966 Acc(Mirt of the Discovery of Bone Cdves in 



tti#cav6^' to the aboriginal mythology, Koppa sit dote>n Mre), 

 ^r"ft/ 6bservecl, to hi« tety gt^ siirprise^ a piece of bone 

 lyin^'bii the floor of the (*aivern. It struck him at flrst that it 

 might have belonged to some bush-ranger who had attempted to 

 hide himself in the cave, itnd had subsequently died; but on a 

 more minute examination, he discovered a vast number of other 

 bones of various sizes, and generally broken, some strewed on 

 •file flctor bf the cave, but the greater number imbedded in a sort 

 of reddish indurated clay along its sides. The rope by which 

 he had lowered himself into the cavern had been fixed to what 

 appeared a projecting point of the solid rock, but on its break- 

 ing off in consequence of the weight attached to it, it was ascer- 

 tained to be a large fossil bone — the thigh bone, I conceive, of 

 some quadruped much larger than the ox or buffalo, and pro- 

 bably of the Irish elk, the rhinoceros, or elephant. 



Mr Rankin collected a small quantity of the bones, or rather 

 'fragments of bones, and has brought them to Sydney, with a 

 ^^ij^'fe their being forwarded to Professor Jameson, of the Uni- 

 Tersity of Edinburgh. They will doubtless excite much inte- 

 rest among the geologists of Great Britain, and will probably 

 lead to interesting results, in regard to the geological history of 

 -^this vast island. It may perhaps be deemed presumptuous for 

 'an individual, who has little acquaintance with the science of 

 comparative . anatomy, and none whatever with that of fossil 

 osteology, to anticipate these results. But the discovery in 

 ^•^ question has developed certain facts of the utmost interest in 

 regard to the past history of the continental island, from which 

 certain inferences, which it would be difficult to dispute, are 

 * clearly deducible. These facts and inferences I shall therefore 



take the liberty to submit to your readers. 

 J' <nci^^(ftla quite evident that the greater number of the bones 

 1 in question are not those of animals of the species at present in- 

 habiting this territory. The aborigines are very good authority 

 c on this point in the absence of such men as Professor Jame- 

 -' son, or Professor Buckland, or Baron Cuvier; for when shewn 

 (several of the bones, and asked if they belonged to any of the 

 ^*< species at present inhabiting the territory, they uniformly re- 

 plied^ Bail i?mt belongit to ^Kangaroo, Bail that belongit to 

 emu, &c. &c. -■■■'■■ 



