32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 76 



do not observe closely, Avhose memory plays them tricks, who are not 

 especially interested in the matter under discussion, or whose recol- 

 lections naturally become jumbled after several years have elapsed. 

 •Work was next begun on the east side, at the edge of the drainage 

 trench. Bedrock was reached as before, under 2 feet of muck, 

 and was weathered until quite soft and of a yellowish hue, for 3 or 4 

 inches below its surface. An effort was made to keep on the rock 

 as a floor, removing all the muck; but this was so water soaked, so 

 tenacious, and so filled with chert and limestone gravel that it could 

 not be managed with either pick or shovel. A little of the gravel had 

 no doubt fallen from the roof; but nearly all of this mingled mate- 

 rial had washed down from the interior, as it was entirely similar, 

 except for its dark color, to that forming the floor farther in. Con- 

 sequently it was necessary to limit the explorations to that part of 

 the deposit which lay above the wet black mass. Numerous attempts 

 were made to ascertain the thickness of the latter ; but water, gravel, 

 and slush oozed or slid into the hole as fast as they could be removed, 

 and it was impossible to reach the bottom. The eastward dip of the 

 rock floor, as noted on the western side of the cave, no doubt continues 

 entirely across. If such be the case, then the original drainage line 

 was against the foot of the eastern wall. Later, because the channel 

 was obstructed by talus, the stream was forced moije and more to 

 the west, saturating, up to the level of its final outlet, the earth and 

 ashes which had accumulated. It may be, however, that either this 

 line of drainage, or the mass of talus in front of the cave, is of 

 comparatively recent origin. Such accumulations as those described 

 would be impossible under present conditions. At any rate, this 

 deposit of muck, then dry, started from the floor of the cave with 

 the earliest occupation; for artificial objects of the same character 

 that occurred in the dry deposit above were found in it to a depth 

 of 3 or 4 inches. They may continue to the bedrock, but on account 

 of the standing water no satisfactory observations could be made 

 below the level indicated. 



Lying above the muck and, as intimated, practically continuous 

 Avith it, was an accumulation of ashes with wdiich here and there 

 some earth was mingled, though the latter made only a small pro- 

 portion of the entire mass, and was sometimes entirely lacking from 

 top to bottom. They were principally in strata or irregular layers, 

 lying undisturbed where fires had been made; but there were also 

 many scattered piles, usually small, where they had been thrown to 

 get them out of the way. 



The excavation on the eastern side began with a trench 25 feet 

 wide. When this had been carried about the same distance toward 

 the wall, rocks and earth rolled and washed in from the outside were 

 encountered on the right, the side toward the mouth of the cavern. 



