44 REPOKT — 1872, 



artificial origin, but to have been used by man * ; and they ventured on the 

 opinion that, from its being coeval with the Breccia (which must have been 

 laid down long before the deposit in which, so far as the Cavern evidence 

 goes, the first traces of the Cave-hyaena, Cave-lion, mammoth, and their con- 

 temporaries were met with), it was anthropologically by far the most impor- 

 tant object the Cavern had yielded. From that time the Committee have had 

 no opportunity of investigating this old Breccia, and hence no announcement of 

 further discoveries of the kind were looked for in their Sixth or Seventh Reports 

 (1870 and 1871). They are now, however, enabled to return to the subject, 

 and to state that the Breccia has yielded two additional flint implements. 



The first of these (No. 5900) was found May 22, 1872, in the southern 

 branch, from 1 to 2 feet deep in the Breccia, in which it was firmly im- 

 bedded ; and over this was an accumulation of typical Cave-earth, having no 

 Stalagmitic Floor either above or below it. There were no bones found near 

 the implement ; but vertically above it, in the Cave-earth, were the small 

 flake of white flint and the 2 teeth of hycena just mentioned. It is rude in 

 form, rather over 5 inches in greatest length, scarcely 3 inches wide, and 

 about 1-5 inch in greatest thickness. It exhibits a small portion of the sur- 

 face of the nodule from which it was made, is of a dull cream colour, and its 

 weight is less than that of ordinary flints of the same size ; in these respects 

 resembling some of the tools found in the Windmill-Hill Cavern at Brixham. 



All the dimensions of the second implement (No. 5903) slightly exceed 

 those of that just described. Its colour is a pinkish cream ; one of its surfaces 

 is nearly flat, whilst the other is very convex, and retains much of the sur- 

 face of the original nodule. One of the Superintendents, who assisted to 

 extract it, had the opportunity of studying it before any attempt was made 

 to move it. The Breccia was compactly cemented together, and the imple- 

 ment was firmly imbedded in it, at 1 foot below its surface, above which was 

 Cave-earth to the depth of 27 inches, and, without being covered with sta- 

 lagmite, reaching within 3 inches of the roof; in other words, the united 

 thickness of the two deposits overlying the tool was 39 inches. It was di- 

 stinctly observed to be fractured ; and as the severed portions were in such 

 close contact as to render the line of junction almost microscopic, it had obvi- 

 ously been broken where it lay. Every care was taken in its removal ; but on 

 being extracted it fell into three pieces, one of which remained firmly attached 

 to and incorporated in a lump of the Breccia. The fractured surfaces showed 

 that its colour was whitish throughout, and that its texture was granular. It 

 was found May 27, 1872, in the southern branch of the Cave, about 2 feet from 

 the specimen just described (No. 5900), and, like that, had no bones near it. 



The excavation of the Charcoal Cave and its branches was completed July 7, 

 1872, the labour of 4-5 months having been expended on it. 



The Long Arcade. — The principal passage opening out of the south-west 

 corner of the Sloping Chamber, as already mentioned, was termed the Long 

 Arcade by Mr. MacEnery f, and the " Hysena Cloaca Maxima " by Dr. Buck- 

 land t. It has a direction towards south-west, and is the great thoroughfare 

 to the " Labyrinth," " Bear's Den," and " Cave of Inscriptions." Its explora- 

 tion is at present in progress. Up to the end of July about ten weeks' work 

 had been expended on it ; but a very large amount remains to be done there. 

 Mr. MacEnery had commenced the exploration of the Arcade, but meeting 

 with fewer fossils than he hoped, soon abandoned it §. 



* See Eeport Brit. Assoc. 1869, pp. 202, 203. 



t See Trans. Devon. Assoc, vol.lii. p. 303 (1869). | Ibid. p. 237. § Ibid. p. 290. 



