TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E, 625 



Special Wonders and curiosities, as shown by tlie names given : ' The Chamber of 

 Mysteries,' ' The Cascades,' ' The Shawls,' ' The Jewel Casket,' &c. 



WaUcliffe Cave. — Situated close to the mouth of the Margaret River, is the 

 oldest known of the caves, noted for the figures called ' The Poultry and Fruit 

 Show.' 



The Blackboy Holloiv Cave.-^OiAy partly explored, contains ' The Queen's 

 Crown,' * The Organ Pipes,' and the ' Mammoth ' stalagmite. 



Witchcliffe Cave. — One of the smallest of the group. 



Calgardup Cave. — A descent of 100 feet leads into a series of chambers of in- 

 describable beauty. The wonders are : 'The Suspended Dome,' 'The Crystal Terrace,' 

 ' The Weeping Rock,' and the marvellous ' Meteoric Shower,' consisting of thou- 

 sands of slender stalactites of varying length, each capped with a star^shaped 

 terminal. 



The Mammoth Cave. — So called on account of its majestic proportions and its 

 colossal formations. Noted for ' The Eagle's Wings,' ' The Organ Pipes,' and ' The 

 Mammoth Shawl.' 



The Lake Cave. — The only one explored of some nineteen caves known to exist 

 within a radius of two miles. The entrance is through a circular hollow 300 feet 

 deep. The cavern contains one of Nature's greatest masterpieces — ' The Suspended 

 Table.' 



Yanchep Caves. — These recently discovered caves were partially explored by 

 Mr. C. P. Conigrave in February 1903. Some thirty caves are at present known, 

 many possessing chambers remarkable for their beauty and grandeur. The whole 

 country round is honeycombed with caverns, and the Government is about to 

 undertake asystematic survey of the district, when doubtless new wonders will be 

 revealed. 



6. Interim Report on Rainfall and Lake and River Discharge. 

 See Reports, p. 330. 



7. Past and Present in Asiatic Turkey. 

 By Professor W. M. Ramsay, D.C.L., LL.D., Litt.D. 



I. The geographical situation of Asia Minor is noteworthy as bridging the sea 

 between Asia and Europe, and its importance in world-history arises out of this 

 situation. 



II. The conquest by the Turks, (1) Seljuk and (2) Osmanli, meant the reduction 

 of great part of the country from the settled and civilised state to a semi-nomadic 

 stage of society. 



III. A distinction is to be noted between the nomads, or Turkmen, and the city 

 Turks (now called Osmanli). This distinction is as old as the first Tui'kish 

 invasion. The nomads were the real conquerors of the country, and they were 

 practically independent and hardly part of the Turkish State until comparatively 

 recent times. They spread like a flood over the land and submerged it. 



IV. In the cities the industries of the Roman Empire survived. Most of these 

 industries gradually and slowly died out, drowned by the flood of nomadic bar- 

 barism. Some of them survive to the present day. Some lasted till within the 

 memory of men still living. Some died long ago. The chief cause of their 

 destruction was the difficulty of communication over the country. While the 

 cities at first retained their old standard of civilisation, they were divided from 

 each other by the sea of barbarism and nomadism. In earlier Turkish time trade 

 passed with difficulty from city to city by aid of the large and splendid khans, 

 •which the Seljuk Sultans built at intervals along the chief roads. These khans, 

 though often very beautiful as buildings, were not a proof of civilisation, but of 

 the submergence of civilisation. Tbey were fortresses, in which caravans might 

 rest safe from the nomads at night : tiny islets in the sea of nomadism. 



V. The land to a great extent passed out of cultivation ; irrigation was 

 destroyed in most places; land became stony, destruction of terracing, <Src. 



1906. s s 



