The Ear Dalam Cavern, Malta, and its Contents. 275 



boulders and water- worn debris in the gorge, and by the groovings 

 and flutings on the rocks along its steep sides. 



The cavern is situated 500 yds. from the shore on the north side 

 of the gorge, and consists of a main gallery 400 ft. in length, when it 

 ramifies in various directions, forming smaller tunnels and chambers, 

 which follow the jointings and the bedding planes of the rock. One 

 branch fissure is 250 ft. in length, 15 ft. high, and just wide enough 

 for a man to pass along it, widening out at intervals into dome- 

 shaped rock chambers. Two of the other galleries are of considerable 

 length, but most do not exceed 20 ft. in length. One was traced for 

 35 ft., and ended in a fissure ; another, having a N.E. course for about 

 100 ft., ended in a rounded extremity. They were filled to within 

 1 ft. 6 in. or 2 ft. of the roof with a reddish plastic clay, kept moist 

 by percolation from the roof. The sides of all the galleries are in 

 places encrusted with a stalactitic lining, generally obscured by a 

 coating of clay. 



The mouth of the main gallery is 26 ft. wide and 10 ft. high, and 

 has been used during late years as a cattle shelter, the entrance being 

 walled up and provided with a doorway. It widens inwards into a 

 spacious chamber 60 ft. wide and 17 ft. high, having a branch to the 

 right hand extending for 10 ft., but filled to the roof with boulders. 

 The total length of the cave, including the terminal fissure, is 700 ft. 

 The roof and sides are irregularly and smoothly arched, but the 

 height and width vary considerably, as shown by section and plan. 



The stalactites which largely covered the roof have been mostly 

 broken off by later torrential action, but the larger ones, 3 to 6 ft. in 

 circumference, still remain in situ. Raised bosses of stalagmite on 

 the floor correspond with the stalactites above. These stalagmitic 

 bosses were observed at three different levels, each being covered by 

 fresh alluvial deposits, indicating the intermittent character of the 

 floods that invaded the cavern and the long periods that elapsed 

 between them. 



The present floor of the main gallery is fairly even. After enter- 

 ing there is a rapid descent, followed by a gentle rise to the extreme 

 end of the gallery. The deposits met with vary considerably in 

 different parts of the cave. At the furthest extremity they are mainly 

 composed of red loam; in the middle, of large boulders and broken 

 stalactites and old pottery enclosed in clay ; towards the entrance, of 

 a grey indurated marl, with abundant remains of land shells, roots of 

 plants, bones of Deer, and boulders. The cave is everywhere strewn 

 with enormous quantities of water-worn boulders similar to those 

 met with so abundantly in the valleys and gorges of the islands. 



Excavations show that the sides of the cave slope inwards, and 

 form a trough-like rift of very irregular outline and much broken and 

 fissured. 



