216 report— 1877. 



there was therefore a chance of our again hitting the hyaena-hed at this 

 spot. 



We hegan by cutting a level 6 feet wide and 9 feet high (i. e. up to the 

 rocky roof) ; but we very soon had to widen this at the top, for the materials 

 were of so slippery a naturo that they would not stand in a vertical face for 

 long together. The section, however, was carefully measured and drawn to 

 scale as the work proceeded ; so that no errors coidd arise from slips. The 

 black laminated clay which lies beneath the hysena-bed, and to which wo 

 referred in our last Report, was seen to rise towards the roof ; and beneath it 

 was a bed of stalagmite about 1 foot thick. This also rose for a distance of 

 16 feet, then fell, and rose again when nearing chamber B, except at the end, 

 where it again had a slight dip north. In a kind of basin lying on this sta- 

 lagmite in the middle part of the cut lay three beds, each about half a foot 

 thick, consisting in ascending order of yellow sandy clay, stalagmite, and a 

 darker clay. All these beds were destitute of animal remains. The same 

 may be said of a lower great mass of dark clay lying below the thick stalag- 

 mite, from 4 to 6 feet in thickness, which was similar to that above the same 

 stalagmite at the south end of the cut. It ran along the whole section, and, 

 indeed, in a mass of broken and confused stalagmite and clay at the end of 

 chamber B. 



The entire absence of remains from theso beds, at so short a distance from 

 others which present a throng of animal life, would almost lead us to specu- 

 late upon the absence of any fauna from the district when they were being 

 formed. Or perhaps we might be led to suppose that the wet slippery mud 

 of which they arc chiefly composed was not of a nature to tempt beasts of 

 prey into these recesses to dovour their quarry. But in this we must be 

 cautious. Chamber D, when first explored, was (though not ankle-deep 

 certainly, for wo eoidd not stand up in it) at least fist-deep in soft mud. 

 Yet in this clay, and in many parts quite at the surface of it, we came upon 

 the richest assemblage of remains that we have found in the entire cavern. 

 We must therefore beware how wc gauge a hyaena's or bear's ideas of 

 comfort by our own. 



After this long interval of lifeless beds it was with no little satisfaction 

 that, at the base of the thick clay already referred to, we came upon evidence, 

 scanty but yet sufficient, of an earlier occupation of the district. Two teeth 

 of a small wolf, a canine and molar (^ and -|j, were discovered resting on 

 the surface of a yellow sandy clay. They were 7 feet from the commence- 

 ment of the north cut, and 6| feet below the rocky roof. Unfortunately 

 these are the only indications of life yet found relating to this time, which, 

 judging by the thickness of barren beds between, was long prior to the age 

 of the abundant life-assemblage of the hyaena-bed. Of one thing we may 

 feel quite sure, that the presence of this carnivore implies the coexistence of 

 other animals on which it could feed ; and though at present we know not 

 what they were, we may hope that further exploration will give us fuller 

 information. 



On the 10th of February, 1877, we succeeded in effecting, at the further 

 end of the North Cut, an entrance into the further end of chamber B. Our 

 cutting, however, though it kept to the limestone rock as a roof all the 

 way, was found to be two feet below the bottom of the old shaft at the end 

 of that chamber. Wc calculated that the cut would be about forty feet in 

 length, and we found it forty-one and a half. 



When we were obliged to leave off work wc were clearing away the deposits 



i 



