2 PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



drift-beds, formed by layers of sand, gravel, and loam, also contain the bones of 

 animals of that period, some of which are now extinct, like the mammoth and a 

 few other species of elephant, several kinds of rhinoceros, the urns, and Irish 

 elk ; while others, as the hippopotamus, the cave-bear, cave-lion, and ca^e-hyena, 

 may still survive under more or less modified forms. Certain quadrupeds, which 

 have left their osseous remains in the quaternary deposits of Western Europe, 

 still exist as before, but no longer in their ancient habitats, as, for instance, the 

 reindeer and the musk-ox. The former inhabits now the coldest district of 

 Europe, and the musk-ox, entirely extinct in that part of the world, is at present 

 confined to the snow-regions bordering on Hudson's Bay. On the whole, the 

 fauna of the European drift was richer and more varied than that of our time, 

 for it comprised, besides the extinct mammalians, most of the now existing 

 species. Yet, as mentioned, the temperature of Europe was lower than at 

 present, or else such quadrujoeds as the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, 

 and musk-ox — all fitted for a cold climate — could not have subsisted in the lati- 

 tudes where their fossil bones now occur. 



The preceding condensed statements were made for the purpose of indicating, 

 to some extent at least, the surroundings of the human beings who lived at the 

 long-past period here under consideration. That they occupied a very low 

 position in the scale of human development is shown by the character of the flint 

 tools preserved in the quaternary deposits. These " drift-implements " were 

 first discovered, about forty years ago, by M. Boucher de Perthes, in the ancient 

 gravel-beds of the river Somme, in the neighboi'hood of Abbeville, in Picardy, 

 and afterward found at Saint- Acheul, near Amiens, in the same province. They 

 have subsequently been exhumed from corresponding deposits in other parts of 

 France, and in various localities of England. The implements were split from 

 nodules of flint so frequently occurring in the chalk ; some of them even exhibit 

 portions of the chalky crust which usually surrounds these flinty bodies. The 

 preA^ailing forms of the flint tools are those of very roughly wrought large spear- 

 heads, and of oval or almond-shaped flatfish pieces, sharpened around their 

 edges, and likewise exhibiting, at least in most cases, no high degree of skill on 

 the part of their makers. The tools of the latter kind are sometimes denomina- 

 ted " hatchets," it being believed that a number of them were inserted in cleft 

 sticks, and fastened with sinews or strips of hide of animals, thus fulfilling the 

 purpose which their name implies. To these forms must be added flakes of 

 various shapes and sizes, many of which, doubtless, were split off during the 

 process of fashioning the more finished tools already mentioned. Others may 

 have been detached intentionally, to serve as cutting-tools, and a few are w^orked 

 into a rude scraper-form. The shape of the implements designated as spear- 

 heads and hatchets depended, in all probability, much on the original outline of 

 the chalk-flints from which they were manufactured. These nodules are mostly 



