But times have changed since the Wealden days, and the life of the Tertiary times has a much more modern appearance. From leaves and fruits borne down from the forest we can learn clearly the nature of the early Eocene land and climate. Leaves are found at Newhaven, and numerous fossil fruits at Sheppey. The character of the vegetation most resembled that now to be seen in India, South Eastern Asia, and Australia. Palms grew luxuriantly, the most abundant fruit being that of one called Nipadites, from its resemblance to the Nipa palm, which grows on the banks of rivers in India and the Philippines. The forests also included plants allied to cypresses, banksia, maples, poplars, mimosa, custard apples, gourds, and melons. The rivers abounded in turtle--large numbers of remains of which are found in the London clay at the mouth of the Thames--crocodiles and alligators. With the exception of the south east of England, all the British Isles formed part of a continental mass of land covered with a tropical vegetation. The mountain chains of England, Scotland, and Wales rose as now, but higher. Long denudation has worn them down since. In the south-east of England the coast line fluctuated; and sea shells, and the remains of the plant and animal life of the neighbourhood of a great tropical river alternate in the deposits. [Illustration: FIG. 4] SECTION THROUGH HEADON HILL AND HIGH DOWN. SHOWING STRATA SEEN AT ALUM BAY. G _Gravel Cap._ Bm _Bembridge Limestone._ O _Osborne Beds._ UH _Upper Headon._ MH _Middle " ._ LH _Lower Headon._ BS _Barton Sand._ B _Barton Clay._ Br _Bracklesham Beds._ Bg _Bagshot Sands._ L _London Clay._ R _Reading Beds._ Ch _Chalk._ The London clay is succeeded by a great thickness of sands and clays which form the Bagshot series. These are divided in the London basin into Lower, Middle, and Upper Bagshot. In the Hampshire basin the strata are now classified as Bagshot Sands, Bracklesham Beds, Barton Beds, the last comprising the Barton Clay and the Barton Sand, formerly termed Headon Hill Sands. There is some uncertainty as to the manner in which these correspond to the beds of the Bagshot district, as the Tertiary strata have been divided by denudation into two groups, and differ in character in the two areas. It is possible that the Barton Sand represents a later deposit than any in the London area.