1865.] btjsk; and falconer — gibealtae. caves. 369 



In illustration of the absolute need there is of a local collec- 

 tion of the kind here indicated, we may mention that, being anxious 

 to fix the age of the pottery yielded in such abundance by the 

 WindmiU Hill cave, no similar materials for comjDarison derived 

 from the ancient ruins of Carteia, or from points in the Mediter- 

 ranean resorted to by the Phoenicians, were to be found in the 

 British Museum. The proof of the antiquity of the human race is 

 one of the leading questions that occupy the attention of educated 

 and scientific men at the present day. That human remains and 

 other objects bearing upon it are considered of high value is suffi- 

 ciently proved by the fact that a grant of =£1000 was passed for the 

 purchase of a collection of this kind from the valley of the Veizere, 

 in the south of France, during the last Session of Parliament, for 

 the British Museum, One of the human skulls yielded by the rock 

 many years since appears to us to point to a time of very high an- 

 tiquity. In fact it is the most remarkable and perfect example of 

 its kind now extant. In the absence of a properly organized mu- 

 seum no record exists of the precise circumstances imder which this 

 interesting relic was found, and that it has been preserved at all 

 may be considered a happy accident ; it has cost us much labour, 

 and with but partial success, to endeavour to trace its history on the 

 spot where it turned up. 



Our time has been so fully occupied by the examination of 

 the cave collections and collateral subjects that we have only been 

 able to make a cursory examination of the geology of the rock. We 

 entirely agree with the opinions expressed in the excellent memoir 

 of Mr. James Smith, of Jordan Hill, that it bears unmistakeable 

 evidence of having undergone extraordinary disturbance, both of 

 upheaval and depression, during the Quaternary or immediately pre- 

 modern period ; but the data are complex, and in some instances 

 obscure. Now that a complete topographical survey of the rock has 

 been completed on a large scale, a geological survey would be a 

 matter of comparative ease ; and we would submit to Your Excel- 

 lency's consideration the expediency of an application being made 

 for the services of an assistant upon the Geological Survey of 

 England, to be deputed for the purpose. The area is so compact 

 and limited that the survey, including that of the surrounding bay, 

 need not occupy much time. 



We cannot bring this letter to a close without expressing our 

 opinion of the value and importance of Capt. Brome's exploration of 

 the WindmiU Hill cavern, under the support and enlightened coun- 

 tenance and encouragement which we are well aware he has uni- 

 formly received from Your Excellency during the progress of his 

 operations, and which have led in a great measure to their successful 

 issue. The only account of the mineralogy of Gibraltar that has 

 been published is in the excellent " Brief Description " by Major 

 Imrie, of the Eoyal Artillery, which appeared in the 'Edinburgh 

 Philosophical Transactions' in 1797. In 1844 Mr. Smith, of 

 Jordan HiU, brought out his valuable memoir on the Geology of 

 Gibraltar ; but the fossil mammalian remains of the bone-breccia 



