Vol. 51.] FROM PAL2EOLITHTC GRAVELS IN KENT. 519 



for him to get out, and also in order that I should see them exactly as he found 

 them. 



' Within a few days of my obtaining them, you will, I think, remember that I brought 

 the skull to you in pieces, and you kindly offered to piece the remains together for 

 me ; but I preferred taking them away, as I then intended to work the subject up, and 

 describe and publish my find. This I have been unable to do, not having the 

 necessary leisure from business, and I regret not having placed them in your hands 

 before. 



' The remains have been in my museum ever since, and no one has interfered with 

 them, except myself and a few friends in my presence. So you have them exactly as 

 they were found, except that I have dipped them in a solution to preserve them. 



'In May last my friend Mr. Frank Corner, of Poplar, saw these remains and 

 urged me to place them in someone's hands, so that a description of them might be 

 published. In June Mr. Worthington Smith examined the remains, and seemed 

 much impressed with their peculiarities of structure.' 



(Signed) Robert Elliott, 



Camberwell, July 1894. 



Mr. Matthew H. Heys, of Greenhithe, who in 1888 was master 

 of the school which stands close to the pit at Galley Hill, appears 

 to have been the first person who saw the skull when it was 

 uncovered by the workmen in excavating the gravel ; and in 

 answer to my enquiries, this gentleman, who has paid some atten- 

 tion to geology, in a letter gives me information which not only 

 confirms what Mr. Elliott has already stated, but adds the important 

 fact that he saw the skull in situ before it was removed from its 

 ancient resting-place. Mr. Heys's observations as to the undisturbed 

 condition of the gravel are likewise strong evidence in favour of 

 these remains being of the same age as the gravels in which they 

 were found. He writes as follows : — 



' In reply to your enquiries concerning the skull found in this immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, I have to say that my attention was called to the spot by the workman 

 who unearthed it, and before it was removed from its lona; resting-place. For the 

 moment, I was tempted to appropriate it there and then, but when I examined it 

 more carefully I was struck by the undisturbed condition of the gravel in which it was 

 embedded ; it seemed as though gravel and skull were deposited at the same time. 



' I had only a few spare moments at the time, for I was called back to my 

 school duties. 



'My intention was to obtain some indisputable record of its position in the 

 gravel by photographing it in situ, or by the testimony of one or two intelligent 

 people. What was my chagrin, when I visited the spot again, to find that it had 

 been removed ! I was so disappointed that I tried to forget and banish it from my 

 mind. Had I realized the value of the find as I now do, I should have mounted guard 

 over it and not allowed its removal till such record as that above mentioned had 

 been obtained.' 



(Signed) Matthew H. Hets, 



Greenhithe, February, 1895. 



Galley Hill, as marked on the Ordnance map, is not quite f mile 

 north-west of Northfleet station. North of the high road is a large 

 chalk-pit in which are the cement-works now using the chalk. The 

 spot where the human remains were found is at the south-eastern 

 corner of the pit, near the main road. The Chalk here rises to a 

 height of nearly 90 feet above the Thames, and is capped by gravel, 

 9 or 10 feet thick, but thinning towards the east and west. South- 

 wards the gravel extends to Swanscombe and Milton Street, from 

 both of which places, as well as at Galley Hill, Mr. Elliott has 

 obtained many Palaeolithic implements. The Chalk and overlying 



