E. L. Furlong — Exploration of Samwel Cave. 241 



5 ft. below the surface level at the north end. It is composed 

 of thin beds, as follows : 



Fine-grained reddish clay '01 to # 4 ft. 



Stalagmite capping ... - '1 " *4 " 



Mixed earth and gravel 1* " 2- " 



Stalagmite .- *05 " 



Fine earth and gravel *2 " 



This shallow deposit was derived from material in the cave 

 chamber, angular limestone gravel, stalagmite formed from 

 dripping, and from very small streams of water carrying in 

 material. The earth and clay were carried in by the water 

 and possibly some part of it was tracked in by animals. 



On the southeast side a grotto leading off from the chamber 

 shows the sloping stalagmite-covered surface of a deposit that 

 fills a large space between the outside, canyon entrance before 

 referred to and chamber two. The deposit was tunneled 

 through, thus making open communication between the sur- 

 face and this chamber. The deposit is 56 ft. long, running 

 approximately southeast by northwest ; its greatest depth is 28 

 ft. Its surface in the canyon entrance is covered by blocks of 

 limestone. The deposit in this portion of the cave has been 

 intermittent in its deposition. Strata of mixed earth and 

 gravel and of red earth occur. In about the middle of the 

 beds, in vertical section, a thick flooring of stalagmite appears. 

 It is thicker at places where there has been drip from the roof. 

 The material of this deposit was carried in by wash and 

 slide from the entrance during the cutting of the canyon. It 

 filled a former entrance of chamber two. 



Method of Excavation. 



As in the Potter Creek cave, the deposits were sectioned off 

 in numbered squares of 4 ft. That of chamber one was first 

 excavated. A cut was made in the deposit at the entrance to 

 the fissure and carried through to the inner end. The fossil 

 material was removed from benches a foot deep and each 

 specimen labeled as to horizontal and vertical position. As 

 the digging progressed, the waste material was thrown back to 

 the hard floor in chamber one. It was necessary in working 

 through the breccia to use powder and blast, though this was 

 detrimental to the fossils contained in the breccia. 



Previous to the opening of the outside passage way to the 

 grotto in chamber two, a ladder 85 ft. long was necessary to 

 gain access to its floor. For this purpose a rope ladder with 

 wooden rounds was used. Two holes were drilled in the floor 

 of the chamber above. In the holes drills were securely 

 imbedded. Thimbles that were fastened in the free upper 

 ends of the ladder were then dropped over the drills and tied 



