ON RAINS CAVE, LONGCLIFFE, DERBYSHIRE. 241 



After sinking about 7 ft., we reached the orifice of another cave 

 (K, on the Section-, E, on the Plan), filled almost up to its roof 

 with stones, many of which were cemented together with stalag- 

 mite. It is quite likely that this is part of the same cavity as the 

 N.E. cave, each being simply a lofty part of its roof. No attempt 

 was made to excavate it. The " finds " consisted of loose bones, 

 human and animal, among which was a very perfect badger's 

 skull with lower jaws attached. Most of these bones, and cer- 

 tainly all the larger ones, had slipped down from the front cave. 

 Here and there were patches of fine earth, so highly charged with 

 bones of small animals, that after separating the earthy matters of 

 a sample, the residue (consisting almost entirely of these bones) 

 formed quite two-thirds of the original volume. We failed to pass 

 through the breccia. We dug down to some large blocks which 

 would have necessitated powder and sledge-hammer, and the 

 removal of much of the surrounding soil ; and the favourable turn 

 in the weather withdrew my helpers to their agricultural pursuits. 

 The debris of this last stage of the excavation was for convenience 

 stacked in the right half of the cave, thereby spoiling considerably 

 the open appearance of the interior. But so altered and roomy is 

 it still, that those esteemed members who knew it of old would 

 fail to recognise it as the dark creep-hole they struggled into and 

 groped about three and a half years ago. 



How came these beds ? From an early stage of the work, the 

 conviction grew that they were essentially a talus of rubbish slipped 

 down from time to time from above the entrance. Their down- 

 ward slope, coupled with many minor circumstances, particularly 

 of the top bed, amply proved this. Indeed, a glance at the Section 

 almost tells the story without words. Look at the entrance I 

 Large blocks of rock have fallen from above. Another huge mass 

 is about to fall. Wind, rain, and frost, have weakened the thin 

 shaly seam in the limestone at its base, and the block has tilted 

 forward, leaving a chasm behind. Let the weather continue its 

 disintegrating work ; let more stones wedge themselves in the 

 chasm, and the huge mass will fall, and with it a shower of stones 



and soil, perhaps to block the entrance for hundreds, or even 

 16 



