tCu 



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- w 



•c 



"iaiii 



a 



•*^^^^nt, and 



'^ out 



new 



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Br 



J 



^ in the 

 trials thus in- 



f^pB from tlie 



;.-i of animals 



UB maiuicr we 



nAm find in 



ile ctliei^ are 



are en^uKed 



. where tte 



wnrere 



s of the 



is pecuHarlj 

 the d 



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q 



carern 



rons 



s 



ftbeag^ 



of 





13 



[J 



H\ 



Ch. XLV.l 



ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS AND CAVES. 



517 



season of drought of nearly eiglit months' duration. When 

 the torrents are swollen by the rains^ they rush from surround- 

 ing heights into the enclosed basins ; but, instead of giving 

 rise to lakes, as would be the case in most other countries, 



chasms 



Katavothra 



to what are termed 



' swallow-holes ' in the north of England. The water of 

 these torrents is charged with pebbles and red ochreous 

 earth, resembling precisely the well-known cement of the 

 osseous breccias of the Mediterranean. It dissolves in acids 

 with effervescence, and leaves a residue of hydrated oxide of 

 iron, granular iron, impalpable grains of silex, and small 

 crystals of quartz. Soil of the same description abounds 

 everywhere on the surface of the decomposing limestone in 

 Greece, that rock containing in it much siliceous and ferru- 

 ginous matter. 



Many of the Katavothra being insufficient to give passage 

 to all the water in the rainy season, a temporary lake is 

 formed round the mouth of the chasm, which then becomes 

 still further obstructed by pebbles, sand, and red mud, thrown 

 down from the turbid waters. The lake being thus raised, 

 its waters generally escape through other openings, at higher 

 levels, around the borders of the plain, constituting the bottom 

 of the closed basin. 



In some places, as at Kavaros and Tripolitza, where the 

 principal discharge is by a gulf in the middle of the plain, 

 nothing can be seen over the opening in summer, when the 

 lake dries up, but a deposit of red mud, cracked in all 

 directions. But the Katavothron is more commonly situated 

 at the foot of the surrounding escarpment of limestone ; 

 and in that case there is sometimes room enough to allow a 

 person to enter, in summer, and even to penetrate far into 

 the Ulterior. Within is seen a suite of chambers, communi- 

 cating with each other by narrow passages ; and M. Virlet 

 relates, that in one instance he observed, near the entrance, 

 human bones imbedded in recent red mud, mingled with the 

 remains of plants and animals of species now inhabiting the 

 Morea. It is not wonderful, he says, that the bones of man 

 should be met with in such receptacles ; for so murderous 



10 



