194 REPORT — 1869. 



nearly symmetrical semiellipsoid, the principal diameters of wliich are 4-7 

 inches, 1-3 inch, and -6 inch. There were found -mth. it several teeth of 

 hyjena, bear, and fox, and a small quartz crystal. 



The Care-earth in which these specimens were found was completely sealed 

 lip with the ordinary overlying floor of stalagmite, which, though never 

 quite a foot thick, was at its upper surface almost everywhere in contact 

 Avith the limestone ceiling of the Chamber, and was nowhere separated from 

 it by an interspace of more than 3 or 4 inches. 



The same sections, continued across the Chamber towards its southern 

 wall, successively and uniformly showed that, beyond the patch just men- 

 tioned, they contained no Cave-earth, but were made up of one undivided 

 huge accumulation of Stalagmite, every accessible part of which apparently 

 belonged to the Old crystalline Floor, and rested on the Rock-like Breccia. 

 The two, conjoined, not only filled the Chamber, but there was nothing to 

 show that the Stalagmite did not extend upwards to the external surface of 

 the hill. There was no trace of limestone visible ; and the workmen had to 

 hew their way through two kinds of material, each more intractable than 

 any ordinary rock, and manfully they addressed themselves to their pro- 

 tracted toil, feeling some gratification in the fact that every inch they ad- 

 vanced was so much added to what had been previously supposed the entire 

 extent of the Cavern. 



"With some reluctance, it was decided to abandon the practice of breaking 

 up the entire mass of Stalagmite. The men were directed to remove the 

 lower or basal portion of it only, to excavate the imderlying Breccia to the 

 depth of five feet instead of four, which from the beginning to this time 

 had been the invariable practice, to leave the upper and greater part of the 

 Stalagmite intact overhead, and to cut a tunnel beneath it, laying bare 

 the limestone wall of the Cavern on each side. 



The Stalagmite, as well as much of the Breccia, could only be removed 

 with tlie aid of gunpowder ; and considerable care and judgment were 

 required in order that the remains of bear wMch both contained, and with 

 which the latter was crowded, should be injured as little as possible. 



The Committee have remarked in previous Reports that, on account of its 

 comparatively loose texture, stalagmite is blasted with great difficulty. AU, 

 however, that the workmen had previously experienced in this way was in- 

 considerable in comparison -ndth what they have encountered during the 

 last twelve months. In addition to the usual diflUcultics, there were others 

 arising from the existence of cavities in the mass, one of which had a ca- 

 pacity of upwards of a cubic yard, into Avhich the boring tool would tmex- 

 pectedly plunge to inform the men that their labour had been in vain. Not 

 unfrequently a hole which had been bored with great labour, and appeared 

 to be quite satisfactory, would prove to be incapable of being fired on ac- 

 count of its rapidly filling with water, which oozed through the Stalagmite 

 as through a sponge. 



The Crypt of Dates. — The Western Division of the Cavern, no part of which 

 has yet been explored by the Committee, bifurcates towards its south- 

 western extremit}', and, so far as is at present known, terminates in two ca- 

 pacious chambers, termed the " Cave of Inscriptions " and the " Bears' 

 Den." From the north-east comer of the latter, there extends a narrow 

 gallery between almost vertical limestone walls. The greater part of it was, 

 from time immemorial, occupied by a pool or " Lake '' of water about 20 

 feet long, 8 feet broad, and of unknown depth. It was commonly regarded 

 as the end of the Cavern, and was separatee! from the Bears' Den by a consi- 



