MALTESE CAVES. 263 



and bones of the Elephant in the corner east of the pillar of stalactite in 

 " Mnaidra Cave," as to lead to a belief that they had crawled in and had 

 been enveloped during the gradual filling up of the caves. 



15. From the evidences here adduced and other proofs too lengthy in 

 detail for this Report, it would appear that the lowermost deposits and organic 

 remains of the Malak Cave were not deposited at exactly the same time 

 with those of the other two in the vicinity. Its clayey bottom and conglo- 

 merate, formed solely of water-worn portions of the parent rock, seemed 

 to indicate that the cave had at one time opened on the side of a river or lake, 

 which occasionally washed its floor, whereas the lower deposits of both the 

 Middle and Mnaidra caves show clearly that they were gradually filled by red 

 earth and dripping from the roofs and sides, until some change in the phy- 

 sical condition of the surrounding area caused the roof of the Mnaidra Cave 

 to be in great part removed, when bodies of water either swept the organic 

 remains into the cave, and beyond it into the breccias and deposits, forming 

 below on the sinking portion, or else disturbed and rearranged whatever 

 remains may have been lying on the floor of the cave on the western side of 

 the pillar of stalactite, leaving the remains on the east side unaffected. This, 

 however, will become more evident when the fossiliferous deposit has 

 been worked out, which I am of opinion ought to be done, not only with 

 the view of ascertaining that point, but in hopes of finding new forms, and 

 especially remains of the carnivorous quadrupeds which undoubtedly roamed 

 over the area at the same period with the River-horse and Elephant, as the 

 bones found by Captain Spratt and others in the cave of Zebbug clearly 

 show. Every relic, of course, with reference to this point must be in- 

 teresting ; I therefore take the liberty of forwarding the lower jaw, femur, 

 and tibia, appearing to belong to the " Common Weasel " (Mustela vulgaris), 

 removed by me from a mass of clay that had been excavated from the deposit 

 on the floor of the Zebbug Cave, where abundant remains of Elephas meli- 

 tensis, &c, were discovered by Captain Spratt in 1859. It is the same 

 locality described by that gentleman and the late Dr. Falconer at the Cam- 

 bridge Meeting of the British Association in 1862. 



16. Taking into consideration all the facts and probabilities furnished by 

 careful examination of the Maltese caves, fissures and alluvial deposits, and 

 the physical aspects of the various localities, I think there can be little doubt 

 that at a late geological epoch in the history of the Maltese islands large 

 bodies of water flowed over, at least, the greater part of the island of Malta, 

 washing whatever soil or organic remains then happened to be lying on the 

 surface into gaps, hollows, and depressions. No sea-shells have hitherto been 

 met with in the soils and superficial deposits to indicate that the islands had 

 been submerged and reelevated ; on the contrary, from all appearances the 

 last movement to which these islands were subject was a downward one. 

 Unless, therefore, we suppose the giving way of lake barriers, divergence of 

 rivers or streams, or the agencies of violent floods and freshets during 

 changes consequent on oscillations of level, I see no other way of accounting 

 for the phenomena represented by the above deposits and the fossil remains. 

 In fact, I opine much the same conditions existed in Malta during the 

 period of the fossiliferous deposits in Mnaidra Cave and others as obtained 

 at Gibraltar when the " Genista " Cave was receiving its Pachydermata and 

 other quadrupeds. 



