ON ARCH^OLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MALTA. 



215 



Dr. Woodward to be identified. I may also state that there is yefc no 

 sign of the end of this fissure. 



Herba Fissure No. 3. 



This fissure, which is only a few feet apart (to the N.W.) from the 

 spot where Fissure No. 1 stood, promises to extend much more than 

 any of the other two, so a trench about six or seven feet deep and 

 about four or five feet square has been cut in it. For a couple of feet 

 from the surface the earth is of the usual red type, mingled with stones 

 and large pieces of stalactitic formations. In this layer the remains of 

 stag in a most fragmentary state, and those of the same small tortoise 

 met with in Fissure 1, are found in abundance, and, though the earth 

 here is rather loose, the bones crumble to pieces as soon as touched. 



The remaining four or five feet of earth are also of the red quality, 

 but mingled with a greyish clay which increases as it goes further 

 down, thus giving a hard consistency, which towards the bottom in- 

 creases to such a degree as to make the work rather difficult, and the 



Types of Slanting Fissures. 



animal remains almost impossible to extract. The bones here belong 

 to the swan, stag, and probably a gigantic tortoise; remains of small 

 birds are also met with. 



I have assisted in the digging myself and can state that the bones 

 have been deposited in fragments, and many of them in such a bad 

 state as to render identification quite impossible. In the last two feet 

 of earth stalagmitic formations are also found in abundance, thus 



