OSSIFEROUS CAVES OF GOWER. 511 



vations of this description are of great delicacy — they de- 

 mand considerable time and repeated local inspection. In 

 short, they are not of the nature that lie conveniently to the 

 hand of a non-resident palaeontologist ; and in the remarks 

 which follow, when the elevation of the deposits is in ques- 

 tion, the figures will refer to the height above the platform, 

 at the foot of the cliffs, which is dry between high and low 

 water ; in other words, to the subjacent beach in the ordinary 

 sense of the term. 



(a.) Description. — Two years ago, a small black opening, 

 looking in the distance not much bigger than a fox-hole, was 

 visible from the rocky platform below, in the cliff, about mid- 

 way between ' Bacon Hole ' and ' Minchin Hole.' It was quite 

 inaccessible by ordinary climbing, and was known to the 

 quarry -men by the name of ' Bacon's Eye.' The lower terrace 

 of the cliff, which here faces the sea, rises perpendicularly about 

 90 feet above the rugged reef which forms the beach. The 

 limestone strata of the cliff are intersected by vertical chines, 

 which widen and contract irregularly at intervals, from the 

 step of table-land above to the base, and are continued out- 

 wards as clefts on the denuded platform that stretches under 

 the sea. The angular aperture, called ' Bacon's Eye,' was 

 situated about 72 feet high, in one of the largest of these 

 fissures, and it did not exceed 2^ feet in diameter. Below it, 

 and wedged in between the walls of the fissure, there was 

 seen a great bulging vertical mass of angular fragments of 

 limestone impacted in ochreous loam, and resting on the 

 projecting ledge of a thick and solid mass of cemented blocks 

 and breccia, which subsequently proved to be the dividing 

 floor of a two-storied cavern. In the ochreous mass, white 

 fragments of bone could be distinguished by their bleached 

 colour from below, at a distance of 56 feet, jammed by, and 

 irregularly intermingled with, the fragments of the breccia. 

 On clambering up to the base of the ochreous mass, by a. 

 devious ascent apart from the main fissure, we found our 

 further progress towards the ' Eye ' aperture intercepted by a 

 perpendicular fall of about 20 feet. The remains, seen from 

 below, proved to be fractured bones and teeth of Bos, bones 

 and antlers of Deer, and teeth and phalangeal bones of Wolf, 

 confusedly disposed in every direction, together with land- 

 shells cemented by calcareous infiltration. Stimulated by 

 these appearances, Colonel Wood determined to follow up the 

 indications ; the contracted aperture above was at length 

 reached by ladders and widened, when it was found to lead 

 into a fine cavern full of objects of interest. In order to make 

 it accessible, and carry on the operations within, it became 

 necessary to remove the external accumulation of loam and 



