Anniversary Address. 97 



It may be sneeringly asked, "And of what importance, even 

 when made, are such discoveries ?" But the same sneer may be 

 directed against the greater part of all other historical researches ; 

 and it may be met with the same answer. They relate to the 

 natural history of man ; and to us, whether as naturalists or hu- 

 man beings, that can never be foreign or uninteresting. This is 

 the " quid fuimus" which leads to the "quod futuri gignimur." 

 It occurred to me, on the 19th May last, when on the hill of 

 " the Cup and Saucer Camp," mentioned by Mr. Tate, that the 

 top of it had been the usual summer residence of some of the 

 aboriginal race, at a time when Milfield Plain was either a lake, 

 or covered with one thick and tangled forest ; which encroached 

 to near the very summit of that hill and of all the others in the 

 neighbourhood ; and was then infested with ferocious animals or 

 dangerous reptiles. This hill had been selected because its naked 

 and half-famished occupants could best descry from it any ap- 

 proaching danger ; and when that came, could there best defend 

 themselves against it : for these earliest specimens of humanity 

 (like the martyrs of our species) " wandered about in wolf-skins 

 and elk-skins — being destitute, afflicted, tormented — flitting from 

 deserts to mountains, and into dens and caves of the earth." 

 " The Cup" was intended for the chiefs of the clan, " the Saucer" 

 for the multitude; and no doubt they needed to fortify their 

 residence by the stony munitions we noticed ; for see ! a band 

 of hostile savages, probably of fresh invaders, and of a different 

 race, occupy a hill at no great distance ; and these will not leave 

 the aboriginals long unmolested. It is easy to fancy the rest — 

 the stealthy nocturnal approach — the sudden attack — the fierce 

 struggle — the rampart forced — and the final massacre. 



" they roll 



Mothers with infants down the rocks ; their moans 

 The vales redouble to the hills, and they 

 To heaven." 



Looking upon the scene which the summit of that hill now pre- 

 sents, and upon the Members of the Club around me, I could 

 not help asking myself, " What has caused the difference be- 

 tween that pre-historic period and our own times ? and will not 

 the causes that have produced that difference, acting with in- 

 creasing momentum amid greater facilities, at last bring on an 



