DEEPDALE CAVE. 73 



them — loose stones, one foot of stalagmite, four to six feet of 

 clay, sand, and stones, minor layers of stones and stalagmites, 

 and finally the blackish soil with human antiquities. The story 

 these tell is not difficult to make out. The stalagmite is probably 

 a continuation, in respect to time, of the fallen sheet below ; 

 that is, both were deposited in the same period of closure 

 against the outside world, and except for the accident just 

 described, would now form one sheet. If this be so, the 

 stalagmite sheet of the first chamber is the equivalent of the 

 two. The thick beds of clay, sand, and stones, point to the 

 access of water down the fissure above during heavy rains. The 

 accumulations thus derived became smaller and less frequent, 

 perhaps owing to a lower rainfall. The intervals were now 

 sufficiently long to allow of the formation of thin stalagmites. 

 The last phase of all was the present accessibility of the cave 

 which admitted of the introduction of vegetable mould on 

 animals' feet, or in the form of dust by the wind ; of autumnal 

 leaves, also blown in by the wind ; and of man's implements, and 

 the charcoal of his fires — the whole making up the dark 

 carbonaceous surface soil. 



This introduces the connection of man with this Deepdale 

 cave. I will, however, preface my attempt to interpret the facts 

 of the excavations, by some account of the discovery of its 

 archaeological remains, and of the old-time stories connected 

 with it. To Mr. Millett belongs the credit of being the first to 

 bring the former to notice. A letter from him upon his 

 early visits to the cave, and how he came to find out the 

 ancient remains, is so very interesting, that I will quote a portion 

 of it verbatim. " I became acquainted," he writes, " with the 

 dale as a boy, nine years ago (1884). I used to spend hours 

 and hours rambling among the rocks in search of jackdaws' eggs, 

 in company with my school-fellows. We used to gather large 

 quantities of dried grass, and carry it into the cave, set fire to it, 

 and then see who dare venture through the smoke farthest. 

 The cave has always been an attraction to boys. I am told by 

 the oldest Buxton inhabitants that they used to visit it sixty 



