1867.] SPRATT MALTESE BONE-CAYES. 291 



The previously disturbed parts of this bone-breccia I found mingled 

 with the walls of the adjacent terraces, and procured from them 

 two bushels of bone-fragments, amongst which were several perfect 

 teeth, as well as many fragments of teeth and tusks of Hipj)0]po- 

 tamus, as at the Grendi Cavern, but of a smaller species. 



As a narrow space of about ten or twelve feet in length, and six 

 or eight in breadth, existed between a terraced road recently made, 

 leading to a cemetery, and the front of the part of the cavern that 

 now remains, I dug down there to verify the information regarding 

 the spot at which the ossiferous breccia was discovered, and was 

 fortunate in finding a portion of the bone-breccia still in situ, which 

 I broke up (more of it lies under the road), and found it also to 

 contain fragments of bones and teeth of the same Hii^popotamus as 

 did the scattered fragments of the debris gathered from the adja- 

 cent terraces and walls. No remains of the Elephant were found 

 here. Neither were any small bones, such as those of Eodents and 

 Birds, found in it, or in any of the scattered fragments, as in the 

 upper stalagmitic stratum of the Crendi cavern, and as was found 

 also in the Zebbug cavern, commingled with the Elephant-bones ; 

 but the bones of the Birds and small Myoxus may have existed in 

 the original condition of the floor of the Melliha cavern neverthe- 

 less, although not contemporary with the Hippopotamus, since we 

 have now but a fragmentary exhibition of it. 



V. General Conclusions. 



The Melliha cavern, like the Crendi cavern, seemed, therefore, 

 to have exclusively contained remains of Hippopotamus only ; for 

 not a single fragment of the tusk or tooth of either species of Ele- 

 phant was found amongst the fragments of bone-breccia to indicate 

 their contemporary existence with the Hippopotamus, although there 

 were the remains of many individuals of the latter ; and thus the 

 time of the Melliha cavern seemed to have been associated exclu- 

 sively with the remains of Hippopotamus of the lower stalagmitic 

 stratum of the Crendi cavern, rather than with the Zebbug cavern, 

 the remains in which were exclusively those of the Elephant ; and 

 therefore also the relics in the latter cavern are more probably linked 

 with the Myoxus and Bird bones, and existing land shells, forming 

 the upper stalagmitic stratum of the Crendi cavern. 



It is remarkable that the lower part of the Crendi cavern, and 

 the entire bone breccia (at present found) of the Melliha cavern, are 

 characterized by the bones and teeth of the Hippopotamus only, and 

 the Zebbug Cavern debris by only Elephant-teeth, tusks, and bones, 

 to the exclusion of any remains of Hippopotamus. 



Therefore the upper stalagmitic layer of the Crendi cavern, con- 

 taining existing land shells imbedded with the Kodent and Bird 

 bones, seems to bring the latter, and the associated Pigmy Elephant 

 of the Zebbug cavern, down to a period more recent than the Hippo- 

 potamus — in fact, to a distinct and later geological epoch ; for had 

 these animals existed at the same time with the Hippopotamus, their 



