THE VOKKSHIKK CAVES. CI 



tlie bones and many of the antiquities which have been dis- 

 covered in the cave are deposited. 



The cave is situated about a mile and a half from Settle, in 

 a cliff called the King's iScaiir, at an elevation of about 900 

 feet above the town and the river Eibble, and 1,440 feet above 

 the sea level. The story of its discovery will be best told in the 

 words of the discoverer himself, Mr. Joseph Jackson, of Settle. 

 "It was," says Mr. Jackson, "in the year 1838, the year of 

 Queen Yictoria's coronation, that the cave was discovered, and it 

 Avas this that led to its being called the Victoria Cave. A dog 

 was really the first discoverer. He went into a hole of the rock 

 and came out at another place. This roused my curiosity, and, 

 entering with some difficulty, I found that I was in a cave, but 

 a cave filled up nearly to the top. Creeping on, however, I 

 found it more lofty than at the entrance. The roof was hung 

 with stalactites, and the surface was covered with the bones of 

 recent animals. Looking among the bones, I discovered a coin 

 in a part of the cave where water drips in. It was plain, there- 

 fore, that the cave contained remains of the presence, not only 

 of brates, but of man. These chance finds lead to a search, and 

 to the consequent discovery not only of bones and teeth, but of 

 coins and other relics of human occupation. At that time we 

 worked to a depth of two feet, and nothing in the shape of 

 bronzes or other antiquities was found at a greater depth than 

 this. In the year 1870 a Committee was formed, thoroughly to 

 explore the cave, by digging and removing the contents to a 

 depth of six feet throughout. Here we discovered many Roman 

 antiquities. In digging a shaft near the entrance of the cave 

 we met with bones of extinct animals at a depth of about twenty- 

 five feet below the surface. At a greater depth than this 

 nothing has been found. As we advanced further into the 

 interior they were met with' at a depth not exceeding fifteen 

 feet. We have found teeth or bones of the elephant, rhinoceros, 

 three kinds of bears, hyeena, bison, reindeer, wolf, and hippo- 

 potamus. A bone, said by high authorities to be that of a man, 

 was foixnd along with those of the extinct animals."* The 



* The boue supposed to tie human turned out to belong to a bear. See note in 

 3Ir. Boyd-Dawlrins' "Early Man in Britain." p. 189. 1880. 



