120 BBIXHAM CAVE. [l859. 



old and affluent family, and, if you wrote to him beforehand, he 

 would feel your visit a compliment and treat it as such. 



I saw no flint specimens in his collection so completely 

 whitened through and through as our flint knives and nothing 

 exactly like the mysterious hatchet which I made up of the two 

 pieces. What I have seen here gives me still greater impulse 

 to persevere in our Brixham exploration. . . . Yours very 

 truly, H. FALCONER. 



The following letter, which is dated London, 4th 

 February 1859, and refers to Brixham Cave, is ad- 

 dressed to Falconer, who was then in Palermo : 



J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. 



MY DEAR FALCONER, . . . Austen is satisfied that the flint 

 instruments occur with the bones. After my last visit I cannot 

 deny it, but still I am not satisfied without seeking every other 

 possible explanation besides that of contemporaneous existence. 

 None of the evidence which has come before me during the last 

 ten years has appeared to me conclusive, and now we have an 

 opportunity of settling the question more satisfactorily, we can- 

 not be too cautious. 



Austen and I spent a day at the cave, and left Bristow 1 there 

 to take a plan and sections. This was in November. From 

 several causes we have not yet reed, these documents, but we 

 are now positively promised them. I understand they were not 

 quite finished. When we have them before us we shall, now we 

 have the money in hand, decide how next to proceed. The works 

 have not been interrupted except for a week at Christmas. For 

 some weeks past but little has been found the greater part of 

 the loam has been removed, and we are down to the gravel. 

 After our visit in November we decided not to purchase the 

 adjoining right of search. It was a gallery traversing the next 

 quarry, and the greater part of [which] was worked away. We 

 have plenty to do in the body of the hill. We left instructions 

 to have all the bones packed up and sent to the Geological 



1 H. W. Bristow, F.R.S., in later years Director of the Geological Survey 

 of England and Wales ; born 1817, died 1889. 



