272 ORGANIC REMAINS. 



state of these alluvial beds clearly shewed, that there never had 

 been any hole or passage through them into the cavern; but there 

 Were appearances of a small opening by which water may have flowed 

 down the slope, tmder these alluvial beds, from the mouth of the cave, 

 towards the beck, which is above a hundred feet distant, and thirty- 

 six feet below the level of the cave. 



From the entrance to the first remarkable turn, the cave had a 

 slight bend upwards in the middle, ascending from the mouth, and 

 descending towards the turn, where it is greatly enlarged. Here is 

 the present entrance of the cave, which is three feet high and seven 

 feet wide. The roof and the floor are both flat, and the latter is 

 higher than the level of the floor on the outside, the broken edge of a 

 stratum presenting itself as a step that must be ascended. Over this 

 entrance the limestone rises to the height of ten feet, and it appears 

 very compact, except a stratum of six inches forming the immediate 

 roof of the cavern, which is cracked. The limestone is covered by five 

 feet of alluvium, viz. three feet of rubbish, and two of marl and soil. 



From the present entrance, the cave runs in a north-easterly 

 direction, and for the space of about forty or fifty feet it gradually 

 ascends, and contracts, the floor ascending rather more rapidly than 

 the roof, while the sides also converge. At the time when the cave 

 began to be noticed as an object of curiosity, and was first visited and 

 examined by several gentlemen in the neighbourhood, and by one of 

 the authors of this work, the cave had been penetrated no further 

 than fifty feet in that direction. Since that time, however, the 

 stalactites which obstructed the passage being removed, the cavern 

 has been explored to the extent of one hundred and ninety-nine feet; 

 making the whole length, from the original mouth of the cave, two 

 hundred and forty-five feet. 



From the strait part of the cave now mentioned, which is only 

 two feet or two feet and a half high, the passage gradually descends, 



