A YORKSHIRE NATURALIST 165 



three distinct superimposed layers of earth, each one 

 representing a defunct and prolonged period of the 

 history of the cave since its formation. The upper- 

 most layer contained numerous bones of the wild 

 boar, badger, fox, bear, and reindeer evidently 

 animals belonging to one of the later epochs of the 

 world's geological history. The presence of the 

 reindeer suggests a time not much later than the 

 glacial period. Then came a bed, some ten or 

 twelve feet thick, which contains no remains of 

 animal life whatever. The third and lowest layer 

 seems to be the thickest of the series, and in it 

 were bones of the primeval elephant, rhinoceros, 

 hippopotamus, bear, bison, and hyaena. It thus 

 appears most probable that the lowest of these three 

 deposits was formed when the cave was the home of 

 the hyaena, fragments of the other and larger animals 

 being carried in piecemeal, apparently during an 

 epoch preceding that in which Europe was what 

 Greenland now is, covered with a vast ice 

 sheet. In like manner the uppermost layer of 

 rubbish had accumulated when most of the older 

 animals had become extinct in Britain, and the ice 

 sheet had disappeared. The cave was then a den 

 of bears, which animals still survive in Europe, from 

 which the hyaena disappeared long ago. 



After several pleasant visits, we journeyed to 

 Keswick, where my children and one of Sir Henry 

 Mitchell's sons were awaiting us. Here again we 

 made pleasant acquaintances; lodging in the next 



