Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/19

 striking feature in the geology of this curious county. When we see around us such abundant marks of the former presence of an animal in these parts, that is not now found in a live state throughout the known world, curiosity is awakened, and we naturally enquire the cause of their present disappearance. Was their race extinguished when the continents were raised from the bosom of the great deep? or do they still reside, far removed out of the reach of human vision, at the bottom of the present world of waters? or has the whole race been extinguished by the increasing power of their enemies? or is it the nature of some animals to transmigrate into other forms, and in time to become new genera? These questions instinctively occur to the mind, with such a phœnomenon before us; but it ought to humble the pride of human knowledge, to reflect: that, deep and extensive as we proudly boast it to be, it is unable to give a satisfactory answer to any one of them.

Dropping again into the great road, we passed through the village of Keynsham, seven miles from Bath, famous formerly for its abbey, and afterwards for its woollen manufactory; both of which have fulfilled the doom of all sublunary things, and are now no more. Its name is said to have been connected with a miracle, which, if allowed to