246 Dr Manteirs Illustrations of the Connexion 



the consolidated limestone, containing the hatched remains 

 of the chelonian reptiles that had thus been entombed alive.* 

 This conglomerate consists of the water-worn detritus of 

 corals and shells, with fragments oflava and scorise, rendered 

 solid by infiltration of carbonate of lime. 



These facts, if duly considered, will enable us to receive 

 without surprise the result of an accurate investigation of all 

 the circumstances relating to the fossil human skeletons of 

 Guadaloupe ; namely, that though imbedded in compact rock, 

 and with the bones permeated by crystallized carbonate of 

 lime, they are the relics of some individuals of a tribe of 

 Gallibis, slaughtered by the Caribs, in a conflict that took 

 place near the spot not more than 150 years ago ; the sand 

 of the sea-shore, in which the slain were interred, having 

 subsequently become indurated by the process above de- 

 scribed, f 



Fossil human skeletons have also been found in solid 

 calcareous tufa, near the river Santa, in Peru. Bones be- 

 longing to some scores of individuals were discovered in 

 travertine, containing fragments of marine shells, which 

 retained their original colour ; yet this bed of stone is covered 

 by a deep vegetable soil, and forms the face of a hill, crowned 

 with brushwood auJ large trees. 



Edifices. — The changes which are continually taking place 

 in the relative level of the land and water from the sub- 

 sidence of extensive tracts of country at one period, and 

 their subsequent elevation, are phenomena so well known, 

 that I need not dwell upon the subject ; and I will, therefore, 

 only remind the archseologist of the inexhaustible treasures 

 of past ages, which must sooner or later be exposed to view, 

 in the deposits that have been formed during the human 

 epoch. 



Nor can it be regarded as improbable, that in the beds of 

 the present seas, the edifices and works of nations, whose 

 history is altogether unknown to existing generations, are 

 entombed and preserved. The exquisite stanzas of Mrs 



* Wonders of Geology, vol. i., p. 90. f Ibid., 6th edit., vol. i., p. 87. 



