Dorothy Bate— A Bone Cave on the River W>/r. 101 



in reading the manuscript of this paper, and for many valuable 



suggestions. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VI. 



Fig. 1 .—Photograph taken from the glacial deposits at the lower end of Lake Louise, 

 and looking towards Lakes Agnes and Mirror. The cirque at the head of the 

 former is well seen. The rounded promontory in front of the cirque is the 

 "Beehive." To the right of this lies Mirror Lake, its position concealed bv 

 the upper part of the belt of forest. The point x is the same in both figures. 



Fig. 2. — Minor Lake. The waterfall of discharge from Lake Agnes is the whiti; 

 speck amongst the trees below the mark x . 



II. — A SHORT Account of a Bone Cave in the Carboniferous 

 Limestone of the Wye Valley. 



By Dorothy M. A. Bate. 



rPHE bones of Pleistocene mammals and birds, a list of some of 

 X which is given below, were found in a small cave in an out- 

 lying part of the Forest of Dean, close to the river Wye, where it is 

 flanked by steep and wooded hills that rise abruptly from either 

 bank. At short intervals along the sides of these hills limestone 

 cliffs and boulders stand out bare and white among the surrounding 

 trees. The slopes below are strewn, and in places completely 

 covered, with pieces of rock of all sizes that are continually becoming 

 loosened and fall from the outstanding crags above, in which are 

 numerous cracks, holes, and caves, the last, as a rule, being only of 

 small size. 



The mouth of the cave in which these remains were found is 

 situated half-way up the face of one of the cliffs. It is completely 

 concealed from view by a thick growth of trees and bushes. This 

 probably accounts for its being little known and not previously 

 explored for animal remains, though, unfortunately, several human 

 jaw-bones lying on the floor of the cave were taken away by some 

 boys while searching for jackdaws' nests. Some time ago the 

 greater part of the floor was dug up by miners looking for iron-ore. 

 This was a most unfortunate occurrence, as in this way the position 

 of the upper layers of earth and rock forming the floor of the cave 

 has been considerably obscured. At the same time the bones 

 contained in these deposits were mixed, specimens undoubtedly 

 differing greatly in age being found in close proximity ; furthermore, 

 some of the bones of species now living bore a very fresh appearance. 



The walls of the cave have not been disturbed, for here numerous 

 minute bones are found in a good state of preservation. These were 

 lying even in exposed situations where they might easily have been 

 destroyed. This is perhaps the most curious feature of the cave, for 

 at its inner end on every ledge and in every crevice were found 

 small bones, most of them belonging to one or other of the smaller 

 species of voles and mice. These remains have disappeared from 

 the ledges near the entrance, doubtless on account of exposure to 

 wind and wet, and to the presence of jackdaws, which nest in large 

 numbers in all the cliffs. 



