MISCELLANEA. 363 



manner through the mass, but others were congregated and rather 

 closely packed together. The larger bones had generally been 

 broken and gnawed, and nearly all the bird bones, excepting the 

 hollow limb bones, had been more or less fractured. Large 

 masses of very small bones occuiTcd together, which had been 

 only partially digested, having formed the food of Badgers or 

 Foxes. There was no appearance of stalagmite or stalactite, and 

 only a very small deposit of calc-sinter was observed. Decom- 

 posed fi'agments of limestone which had fallen from the roof 

 occurred here and there in the Cave-earth. The Cave-earth had 

 an irregular surface, and was grooved more or less with water 

 that had accumulated on and drained over its surface. 



The following species of animals, some of which appear to have 

 been more or less domestic, have been carefully identified by Mr. 

 John Hancock: Horse, Cow, Sheep, Dog, Pig or Wild -Boar, 

 Eed-Deer, Eoe, Badger, Fox, Yellow-breasted Marten, "Weasel, 

 Hedgehog, Mole, Water- Yole. !N'umerous bones of birds were 

 also identified ; among others the Kestrel or Merlin, Gannet, 

 Great-Auk, Bazor-Bill, etc. Shells of the Oyster, Periwinkle, 

 Limpet, and several species of Snails were likewise distributed 

 through the Cave-earth. 



The occurrence of the remains of the Great-Auk, determined 

 by Mr. John Hancock, would of itself give great importance to 

 the contents of this Cave, as this bird has only once been recorded 

 as occurring on the Northumberland coast, and has not been ob- 

 served for the last fifty years in any part of the British Islands, 

 and its former existence in the North Atlantic is now matter of 

 history on both sides of this ocean. The Yellow-breasted Mar- 

 ten is now restricted to the northern part of Scotland, and the 

 Badger, formerly abundant in tlie Northern Counties of England, 

 as the names derived from its haunts show, has now disappeared 

 fi'om our locality, and is only found in the more wooded and se- 

 cluded parts of the South of England. 



No great antiquity need be claimed for the contents of tliesc 

 Caves. Tliat they must have been raised to their present level 

 long before they were the habitation of the creatures wliosc re- 

 mains have been concealed in them admits of little doubt ; but 



2 c 



