Numbers There was kill'd upon that Water an Asper of which I prepar'd the Oyl but did not find that it answer'd the Character generally given of it for taking of Fish These Meers lie in low Grounds have Rivulets or little Rivers that discharge themselves into them and having but little Vent out form themselves into these large Area's In the Meer that was drein'd were found great Numbers of Firr Stocks and Firr-Apples so that Mr. Cambden is certainly mistaken when he asserts those Stocks not to be really Firrs but other Woods only made Resinous by a Bituminous Earth in which they have been lodg'd as is commonly conjectur'd since the noted Deluge however the Woods might be alter'd its certain the Apples could not belong to any other Tree But I shall have occasion to treat more fully of these when I come to treat of the Mosses The Rivers of most Note are the Mersey Ribbel Lune and Wire the Dee and the Dove in Cheshire and Derbyshire Mersey runs by Warrington anciently remarkable for its Lords the Butlers who obtain'd for it the Privilege of a Market-Town in Edward the First 's Time and is now a Town famous for its Trade and Market where I think I may safely affirm Maulting is brought to as great Perfection as at Derby or elsewhere the Liquors brew'd from it being no ways inferior to the most noted Ales in England From Warrington the Mersey grows broader and soon after contracts it self again but at last opens into a wide Mouth very Commodious for Trade and then runs into the Sea near Leverpool a Town formerly but mean but now the Third Sea-Port of England and as well Built as any I have seen In this River are taken vast quantities of Sparlings or Smelts a Fish remarkable for its Smell as well as Tast. Ribbel called anciently Bellisama has its Rise from amongst the Mountains in Yorkshire and runs by Ribchester and Preston from thence grows wider and in the Meales empties it self into the Sea This River affords us plenty of Salmon Codfish Flounders Turbut and Plaise but a River by reason of its Sands very unfit for Trading The Lune from what will hereafter be observ'd may take its Name from Luna the Moon or the Goddess of Heaven runs by Lancaster and arises from the Mountains in Westmorland Upon this River is a noted Salmon-Fishing the best I have eat any where and is very Commodious for Trading which is there now blooming Wire issues from the Mountains in Wiresdale runs not far from a Market-Town call'd Poulton as Commodious for Trading as any of the rest This River affords us a Pearl-Fishing which are frequently found in large Muscles call'd by the Inhabitants Hambilton-Hookins from their manner of taking them which is done by plucking them from their Skeers or Beds with Hooks but of these I shall have occasion to treat more fully when I come to speak of Shell-Fishes and the Germination of Pearls The River Dee is the most Noted in Cheshire in Latin called Deva as appears by the Roman Tiles dug up there upon some of which are these Letters in Roman Characters COLL. DEVA LEG XX. V. V. In British it is called Dyfyrdwy as springing from two Fountains in Wales from which some believe it had its Denomination dwy in the British Language signifying Two Others say those words signify black Water but why that Epithet should be apply'd to this River I see no ground for it the River being large and open and the Water clear and pellucid Some allege these Words signify a divine Water and hence a Fountain sacred to the Gods was call'd Divona and upon some Roman Tiles dug up at Chester I have seen that word in Roman Characters Nor is this Conjecture altogether improbable since in those Days divine Honours were paid to Rivers as Gildas informs us the Thessalians paid them to Peneus upon account of its Pleasantness the Scythians to Ister for its Largeness the Germans to the Rhine because it was their Judge in Cases of Jealousy betwixt Married Persons It is said moreover of this River Dee it seemed Holy to the Christian Britains for when they were drawn up in Order of Battle ready to engage the Saxons they first kiss'd the Earth then devoutly drank of this Water in Memory of the Blood of their Holy Saviour The River Dove in Derbyshire called so by the Inhabitants from its Transparency I imagine as resembling the silver Feathers of that Bird is remarkable for a Fish call'd the Grailing and likewise Trouts said to be the best in England It runs for the greatest part thro' a Lime-Stone which renders its Water so fertile a Manure that even in Winter the Meadows on both sides of it appear fresh and green and if it overflows them in the Spring like another Nile it enriches them In Commemoration of which high Improvements the People have this Saying In April Dove's Flood Is worth a King's Good But of this River in a far loftier Strain the Ingenious Charles Cotton Esq writes for by his witty Flights on these Streams one would rather conclude they wash'd the Banks of Helicon than the rugged unpolish'd Mountains in Derbyshire This River swells sometimes so much in twelve Hours time to the great terror of the Inhabitants that it carries down their Sheep and other Cattle yet in the same Compass of Time falls again and returns to its old Mounds whereas the Trent when it overflows its Banks keeps the Fields in float four or five Days these Reasons are manifest because in one the Country is Mountainous the other is a large extended Flat This River runs to Ulcester seated upon an Hill of easy Ascent where it draws to the Trent it inclines towards Tutbury-Castle formerly very large and also called Stutesbury commanding as it were the lower Country by its high Situation on an Alabaster-Hill where there is a little Monastery built by Henry de Feriers a Noble Norman to whom William the First gave large Possessions hereabouts but they were all lost by Robert de Feriers Earl of Derby upon his Second Revolt from Henry the Third There are now Proposals for making the River Dee Navigable which if effected will doubtless be very advantageous to that ancient City where that Honourable Legion viz. the Twentieth was fixed stiled by the Romans Valens Victrix which was of those by Tacitus term'd Emeriti or Veterani Having done with the Meers and Rivers according to my propos'd Method I come now to treat first Of the Springs not properly to be call'd Mineral-Waters but yet remarkable either for their Lightness Coldness Perspiration Flux and Reflux and of these some are continual others at certain Seasons as after wet Weather and some are remarkable for throwing up several Marine Shells Secondly of Mineral-Waters and the various Kinds of these with an Account of their Principles and Uses and of those these Counties afford us a great Variety Near to a Noble Seat call'd Ashton-Hall about
but in dry Weather and we may reasonably suppose there was a great Number of Boats of all forts belonging to so large a Fort and City the Anchor-Hill so called being as it were a little Dock or Hithe for the Building or Repairing them and that the Anchors Rings and Nails there found were only for then use and not for Ships they being far too little either for Ships of Burden or War We cannot rightly make out what Legion of the Romans was planted here by any of the noble Ruines we disclose however by what has been discover'd both the Antiquity and Grandeur of the Place will be clearly represented and our modern Observations be no small Supplement to the more ancient Ones where Mr. Cambden and others have saved me the Trouble I shall fairly name them in order and in Conclusion add my own The first Inscription Mr. Cambden takes Notice of is at Salisbury-Hall on the Pedestal of a Pillar which is as follows Deo Marti ET VICTORIAE DD. AVGG ET CC NN. And in the Wall adjoining to it is another Stone with the Portraiture of Cupid and another little Image and in the backside of it is this Inscription SEOSEAM ROLNASON OSALVEDN AL. Q. Q. SAR BREVENM BEDIANIS ANTONI VS MEG VI. IC DOMV ELITER These Mr. Cambden supposes to be British Names of Places but I do not see how that can be made out but rather look upon 'em to be the Names of Officers in a Wing of the Sarmatians AL. Q. Q. SAR denoting the Ala Sarmatum or a Wing of the Sarmations of which Tacitus gives a full Account Osalvedn may probably signifie Oswalds Town the noble Family of the Osbaldstones still residing there so that these Names may not only be British but likewise Roman and Sarmatian His next Account is of a fair Altar with this Inscription DEIS MATRIBVS M. INGENVI VS A'SIATICVS * DEC AL. AST SS LL. M. The Signification of which as Cambden himself is silent so I refer it to other Antiquaries to discuss However upon my being last at Oxford I receiv'd there the Satisfaction to find that Iuno and Diana were constantly called by the Romans Deae Matres And the further Explication of this Altar is that Ingenuis an Asiatic one of the Decuriones of the Asturian Wing dedicated this Altar to the Mother Goddesses Iuno and Diana Another little Altar he saw cast out amongst the Rubbish with this Inscription PACIFE RO MARTI ELEGAVR BA POSV IT EX VO TO This Altar from its Smallness Mr. Cambden takes to have been some poor Man's Altar to carry about with him and to have been for offering Incense Salt and Flower But to me this Interpretation seems more reasonable from the very Words themselves at length that Elegaurba doubtless a Commander there dedicated this Altar to Mars after some signal Overthrow of the Enemy and thence Peace ensuing he styles him Pacifero but who this Elegaurba was or what Country Man I pretend not to determine He speaks also of another Stone dug up with the Portraiture of a naked Man on Horse-back without Bridle or Saddle brandishing his Spear with both Hands and insulting over a naked Man prostrate who held out before him a kind of square Piece between the Horse and the Person prostrate stand the Letters D. M. under the prostrate Man are GAL. SARMATA There were other Letters too defaced to guess at one would imagine says he both from the former Inscription and this that was found many Years agoe that a Wing of the Sarmatae had their Station here HIS TERRIS TEGITVR AEL MATRONA QV VIX AN. XXVIII M II. D VIII ET M. IVLIVS MAXIMVS FIL. VIX AN VI. M III. D XX. ET CAM PANIA DVBBA MATER VIX AN. L. IVLIVS MAXIMUS ALAE SAR CONIVX CONIVGI INCOMPARABILI ET FILIO PATRI PIENTIS SIMO ET SOCERAE TENA CISSIMAE MEMORIAE P. This Inscription as I take it may be thus translated Aael a Matron who lived 28 Years Two Months and Eight Days in this Earth lies entomb'd and Marcus Iulius Maximus her Son who lived Six Years Three Months and Twenty Days and Campania Dubba her Mother who lived Fifty Years Iulius Maximus and Alae a Sarmatian Wife to her incomparable Husband erects this to perpetuate the Memory of Simo the Son of a pious Father and his Father in Law Now the Word Asiaticus in the Inscription beginning with Deis Matribus and in that preceding it beginning with Seoseam and in this last of all that Word Sar being repeated it makes it more probable to me that Sarmatia being a Part of Asia and likewise Part of Europe containing Poland Russia Muscovy and most of Tartary from which vast Country the Phoenicians being an industrious and trading People transplanted several Colonies hither and on the Portraiture of the naked Man these Words Gal. Sarmata being found too does farther illustrate these People called Brigantes residing here to be for a great Part Asiatics of which Mr. Camden takes no Notice Thus far and no farther Mr. Camden proceeds in the Antiquities of this noted Station but as to the ancient Name of the Place he says Ptolemy stiles it Rigodunum and that being corrupted from Ribodunum may not be unlike Ribbochester It is his Opinion likewise the Town of Preston called so from the Religious quasi Priest Town sprang from the Ruines of this remarkable City which might be ruined by Wars or Earthquakes I shall now acquaint the Reader with my own Observations made in this present Year 1699 when I was upon the Place which gave me a new and different Prospect of Matters above what he has recited The first remarkable Piece of Antiquity I took Notice of was a Fortification called Anchor-Hill because Anchors have sometimes been found there under Ground with Rings and Nails of small Vessels Roman Paterae of a Mettal like that of our China Tea-Pots with the Effigies of Wolves and Flowers upon them and at the Bottom of some these Letters Fab. Pro. which doubtless must be in the Time when some one of the Fabii were Pro-Consul or Procurator From Anchor-Hill there goes a Way to Preston and a Road to Lancaster where there was another Fortification and a Roman Wall another Road likewise directs to Mancunium or Manchester where was a Fortress called the Giants or Torquins Castle and doubtless that was their High-way to Devona or Chester where the Twentieth Legion stiled Valens and Victrix was fixed Chester was then a Blockade to the Britains in Wales Not far from this Fortification called Anchor-Hill at Ribchester I saw a Common-shoar and a Floor composed of Roman Tyles which absolutely demonstrates the River there was never Navigable for had it been so that City must unavoidably have been under Water together with in that Country commonly call'd the Field from its resemblance to a Field being all Champaign Near this Shoar I saw a Pillar about Seventeen Inches Diameter with Letters upon it but those in a great
those vast Mountains of Oyster-shells in Virginia and other parts of the West-Indies likewise the vast quantities of marine Shells found several Yards deep in firm Marle in Lands remote from the Sea in which five Yards within the Marle I saw the Skeleton of a Buck standing upon his Feet and his Horns on its Head which are yet preserv'd at Ellel-Grange near Lancaster I 'll give you one Instance more That eight Yards within Marle in Larbrick near Preston in Lancashire was found the entire Head of a Stag with the Vertebrae of the Neck whole which by its Branches and Magnitude is forein to any I ever observ'd in these parts but by the Cuts of those in Canada I cannot judge them any other than of those in that Country These are now in the Custody of Richard Longworth of St. Michaels Esq when they were taken out of the Earth they were soft and pliable but now hard and firm A Phaenomenon not unlike to this is observable in Coral which immediately grows hard the humid Particles being spent by the heat of the Air so that the saline and terrestrial Particles are not longer disunited but thence come to a strict union and consequently an hard and firm Body More Instances of this nature might be produc'd but what are recited are sufficient to confirm an impartial Reader in the truth of what is alledg'd and to others I think it not worth while to make any Address at all However I shall produce another Instance and then leave every one to his particular Sentiments In a Place in Lancashire call'd the Meales under the Moss four Yards within Marle was found an exotic Head which by the description given me of it by the Country People may doubtless be that of an Elke the Brow-Antlers were bigger than usually the Arm of a Man is the Beams were near 2 Yards in height and betwixt the two opposite Tips of the Horns which is the Diameter was 2 Yards likewise Such a Curiosity never before seen in these Parts induc'd the Country People to cut it asunder into many pieces each preserving a part as a Rarity so that had it been entire it had been much greater The scatter'd remains of it may now be seen in different Places but that is but a slender satisfaction to a curious Enquirer The Elke most certainly is and ever was a Creature forein to this Nation how therefore so many Yards in Marle under the Moss this should come to be deposited by any other means than an universal Deluge I would gladly be inform'd considering likewise the wildness of the Place and the thin number of People where this Phaenomenon was observ'd for the Meales are little more cultivated than the Desarts of Arabia I think I may venture to affirm if a Man will lay aside Prejudice and not be too fond of an over-weening Opinion he cannot account for it any other way To close this Head it may be agreeable enough to insert that remarkable Instance of Andrea de Valeta Communicated to me by Signior Vigani who had itfrom the Person himself viz. That in the Kingdom of Granada remote from the Sea he saw an Indian Canoo or Boat dug out of a solid Rock These all throughly consider'd undeniably evince an universal Deluge which doubtless could not be any other than that of Noah of which Moses gives so ample a relation and if so the recited Phaenomena amount to no less than a Demonstration of the Truth of what that inspired Philosopher has transmitted to us As to the Forms of other Fossile Plants found in solid Rocks as some not far from the Coal-Mines adjacent to Latham where I have seen the Impressions of Polypody Maiden-hair and Thorn Leaves in an hard greyish Rock imprinted in a Black bituminous Matter I likewise observ'd in a Marble near Holker the Lineaments of a Man and in Pool's Hole near Buxton Bath the Representations of several other Creatures and various Modifications of Matter These I take to be purely the wanton Sportings of the Fluor Stalactites and do believe these Lusus Naturae are caused by different Mixtures of bituminous saline and terrene Particles and are not the Exuviae of Plants in the Deluge which in that universal Destruction subsided with the broken Strata according to specifick Gravitation At Halsil near Ormskirk is a Bituminous Turf which emits a Smell like the Oyl of Amber and from it may be prepared an Oyl not easily distinguishable from the former and answers all the Intentions of that noble Medicine but this must be discreetly manag'd otherwise it contracts a foetid Empyeuma Pieces of this by the Country People are made use of instead of Candles and burn like Torches I have seen it flame upon the surface of Water as long as any part above its superficies remain'd Where this is got there floats a bituminous Oyl I have seen strange Effects of it in preserving Raw Flesh which comes near to the Aegyptian Mummy The Morasses are made Arable by Draining and Marling them and bring then very good Corn they frequently pare off the Tops of these with Push-plows which the amass together in small Heaps when they are dry they set them on Fire and by their alcalious Ashes the Ground is made very Fertile but will not continue so above three Years after that it is very Barren One thing had almost slipt me how sometimes in Mosses are found human Bodies entire and uncorrupted as in a Moss near the Meales in Lancashire In Eller-Moss was found the Skeleton of a Stag standing upon its Feet These are the most remarkable Phaenomena I have observ'd in Morasses I shall not therefore swell these Sheets with unnecessary Recapitulations but according to our Design proceed to the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Of Mines and Minerals as Coal-Mines Kennel-Mines their various sorts the Method of Discovering them An Account of Sparrs Talcs Stalactites Asbestus Allum and Vitriol Ores Salt Ores of various sorts Salt Rocks Sulphur Ores the Pyrites Native Vitriol Salts of various kinds Mineral Damps and Diamonds IT is an Observation as common as true and which may justly challenge our Admiration That the Mines in all Parts of the World I mean Coal and Kennel-Mines are always found in Strata shelving towards the Center or as the Miners call it Dipping Insomuch that the same which in one part perhaps cannot be discover'd under Twenty Fathome is yet at the Rise of the Mine frequently found near the Surface of the Ground These generally keep the same Dip as the Coal Slat that lies over them and by finding that you speedily disclose the Mine and whatever the Miners may pretend so far as I have been able to observe more certain Directions for the Discovery of these Mines cannot be given If the Mines ly in any considerable Strata or as the Work-men stile it ly True their usual Dip is East or West or as they vulgarly word it to the Twelve-a-Clock or Four-a-Clock Sun In these Mines are
from the foremention'd Dane is altogether fictitious nor do I believe there are Pearls either in Brunswick or any other part of the World yet known comparable to those in East-India the Mother of Pearl of the Oysters in those Parts being much finer than any discover'd here or in the West-Indies And if so by what has been observ'd it is most certain that the Pearls must be finer also which are only the most refin'd parts of those defecated Laminae of the Shell It is true indeed there are in fresh Waters hereabout Muscles of the magnitude he mentions which are commonly call'd Horse-Muscles of these vast numbers were found in the Pond at Tabley in Cheshire when it was drein'd but not any of them contain'd Pearls nor was the Fish palatable These I think may serve for a full Answer to Sandius's Hypothesis I shall not therefore transgress longer on the Reader 's patience but only take notice of the Phosphori or flashes of Fire in the Night-time frequently observable in Muscles and Oysters and so close this Head It is observable that these Fishes abound with a great quantity of volatile Sulphur and hence it is that in Tabid Cases as in scorbutic Atrophies they are of extraordinary use for their sulphureous Particles being communicated to the Mass of Blood they afresh inspirit and restore it to its due Circulation and then the Blood distributes its nourishment to the Body which before stagnated in several Capillaries where for want of a daily supply the Body emaciated Another confirmation of their great quantity of Sulphur is their extream foetidness upon Putrefaction which is as offensive as any preparation of Sulphur whatever These granted and that Flame it self is only a due quantity of sulphureous Particles put into a particular Motion and then again considering what vast numbers of those Particles abound in those Fishes and their extraordinary Activity it is easy to imagin how those Noctilucae or flashes in the Night-time when their Particles are not scatter'd by the Beams of the Sun may frequently be observ'd in them and it is probable that if some of our Virtuosi made their Experiments upon foetid Oysters they might more easily prepare the Phosphorus than from Blood Flesh or Urine which is the common but very tedious Process The Echini are common as likewise Torculars Whilkes and Periwinkles we have likewise another Fish shap'd like the Head of a Rabbit and thence call'd the Rabbit-Fish The Pap-Fish is common so call'd from the likeness it bears to a Nipple the Country People use them for their Nipples when sore which by guarding them from fretting on their Cloaths give relief These are the most remarkable of Sea-Fishes that I have observ'd in these Parts wherefore I shall in the next place descend to River and Pond-Fish and of these the most remarkable are the Salmon Sparling or Smelt and the Char as likewise Eeles in the River Erke near Manchester And of these I shall shew the difference and their manner of Generation and so conclude this Chapter The Rivers abound with great quantities of Salmon but chiefly those into which the Sea flows daily as Ribble Lune Wire and the Mersey in these there are considerable numbers taken but the most in Ribble and the Lune Concerning the Growth of these the Opinions are various some asserting that after the Salmon leaves the Sea she makes to fresh Rivers and constantly presses forward till she gains the Shallows and in the Sands Stones and Pebbles deposites her Spawn or Eggs upon which the Male ejects a Milk which fecundates them and so the formation of the Foetus is begun which first is stiled a Salmon-Smelt the second Year a Sprod the third a Mort the fourth a Forktail the fifth a Runner and the sixth a Salmon Others assert that the Salmon comes to its Maturity in one Year and the Morts Forktails and Runners are a distinct species of Salmon and will never attain to the magnitude of a grown Salmon and that because as they alledge several of these have been put into Ponds and never arriv'd to any other pitch of greatness Now it is certain that the Salmon are always best and grow most when they immediately leave the Seas and by their continuance in fresh Waters they still decline and wax leaner when they first quit the Seas their Flesh is firm and well-tasted and at that time they have often abundance of little Insects upon them which the Fishermen call the Salmon Lowse and it is then that she is best in season The Fishermen will actly tell you by observing of these how long they have left the Seas but upon their continuance long in the Freshes they become extreamly lean and not at all palatable so that 't is probable if these Morts and Sprods which were taken into Ponds and did not encrease at all 't was because they were out of their proper Food and so consequently instead of growing did emaciate for 't is most certain when they deserted the salt Water 't was not for any Food they expected in fresh Rivers but indeed to reach the Shallows as well for the preservation as propagation of their Fry which in the Deeps would be destroy'd by other Fishes so admirable is the Conduct of Providence even in the meanest of Creatures Tho' the Rivers are frequently stemm'd and barricado'd with Weares of a considerable height yet 't is wonderful to observe how they will leap over these to gain the Shallows to deposite their Spawn since therefore the Smelt comes down from the Shallows and makes towards the salt Waters 't is probable that the fresh Rivers are disagreeable to them and since the Sprod seems to be the same Fish of another Years growth and the rest likewise gradually till they compleat the Salmon it self I am rather inclin'd to adhere to the former Opinion for why should not there in this as in other Creatures be a gradual Encrease I apprehend not any convincing Reason to the contrary nor do I believe Nature here alters her establish'd Methods in arriving to a full Growth and Maturity The next remarkable Fish is the Char and that is found in Winder-Meer in Westmoreland and no where else that I know of except in Conningston-Meer in Lancashire This Fish is not very unlike a Trout only the Flesh is much more red and when Potted 't is most delicious Meat of these great quantities are yearly sent to London from Kendall and Lancaster 'T is likewise observable that these Fishes are only found in one part of Winder-Meer the other part being destitute of them which perhaps may be occasion'd by the Pikes taken there in great quantities There is another Fish taken there not unlike the Char but something less nor is the Flesh quite so red The Water is extraordinary clear and contains several small Islands in one of which Sr. Christopher Philipson once resided and in another a Hermite a Relation of Sr. Francis Sawcole's who for some