OSSIFEROUS CAVES OF GOWER. 319 



11. 'Crow Hole' j Cavern. — Description and Eemains : 



IMPERFECTLY KNOWN. 



This cavernous fissure, named ' Crow Hole ' by Colonel 

 "Wood, is situated like the two last between the great 

 caverns of ' Bacon Hole ' and ' Minchin Hole,' and to the 

 westward of ' Bosco's Den.' You descend from the plateau 

 of highland surmounting the cliffs, for some distance, by 

 the track leading to ' Minchin Hole,' and then go straight 

 down by a very precipitous and perilous scramble on the 

 crags, to about 60 feet above the level of the sea, to be 

 landed on a rugged floor, something like that seen below the 

 ' Yellow Top ' cliff at Paviland. This leads to a ravine with 

 diverging walls, the bottom of which is not roofed over, but 

 presents a cliff about 43 feet high, composed of limestone 

 breccia, chiefly small angular fragments, mixed with some 

 large blocks. Below the breccia there is a confused mass of 

 stalagmite, then ferruginous sand and gravel, again succeeded 

 by breccia, resting upon a thick bed of coarse sand, of which 

 a depth of 4 feet is exposed, free from admixture with stones. 

 The width of the ravine where the cliff of cemented breccia 

 terminates is about 27 feet, and a distinct line of the same 

 materials can be traced upon the rock a considerable way 

 out, as at ' Bosco's Den ' and ' Bowen's Parlour.' Colonel 

 Wood has exhumed from these deposits bones of Ursus, 

 Badger, Rhinoceros, and some other remains, but the locality 

 has not yet been sufficiently explored, and my acquaintance 

 with the details is at present too imperfect to warrant my 

 giving any further description of it; more especially as 

 there is much complexity in the intercalation of the beds of 

 sand and breccia, demanding careful examination. The 

 angular breccia bed is here developed in great force ; the 

 section of it in the cliff above the ferruginous sand exhibiting 

 a depth of 18 or 20 feet. 



12. 'Raven's Cliff' Cavern. — Description: Floor- 

 Beds, and Remains. 



The cavern which he has called ' Raven's Cliff ' has 

 been the latest field of Colonel Wood's excavations, and it 

 gives promise already of being one of the most productive 

 in species of all the caves in Gower. It is situated in 

 the cliff facing the sea to the west of ' Minchin Hole,' and 

 between it and ' Shire Coom.' I examined the locality 

 last September, in company with Colonel Wood, when it was 

 intact. The cliff presented the section of a cavernous fissure 

 completely crammed with sea sand in the same plain with 

 the general face of the scarpment, and affording no indica- 

 tion whatever of an opening. Below and in front of it there 



