between the clumps are deep in heather, at intervals the
country is furrowed as by a mighty plough; but the furrowing was
done by man's hand to extract the metal of which the plough is
formed. From a remote antiquity this district of Surrey, as
well as the weald of Sussex, was the great centre of the iron
trade. The metal lies in masses in the sand, strangely smooth and
liver-colored, and going by the name of kidney iron. The forest of
Anderida which covered the weald supplied at once the ore and the
fuel for smelting.

In many places are "hammer ponds," pools of water artificially
constructed, which at one time served to turn wheels and work
mechanism for the beating out of the iron that had been won on
the spot.

The discovery of coal and iron together, or in close proximity,
in the North of England brought this industry of the counties of
Surrey and Sussex to an abrupt end. Now the deposits of ore are
no longer worked, no furnaces exist, only the traces of the old
men's mines and forges and smelting pits remain to attest that
from an age before Caesar landed in Kent, down to the close of
the last century, all the iron employed in England came from this
region.

Another singular feature of the district consists in the masses
of hard stone, gray with lichen, that lie about, here topping a
sandhill, there dropped at random in the plain. There was at one
time many more of these, but owing to their power of resisting
heat they were largely exploited as hearthstones. These masses,
there can be no doubt, are remains of superincumbent beds of hard
rock that have been removed by denudation, leaving but a few
fragments behind.

That superstition should attach to these blocks is not marvellous.
The parish in which lies the Punch-Bowl and rises Hind Head,
comprises one such Thors-stone, named perhaps after the Scandinavian
Thunder god. One of these strange masses of stone formerly occupied
a commanding position on the top of Borough Hill. On this those in
need knocked, whereupon the "Good People" who lived under it lent
money to the knockers, or any utensil desired in loan, on condition
that it was returned. One night, a petitioner, who was going to
give a feast at the baptism of his child, went to the stone, and
knocked, and asked in a loud voice for the loan of a cauldron.

This was at once thrust out from under the stone, and was carried
away and used for the christening feast. Unhappily, the applicant
for the cauld