194 Miss Dorothea M. A. Bate— 



the inhabitants of these several parts of the island. The limestone 

 formation reappears as a somewhat broken fringe along the coast- 

 line round almost the entire island. In early days these limestone 

 mountains and hills existed as a group of islands set in a Neogene 

 sea, represented nowadays by the low and cultivated areas.' 



Western Crete. 



Khania being xny headquarters, excursions were made to various 

 places in the near vicinity, including Akrotiri, a peninsula of con- 

 siderable size edged with limestone cliffs, which at its north-eastern 

 extremity attain to a considei-able height. This is more especially the 

 case between Cape Tripiti and the village of Khoridaki, above which 

 rises a hill of 1,745 feet ; the cliffs descend almost perpendicularly 

 to the sea, and in a few places are piex'ced by narrow, winding 

 gorges. A good deal of this tract of country was examined at 

 different times, and the results will be noticed here. 



The first deposit found is believed to be the one mentioned by 

 Admiral Spratt^ between Khania and Suda. It lies close to the 

 pathway between these two places, and at the edge of the limestone 

 forming the base of the Akrotiri at the point where it joins the 

 fertile plain of Khania, by which it is separated from the outlying 

 spurs of the Aspro Vouno. The limestone is very much weathered, 

 and only in one spot is there any roof above the fragmentary 

 mammalian remains still to be seen. These occur here and there 

 for a distance of about 40 yards, and appeared to consist chiefly of 

 bones of a ruminant. Besides this some fragments of breccia were 

 obtained which contained bones and teeth of some small rodents and 

 of a shrew. 



Kaulin,^ quoting from Pococke, describes the ruined village of 

 Saint George, in the Akrotiri, in which there was a church built in 

 a double-chambered cave said to contain peti"ified bones " plus gros 

 qu'a I'ordinaire," this traveller himself seeing some in the softer 

 parts of the rock in the outer chamber. It was a long time before 

 this deserted village was found, it being now almost forgotten by 

 the peasants of the district. I was eventually guided to it by a man 

 from Khoraphakia, to whom it was known as Galagatho. It lies 

 concealed among the hills at the back of the ridge rising above 

 Cape Tripiti, and is reached by an extremely rough path, which 

 most of the way is also the rocky bed of a mountain torrent. The 

 ruins of the chapel are still to be seen ; though of the inner cave of 

 which Pococke speaks, but did not visit, no trace was observed. 

 The floor of the single chamber is littei-ed with dirt and rubbish 

 owing to its being occasionally inhabited during the winter by 

 shepherds and their flocks. In spite of this a few scattered frag- 

 ments of teeth and horns of ruminants could be seen adhering to the 

 base of the walls of the cave. 



^ See Spratt, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 58-59. 



2 Op. cit., vol. ii, p. 195. 



3 " Descrip. Physique de I'lle de Crete," p. 373 ; Paris, 1869. 



