8 REPORT 1875. 



were no traces of the presence of their predecessors ; that the Granular, or less 

 ancient, Stalagmitic Floor was everywhere intact and continuous, and the Crys- 

 tal line, or more ancient, Stalagmite lay beneath it ; that the latter had been 

 broken by some natural agency, and though in some cases the severed portions 

 remained in situ, in others they had been removed and Tvere not alwaj^s 

 traceable ; and that adjacent to the left wall of the Cave a wedge-hke layer of 

 Cave-earth lay in its proper place between the Stalagmites, and was 6 inches 

 thick at the wall, but thinned out at about a yard from it, beyond which the 

 one Floor lay immediately on the other. This continued to be the case to a 

 large extent for the next 18 feet (that is, up to 34 feet from the entrance), the 

 only exception being that the broken blocks of Crystalline Stalagmite were 

 never dislodged beyond being occasionally " faulted " to the extent of 2 or 

 3 inches. At and beyond 34 feet from the entrance, traces of the earlier 

 explorers were again met with in almost every part of the Cave, but 

 were found to be limited to the breaking up of the Stalagmites and of the 

 subjacent deposit to the depth of 12 inches at most. A thin layer of typical 

 Cave-earth extended throughout the entire Chamber; and it was obvious that 

 at the time when its deposition commenced the Crystalline Stalagmite did 

 not exist as a continuous sheet, for in considerable spaces the Cave-earth 

 lay immediately on the Breccia without any Stalagmite between them. 

 Though it was not always easy in these cases to determine the exact junction 

 of the two deposits, there was no doubt that the upper surface of the Breccia 

 was very uneven when the Cave-earth began to be lodged on it. On the 

 discovery of objects of interest at or near this doubtful junction, care was 

 taken to record them as belonging to the " Cave-earth and Breccia," even 

 though, from their own characters, it was usually easy to refer them to their 

 proper deposits and eras respectively. Large blocks of limestone, some of 

 them requiring to be blasted, were numerous in this Cave, both in the Stalag- 

 mites and below them. 



On its excavation being completed, the Cave of Inscriptions was found to 

 extend upwards of 60 feet from north-east to south-west, 45 feet from south- 

 east to north-west, and to be upwards of 20 feet high. In the right Avail, 

 immediately before reaching the Hedges Boss, there is a recess to which the 

 name of " The Alcove " has been given : another, in the north-western corner, 

 probably leads to an external entrance to the Cavern : in the south-west 

 corner is the mouth of tie long tunnel known as the "Great Oven;" and 

 adjacent to it is a Gully about 3 feet wide at the entrance, and extending 

 to an unknown distance but too narrow for exploration beyond a length of 

 7 feet. 



Two " finds " only were met with in the Granular Stalagmitic Floor : one 

 (No. 6491) consisted of a few 'bones, including a portion of a large humcras ; 

 the other (No. 6495) was a very small bone, probably of Bat, with bits of 

 charcoal and of coprolitc, all lodged in the same hand specimen of Stalagmite, 

 and found 3rd December, 1875. 



The Cave-earth yielded 4 teeth of Hyasna, a few gnawed bones, coprolitcs 

 on several occasions, and 1 flint flake (No. 6520). 



At and near the junction of the Cave-earth and Breccia, where they were 

 not separated by Stalagmite, 2 right lower jaws and 4 loose teeth of IIya?n;i, 

 38 teeth of Bear, part of a jaw of Fox, 1 incisor tooth of a small rodent, 

 numerous bones and fragments of bone, a somewhat large number of copro- 

 htes, and 1 flint flake were met with. At least, most of the ursine remnius 

 may be safely referred to the Breccia, whilst all those of the Hj^ajna un- 

 doubtedly belong to the Cave-earth. One of the Hyoena-jaws just mentioned 



