Anniversary Address. 97 



It may be sneeringly asked, "And of what importance, even 

 when made, are such discoveries V* But the same sneer may be 

 directed against the greater part of all other historical researches ; 

 and it may be met with the same answer. They relate to the 

 natural history of man ; and to us, whether as naturalists or hu- 

 man beings, that can never be foreign or uninteresting. This is 

 the " quid fuimus" which leads to the "quod futuri gignimur." 

 It occurred to me, on the 19th May last, when on the hill of 

 " the Cup and Saucer Camp," mentioned by Mr. Tate, that the 

 top of it had been the usual summer residence of some of the 

 aboriginal race, at a time when Milfield Plain was either a lake, 

 or covered with one thick and tangled forest ; which encroached 

 to near the very summit of that hill and of all the others in the 

 neighbourhood ; and was then infested with ferocious animals or 

 dangerous reptiles. This hill had been selected because its naked 

 and half-famished occupants could best descry from it any ap- 

 proaching danger ; and when that came, could there best defend 

 themselves against it : for these earliest specimens of humanity 

 (like the martyrs of our species) " wandered about in wolf-skins 

 and elk-skins — being destitute, afflicted, toraiented — flitting from 

 deserts to mountains, and into dens and caves of the earth." 

 " The Cup" was intended for the chiefs of the clan, " the Saucer" 

 for the multitude ; and no doubt they needed to fortify their 

 residence by the stony munitions we noticed; for see ! a band 

 of hostile savages, probably of fresh invaders, and of a different 

 race, occupy a hill at no great distance ; and these will not leave 

 the aboriginals long unmolested. It is easy to fancy the rest — 

 the stealthy nocturnal approach — the sudden attack — the fierce 

 struggle — the rampart forced — and the final massacre. 



" they roll 



Mothers with infants down the rocks ; their moans 

 The vales redouble to the hills, and they 

 To heaven." 



Looking upon the scene which the summit of that hill now pre- 

 sents, and upon the Members of the Club around me, I could 

 not help asking myself, " What has caused the difference be- 

 tween that pre-historic period and our own times ? and will not 

 the causes that have produced that difference, acting with in- 

 creasing momentum amid greater facilities, at last bring on an 



