FOOTPRINTS OF VANISHED RACES IN CORNWALL. 275 



clearly prove that Palaeolithic man lived in Devonshire If man 

 lived in the adjoining connty in the PaltTeolithic age, it can hardly 

 be doubted that he visited Cornwall, for the Tamar, although 

 then doubtless larger, would in its upper course present no 

 obstacle. I believe, then, that we are justified in concluding 

 that Palreolithic man lived in Cornwall, and that he hunted the 

 mammoth and the rhinoceros, in the valleys and amidst the woods 

 of our county. 



I know that no remains of these great beasts have been dis- 

 covered in Cornwall, but I believe that their bones were found 

 here in prehistoric days. My reason for this is the prevalence of 

 stories about the giants, ^\'hich form so prominent a feature in the 

 folk-lore of Cornwall. Who were the giants ? The notion that 

 they were the spirits of the Druids who rejected Christianity may 

 be dismissed. Mr. J. H. Matthews maintains** that they repre- 

 sent a Pre-Celtic and Turanian race, who were driven by the 

 Celts into the woods and fastnesses. This does not seem prob- 

 able, as the Celts would be taller than the Turanians who 

 inhabited Cornwall before the Celtic invasion. It has been proved 

 to demonstration that many of the bones which were formerly 

 said to have belonged to giants in different countries in Europe, 

 are simply the remains of the mammoth and the rhinoceros.*^ In 

 France and in Germany this has been constantly proved by 

 anatomists. In Spain, the bones which were said to have l)elonged 

 to the giant St. Christopher, have been shown to be those of an 

 elephant. In Westphalia, M. Dupont says**^ that in some churches 

 the bones of giants were exhibited which, when examined by 

 anatomists, were found to be those of whales. Similar stories 

 come from Russia. When, dviring mining operations in the Ural 

 mountains, the bones of the mammoth were discovered, the 

 natives objected to their removal, and said to the Russians — 

 " Take from us our gold and our silver if you will, but leave us 



44. .1 History of :it. h<es, Lelant, Towednack, and Zc.nnor,-^. 380. 



45. Notices of these finds of giants' bones having been proved to be those of 

 the great mammalia may be found in Cuvier s Les Osscmejiis Fossiles. Sir Henry 

 Howorth also describes them at great length in The Mammoth and the Flood, pp. 13— 



27- 



46. L' Homme pendant Les Ages dc la Pierre,^. 208. Dupont himself thinks 

 that most of the giants' bones belong to the mammoth. 



