hrdliCka] skeletal. EEMAINS OF EARLY MAN 161 



sangradores, which exist in the base of the hmestone rock and lead to 

 subterranean canals, by which the lake communicates with the Rio 

 das Velhas, about half a league distant. . . . 



"The highest of the above crevices opens into the cave, but the 

 principal opening by which one reaches the latter is situated farther 

 to the west, in a small wooded area, at an elevation slightly above the 

 highest level of the lake. Descent is possible by two low passages 

 a short distance apart, over large fallen stones, which obstruct the 

 way to the cave. 



"The cavern is spacious and comprises several large chambers and 

 passages communicating with one another. The floor, which is 

 everywhere strewn with large fallen rocks, slopes toward the middle, 

 where there is a pool of water. Over the floor is a thick covering of 

 mellow blackish earth, which dried in the air assumes a lighter grayish 

 color, and contains numerous fresh shells belonging to a species of 

 small fresh water snail living in the lake outside. This carpet of 

 soft earth is a deposit left by the latest inundations. . . . 



"A quantity of recent bones of small animals derived from a more 

 ancient layer were found on and also in this soft earth. The original 

 bed of these bones appears in the upper part of the cave. It consists 

 of clay, different in quality and color, which fills the space between 

 the large blocks of stone and continues deeper down. Toward its 

 lower limit this clay is grayish and partly soft, partly more or less 

 hardened by calcareous particles or by the shells of snails, which are 

 mixed with it in great numbers. In measure at which this layer 

 of clay becomes more distant from the center of the cave and conse- 

 quently from the influence of the inundations, the gray color of the 

 deposit passes insensibly from yellowish to dark brownish red, 

 varied with some dark patches; these disappear farther on, and at 

 last there is only clay of the color of a dark tile, similar to the original 

 deposit which fills the spaces among the stones in the majority of the 

 Minas Geraes caves. The quantity of the snail shells diminishes as 

 the gray clay assumes more and more the red color. 



"Many bones were exhumed from the different masses of this 

 clay; and nearly as large a quantity of them was also found in the 

 bottom deposit of the pool in the center of the cave. . . . 



"This pool was entirely emptied, and many ])recious remains of 

 animals were recovered from the s])ot. The bones found there 

 resembled altogether those contained in the layer of the black earth, 

 with the differences only that the effects of water were here more 

 distinct. They were of a brown, red, or black color on the surface 

 as well as interstitially; the majority of them were petrified and 

 through being continually washed, their surface had a metallic polish. 

 On account of this quality and their metallic sound when struck, 

 21535°— Bull. 52—12 11 



