A mass of fragments of trees, all converted into
stone, and when struck by his horse's hoof ringing like cast iron,
is seen to extend itself for miles and miles around him, in the form
of a decayed and prostrate forest. The wood is of a dark brown hue,
but retains its form in perfection, the pieces being from one to
fifteen feet in length, and from half a foot to three feet in
thickness, strewed so closely together, as far as the eye can reach,
that an Egyptian donkey can scarcely thread its way through amongst
them, and so natural that, were it in Scotland or Ireland, it might
pass without remark for some enormous drained bog, on which the
exhumed trees lay rotting in the sun. The roots and rudiments of the
branches are, in many cases, nearly perfect, and in some the
worm-holes eaten under the bark are readily recognizable. The most
delicate of the sap vessels, and all the finer portions of the
centre of the wood, are perfectly entire, and bear to be examined with
the strongest magnifiers. The whole are so thoroughly silicified as to
scratch glass and are capable of receiving the highest polish.
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