THE "SALTING MOUNDS" OF ESSEX.
105
We also visited three or four other mounds near the Strood. The red
earth in these was of less depth, and contained less pottery. That near
the Strood mill referred to above is an exception in respect of thickness.
I have only to add that if any of the members of the Club wish
to investigate these interesting mounds for themselves they will be
very welcome to a copy of my maps as a guide to the spots, and any
further information that I can give. The map on page 103 is a
photographic reproduction of part of the Ordnance Survey, sheet
48 S.W. (scale one inch to the mile), to which have been added dots
showing sites of mounds.3
That the tale which these mounds can yield to a patient investi-
gator may prove entirely unimportant and commonplace I am willing
to admit, but possibly some day a more complete and thorough
examination than the very imperfect traverses which I have been able
to make hitherto, may remove the mystery now shrouding the subject,
and I venture to suggest the hope that these mounds may be able to
throw some light upon the past of our race. They may have taken
the place, in a flat country entirely free from caves, of the natural
shelters of rocky districts, and as Colchester may claim the honour,
with the flat and despised Essex marshes, of being the cradle, though
not the birthplace, of the race which has helped so largely to make
England what she is, there may be some hidden and unsuspected
revelation concerning that early time, which, when brought to light,
may prove of the deepest interest to all the world-wide English-
speaking family.
The Otter (Lutra vulgaris).—In addition to the one taken from the Colne,
near Wakes Hall (Essex Nat. i. 91), I know of six others recorded in the local
papers—two from the Colne, three from the Blackwater, and one from the Stour.
Doubtless, also many others have escaped record. On last Christmas Eve three
were seen on the Chelmer, immediately above Hoe Mill, Woodham Walter; and
every year one or more pairs breed in the floodgate hole there. They are constantly
seen and frequently shot. Mr. R. H. Eve, of Maldon, has a fine specimen, shot
in the Blackwater at Beeleigh. It measures forty-nine inches, and weighed 281/2 lbs.
An otter is occasionally found in the Stour, between Wixoe and Baythorne Mills,
and almost in every case inhabits a certain favourite tree in Mr. G. Unwin's
meadow. Once three were found there together. This spring, my cousin, Arthur
Fitch, bolted a fine dog into a sack from this haunt. It weighed 23 lbs., and
measured 53 inches from tip of nose to end of tail. It was kept in a tank at Mr.
Unwin's for a week, and then hunted at Steeple Bumpstead, but did not give
much sport. Since then the couch and spraints of an otter have been noticed in
the same locality. I know of one gentleman who has already shot three otters
this year from the Stour, at Sudbury. With a little protection and a little less
ruthless persecution, we might still hope to emulate the deeds of 1796 in Essex,
when nine otters were hunted and killed in one day. See Bell, "British
Quadrupeds," p. 134.—Edward A. Fitch, F.L.S., Maldon.
3 We are indebted to Mr. Stopes for the map, which has been specially prepared for this paper.