63 



bottom of this a bone liarpoon or fish-spear, a bone bead, 

 and a few broken bones of bear, red deer, and small short- 

 horned ox prove that m still earlier times the cave had 

 been inhabited by man. A few flint flakes probably imply 

 that these remains are to be referred rather to the Neolithic 

 age than to tliat of Bronze. 



Below this was a layer of stifl* clay, into which the com- 

 mittee sank two shafts, respectively of twelve and twenty- 

 five feet deep, without arriving at the bottom. They have, 

 however, at last penetrated it, and have broken into an 

 ossiferous bed, full of the remains of extinct animals, similar 

 to those which have been discovered at Kirkdale and else- 

 where; consisting of the cave bear, cave hyaena, woolly 

 rhinoceros, mammoth, bison, reindeer, and horse. The 

 bottom has not been reached, and the area exposed is so 

 small that it is impossible to say whether man was living 

 in the cave at this time or not. 



The clay immediately above it is considered, both by Mr. 

 Boyd Dawkins and Mr. Tiddeman, to be of glacial origin, 

 and in that case this cave is the only one in Great Britain 

 which has offered clear proof that this gToup of animals 

 was living in the country before the glacial age. It may be 

 that the remains of man may be discovered here, as in the 

 caves of Wookey Hole, Kent's Hole, and Brixham ; but this 

 problem can only be solved by an exploration on a larger 

 scale, which the committee hope to be able to carry on by 

 the aid of further subscriptions, and which the British 

 Association has thought sufficiently important to aid by a 

 grant of £50. The problem which they are attempting to 

 solve, is not merely of local interest, but one which is 

 worthy of the aid of all who care for the advancement of 

 knowledge. 



"The explorations of the Victoria Cave," wiites Mr. 

 Tiddeman, " carry with them more than common interest, 

 from the probability of making out in this district the 



