TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 141 
nexion with what we knew of the previous history of man, there was nothing in 
the extinction of races to justify us in regarding it as a type of anything to fol- 
low at some future period. The man who now wanders free through the unknown 
wilds of Australia had not only not advanced in moral development since the 
formation of his species, but he had actually retrograded. We must, therefore, 
regard this extinction of races rather as an illustration of humanity in its crudest 
— shrinking and passing away before a race endowed with superior intel- 
igence, 
On the recent Discovery of Lacustrine Human Habitations in Wigtonshire. 
By Lord Loyatye. 
Dowalton Loch, in which the structures about to be described were discovered, 
is a sheet of water of very irregular form, about two miles long and half a mile 
broad, situated in Wigtonshire, on the west coast of Scotland, at the end of a 
narrow yalley five miles in extent, the whole of which is occupied by a moss, part 
of whose waters flow into the loch, and the remainder into the sea near Monreith ; 
the elevation of the watershed near the middle of the valley being almost imper- 
ceptible. Sir William Maxwell, of Monreith, has effected the drainage of this loch 
at his own heavy expense, to the great benefit of his neighbours as well as himself, 
by a cutting at its southern extremity of no less than 25 feet deep, for a considerable 
distance through the wall of whinstone and slate that closes the valley. The 
water haying been partially drawn off, the bed of the loch exhibits the appearance 
of an immense sheet of mud, surrounded by beaches of different elevations, covered 
with large rolled stones and angular blocks of slate. It contains a few small islets, 
composed, apparently, of the same materials as the beaches. Sir W. Maxwell, 
haying heard that a bronze vessel had been found in the mud near the southern 
shore, succeeded in obtaining it, but could not trace other articles of the same 
description reported to have been found near it. On visiting the spot, 19th of 
August, 1863, to obtain further information, I observed some timbers standing on 
an island near the centre of the loch, and was told that some one had been there in 
a boat when it first appeared above water, and had found bones, a small granite 
quern, and piles; and a spot was pointed out to me at the extremity of one of the 
little promontories, where similar piles were observable, which, on inspection, I 
found to be true. These piles varied from a foot to eighteen inches in circumference. 
Sir W. Maxwell’s bailiff, Mr. Chalmers, who displayed great zeal and intelligence 
throughout these researches, having proceeded to the spot to secure labourers for 
the next day’s search, reported that, though it was not possible to reach the larger 
island, a smaller one was accessible, and that a canoe lay near it. Onreaching the 
island, over about 40 yards of mud, I found it nearly circular, about 38 yards in 
circumference and 13 in diameter. It was elevated about 54 feet above the mud, 
and on each side of it were two patches of stone, nearly touching it. On the north 
side of it lay a canoe of oak, between the two patches, and surrounded by piles, the 
heads just appearing above the surface of the mud; it was 24 feet long, 4 feet 
2 inches broad in the middle, and 7 inches deep, the thickness of the bottom being 
2 inches. On removing the stones which covered the surface, several teeth, appa- 
rently of swine and oxen, were found; and I proceeded to cut a trench round the 
islet; and upon coming to the southern end, a small quantity of ashes were turned 
up, in which were teeth and burnt bones, a piece of a fine earthenware armlet of a 
yellow colour, and a large broken earthenware bead, striped blue and white, together 
with a small metal ornament, nites. gilt; two other pieces of an armlet of the 
same material, one striped with blue and white, were also found on the surface. On 
cutting deeper into the structure (the foregoing objects having been found on the 
outside about 2 feet from the top), it proved to be wholly artificial, resting on the 
soft bottom of the loch; the uppermost layer was a mass of brushwood about 2 feet 
thick; beneath it large branches and stems of small trees, mostly hazel and birch, 
mingled with large stones, evidently added to compress the mass; below that 
were layers of heather and brushwood, intermingled with stones and soil, the whole 
resting upon a bed of fern about 1 foot thick, which appeared in all the structures 
examined to form the foundation. The whole mass was pinned together by piles 
