compressed vegetable matter, probably an old land-surface, more than 50 feet below high-water level, the floor of Eocene strata not being met with till 98 feet below high water was reached. In this case, however, the strata below 50 feet seem, from the published description, to be of marine origin.
The well at Norman Fort is stated to have penetrated to a depth of 127 feet below the sea before Eocene strata were reached; but in this case the lower strata were of marine origin, and the only land animal recorded was a jaw of red deer, found apparently between 80 and 90 feet down. These deep channels may be relics of the very ancient (Tertiary) Solent River, and were probably arms of the sea till they were sufficiently silted up for the lowest submerged forest to grow.
We have not yet sufficient data, nor is it necessary to our purpose, to give a detailed reconstruction of this interesting area during the successive stages of elevation and depression. During the time when the lowest of the submerged forests flourished the Isle of Wight was connected with the mainland where the Solent now narrows about Yarmouth, and probably for some distance westward. This connexion was kept up till comparatively recent times, only breaking down finally a short time before Caesar's invasion.
In early Neolithic times the ancient Solent Valley
