Note 99 — PART III. LOCAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS. (continued 2)

The country being depopulated, lands once in tillage, again became wastes. The forests being partially destroyed, either by fire or the axe, the streams which used to permeate the low-grounds were arrested in their course by prostrate trunks and branches, and gave rise to extensive morasses. In the bogs of the district we are now considering, immense quantities of large oak and birch timber, as well as of oak leaves and hazel nuts, are continually being found. The Dike would not, of course, originally, be drawn through swampy ground.