Journal of Proceedings.
xxv
some amount of skill and agility to safely cross the numerous quag-
mires which now and again sought to bar our progress ; whilst every
incautious tap at the trees or bushes showered down glistening rain
drops upon devoted heads. At Ambresbury we were joined by Mr.
D'Oyley (the Hon. Surveyor to the Club), who brought with him some
beautifully drawn plans of the two Camps made from his own surveys.
The archaeologists at once set to work to verify the details of the
Earthworks, and Mr. B. H. Cowper gave an interesting sketch of their
broad features, and the circumstances under which he first made their
acquaintance, seven or eight years ago. He referred to the name Am-
bresbury (or "Amesbury," as it is pronounced by the country people),
as being identical with that of the well-known town in Wiltshire, near
Stonehenge, and the celebrated Vespasian's Camp. The word
Ambresbury is thought by some to be derived from Ambrosius
Aurelius, a foe of the Saxons. If this derivation is allowed to be cor-
rect, we may associate the Epping Camp with the most romantic stories
of our history, and may conjure up visions of Vortigern and Merlin,
and Tennysonian legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table. But descending to mere matters of fact, he said it was curious
that so far as he knew no relics had been found in either the Epping or
Loughton Camps; he had often examined them carefully, but could
discover nothing in the way of a coin or medal, or other object that
would interest the simple antiquary, and enable the true date of the
Camps to be fixed. During the examination, General Pitt-Rivers
remarked upon the amount of denudation which had evidently taken
place from the ramparts, and the large quantity of vegetable and other
soil which had accumulated on the ancient level of the Camp. In order
to have even a remote chance of finding coins, pottery, or other relics
of their founders, it would be necessary to get at the former base of the
Earthworks by a careful excavation.
At Mr. Meldola's suggestion, all discussion as to the nature of the
remains was deferred until after tea, and a move was soon made to the
Loughton Camp, which was first made known by the researches of Mr.
Cowper in the year 1872. Owing to the dampness of the herbage our
party was obliged to keep much to the main road, and we so lost the
ramble through Monk's Woods, which had been looked forward to as
one of the pleasantest features in our programme. Professor Boulger's
office as botanical adviser was almost a sinecure. Little opportunity
was afforded to the phytological enquirer, and the plants observed
hardly call for particular notice ; but few could fail to be struck with
the beauty and profusion of the Orchids in the forest openings. Insects
of course were very scarce ; with a weather wisdom superior to our
own, they refused to creep out from the shelter of their leafy bowers.
"Cowper's Camp" was examined by our archaeologists amid the
growlings of the coming storm. Viewed from where we stood on the