CHAP, vi.] EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF MAN. 137 



some superstitious motive. This form, the simplest for 

 cutting purposes, is also the earliest trace of man in this 

 country, as it is the latest survival from the Palaeolithic 

 age. From its distribution almost over the whole earth, 

 wherever the ancient remains of man have been explored 

 in Europe, Africa, India, Japan, and the Americas it 

 might have been inferred to be one of the oldest imple- 

 ments invented by mankind. Its discovery in two 

 separate spots establishes the fact that man was living 

 in the valley of the lower Thames before the arctic 

 mammalia had taken full possession of the valley of the 

 Thames, and before the big-nosed rhinoceros had become 

 extinct. In no other locality have the traces of man 

 been discovered, up to this time, in association with the 

 remains of this animal. . 



The primeval hunter, who followed the chase in the 

 lower valley of the Thames, armed with his rude imple- 

 ments of flint, must have found abundance of food and 

 have had great difficulty in guarding himself against the 

 wild animals. Innumerable horses, large herds of stags, 

 uri, and bison, were to be seen in the open country ; 

 while the Irish elk and- the roe were comparatively rare. 

 Three kinds of rhinoceros and two kinds of elephant 

 lived in the forests. The hippopotamus haunted the 

 banks of the Thames, as well as the beaver, the water- 

 rat, and the otter. There were wolves, also, and foxes, 

 brown bears and grisly bears, wild cats and lions of 

 enormous size. Wild boars lived in the thickets : and 

 as the night came on, the hyaenas assembled in packs to 

 hunt down the young, the wounded, and the infirm. 





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