THE FOSSIL MAN. 357 



cataclysm is proved both by the regularity with which they are depos- 

 ited, and by the fact that the materials of one river-system are never 

 found mingled with those of another. For example, the gravel-beds 

 of the Somme Valley are entirely composed of debris from the chalk 

 and Tertiary strata occupying that area. But within a very few miles 

 of the head- waters of the Somme comes the valley of the Oise. This 

 latter valley contains the remains of other and older strata, none of 

 which have ever found their way into the Somme Valley, as would cer- 

 tainly have been the case if any great and sudden inundation had ever 

 swept over the surface of the whole country. 



From such considerations as these, and many others that might be 

 brought forward, prehistoric archaeologists are united in the opinion 

 that the St. Acheul axes found in these Quaternary deposits, and in 

 certain caverns, accompanying the bones of the same fossil animals, 

 are relics of the earliest phase of man's existence yet discovered. Of 

 course, the few are excepted who maintain the belief in the Tertiary man. 

 Such implements have been searched for and found in many countries, 

 but there was still one unfortunate hiatus in the line of argument. It 

 was objected, if such evidence of the great antiquity of man has been 

 discovered in so many different regions, Why is it not to be found in 

 Egypt, the oldest country of which we have direct historical knowledge '? 

 This question several have attempted to answer, but hitherto they have 

 failed of complete success. This was owing to the nature of the case, 

 and the peculiarities of the country. Most travelers spend the winter 

 months in their dahabeeahs, ascending and descending the Nile, and 

 have little leisure for long and patient researches ; while the distin- 

 guished scholars who have resided for long periods in the country have 

 been exclusively occupied with studying its numerous historical monu- 

 ments, and no one of them has had any special acquaintance with or 

 interest in the prehistoric question. It is true that M. Adrien Arce- 

 lin and Sir John Lubbock, and also Dr. Haury with M. Lenormant, 

 who all made the usual Nile trip, have published articles on the sub- 

 ject, some of them figuring in plates certain worked flints discovered 

 by them in Egypt. But they did not succeed in satisfying prehistoric 

 students that they had actually discovered evidence of the Palaeolithic 

 age in that country. That they had indeed found worked flints there, 

 could not be questioned by any one who has had competent experience 

 in the subject, though even this has been denied by the distinguished 

 Egyptologist, Lepsius. Some have even supposed that such objects 

 may have been used by the poorer classes within the historic period, of 

 which the paintings and sculptures in the tombs give us such vivid 

 glimpses. The opening of an hotel at Luxor, in Upper Egypt, the site 

 of ancient " hundred-gated " Thebes, in the winter of 1878, gave me 

 an opportunity of carefully studying the question on the spot. I re- 

 mained seven weeks and searched the region thoroughly in various 

 directions, so far as was possible in journeys of one day's length. The 



