242 
With all this evidence suggestive of con- 
tinuous occupation, it is not to be won- 
dered at that some students profess to 
see among the local inhabitants a num- 
ber of individuals that resemble the 
physical type of palzeolithic man. 
A visit to the painted caves is the 
experience of a lifetime; but while it is 
an adventure bound to excite more en- 
thusiasm than the examination of the 
shelters, it is less instructive and cer- 
tainly less convincing. It is also an 
undertaking fraught with some diffi- 
culty and disappointment, except per- 
haps in such cases as Altamira, Niaux 
and Font-de-Gaume. The painted and 
incised representations on the cave walls 
are seldom so plain and striking as one 
might infer from the superb reproduc- 
tions in the published reports, and to 
make them out the visitor must take 
time. In this effort to decipher, he is 
most ably assisted by Professor Emile 
Cartailhae of Toulouse, who has given 
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
a good part of his life to the study of 
paleolithic art and who at present 
guards nearly all the Pyrenean caverns. 
In Spain and in the Dordogne country, 
however, local guides must be taken and 
as these are not always competent, the 
student who would profit by his oppor- 
tunity must prepare himself beforehand 
in regard to what is to be seen and then 
insist on being shown, or he may not 
see much. 
The last cave to be discovered and also 
the most beautiful is the Tue d’Audou- 
bert, located on the estate of Count 
Begouen near Saint-Girons, France. 
This is perhaps the most difficult cavern 
to explore. But to risk passage in the 
improvised boat that the visitor must 
sail in order to reach the intericr, and to 
crawl on his stomach along muddy pas- 
sages that are really too small for a full- 
grown man, and finally to receive in- 
numerable bumps on his head from 
pending stalactites is not too much to 
Valley of the Rio Pas at Puente Viesgo, Spain. 
nent peak on the left is the cave of La Pasiega and a little lower down on the side facing the river (within 
view) is the famous Castillo cave and Grotto where man lived periodically almost from the earliest 
stone age down close to historic times 
Over half way up the farther side of the promi- 
