thalf abqye -jthm k^rn. ^Bhe que&an’ heffe j^mnatfitklly ^ cu r , - how
this tree.aqd the Ikeleton became inl^ m^iogethet.. J.T^Herg is-‘Aai fign
.qf{a tree.-aoy near this®laeq/'hor'any ipcofdtbf juelLQrèatfmes as
jhe elk*or(moofe-deer /'fe^which'‘sthefe, hqrps’"ar6,ipoft’ufu'ally..af-
cribed;*) ^avipg been ,êvè£ in this^ cotifrtfyl^bèffltes; .although the
hbms. of Tuch.éreafur^Eare fómetimes' fófmd, cc.Jjhê bonds b f them
are a rarity jyet,t by^thqr lying in* aT parallel line, théy muft'havé
fallen together, and the ianfe. yiofence likely thgt dveh^hblmed ’ the
beaft muft have alfo profbatedthe tree. This, mbit therefor® êlther
have .happened aid tap univerfal'delugel, ydfdn'the fame waters whiph
had ■ .Unfooted the tree, tarid drowned the|C^tfrrmrreMririg,^ drew
j-.he.fr) bqth towards the ocean, or fry fdme fudden mbfidenpë^or the
fhelvirig'part'df the hill,
the p|g||ure 'And t^j^ee>ln oné'dfrëcftlóiï: ^tp-pne of''thefer,'c.'r&lqs
the |padpr will probably afcribe this UnUftialfpnaBnomenbrSdf'®he flfft
mdy.fe.em pioft likely, • becaufe^e tree and the^rpaturq are;found
dep^ited’at, that depth where tin-ftpnes,, rounded ,and difpèrled, by
•the flood, are ufually lodged; and.^L that there wasvahgfeiltly a
•ifudden'fubfidence of the ground in thae parts, has been a- conftant
tradition for fome ages.
hmA. third fort of fofliï-freek is loSafetjmes difcovered in lakespffrqgs,
and harbours, in whole' grBves 'together, and lome trees dmëng the
reft ftanding: as perpendicidar ^ thpy grew. This 'is-a’ phenomenon
:moft likely owing to the Ipbfidehce of the ground,fitting no
unufüal, accident f fometime's’perhaps by the undermining o f -the
fea,. as Mr. Ray! itnagïnêA^^^lfeti-'Öfténer ip; earthquakdsjfefpr rtfie
ground to fink, and a lake of water'(where there was dry apdipl anted
island) tp fpring up apd fill me cavitjl.' '-'On thpftrand'.^'Mount’s
* Thóüp.tl&liinfc'stt unóért|in whether thtefe fafigs as the horns b| hare. '■ -
■ horns belong^ltó
ouf own countfy, they having • rib broad plated’
L 11 Bay,