Page:The Geologist, volume 5.djvu/377

Rh GIBB — A TISTT TO EECULTEE. 333 soutbern tower. Xumerous holes were seen inside the walls, in which birds had built their nests ; some of them contained young, of the starling especially. T picked up in this tower a few human bones from the churchyard, collected by the people who had charge of the place, and brought away with me an axis, a clavicle, and a temporal bone, in the usual condition of graveyard specimens. I now descended to the ground and visited the Eoman encamp- ment, at least the remains of it, walking round as much of the old wall as is visible at its eastern and southern faces. It was still very perfect, although in some places undermined, and portions had fallen outwards in some places. Many fragments of genuine Eoman brick were observed, which had been built in by the Eomans. Occasionally Eoman coins are found about here, generally much defaced and in bad condition. Gold rings and other articles are now and then picked up at the base of the exposed wall of the old graveyard, and not unfrequently the end of a coffin becomes exposed, and its contents are soon rifled with the object of finding jewellery. As an object of antiquity, the remains of the old church are well worthy of preservation. I lingered about Eeculver for some hours, and retraced my steps to Heme Bay. From Eeculver, and indeed all along the coast to Herne Bay, the high land of the east end of Sheppey is a prominent object in the distance. Shoeburyness, on the opposite side of the Thames, can also be seen. South of this place is Herne, which gives its name to what once was a bay. Herne Bay has nothing to boast of but the sea and its long pier, the termination of which shows where the line of coast at one time extended, as we may infer from the Admiralty charts of the present day, which I think very accurately indicate the former position and boundaries of the land by the presence of the shoals of clay and sand. The point of attraction about here is certainly Ee- culver, but the inhabitants do not appear to know it. About halfway to Eeculver, I picked up on the top of the cliff an undoubted flint- / implement in a broken condition, but still /..^ sufficiently distinct to point out its real • ' nature. It strongly resembles many of those I have seen, both in colour and shape. The latter is shown in the annexed woodcut. It is not the first time that flint-implements have been found at Eeculver, as in the a review of Mr. Evans's paper on ' Fur- ther Discoveries of Flint Implements in the Drift.' The train which brought me down to Fig. 2.— Small flint implement. Herne Bay left for London at half-past seven, having allowed me eight hours to wander about a part of the coast, which will amply repay a visit.
 * Geologist ' for July they are referred to, in