CAVE EXPLORATIONS. 
305 
In December, 1859, a meeting was held at Sheffield, at which 
Mr. Denny contributed a paper on the geological and archteological 
contents of the Victoria and Dowkabottom Caves in Craven. To the 
eastward of Settle, and also near Arncliffe, caves have long been 
known in the mountain limestone. Hitherto they had been regarded 
as subterraneous wonders, and had received little or no considera- 
tion as the abodes of man and other animals. In August of this 
year Mr. Denny, accompanied by Mr. O'Callaghan, visited Mr. 
Jackson, of Settle, who had recently discovered a cave at King's Scar, 
a mile and a half from Settle, at an elevation of 1,460 feet above sea 
level. Mr. Jackson had already obtained from the cave ornaments, 
coins, pottery, and mammalian remains, which were inspected at his 
house. The cave had probably three entrances, two of which were 
then partialty closed by the debris of the superincumbent precipitous 
rock. The descent into the cave was rather difficult. Entering by 
a steep fissure it was necessary to crawl through a low and narrow 
passage into a cave, in which the visitor could scarcely stand upright ; 
then through a second contracted aperture into a lofty cavern. The 
floor was covered with stalagmite and clay, and strewn over with 
blocks of limestone which had fallen from the roof. From this cavern 
a third and nearly closed passage afforded an entrance to another large 
compartment. Besides these caves were lateral fissures, whose termi- 
nations were unknown. The floor of the cave consisted first of loose 
stones and loamy soil, beneath which were cliarcoal ashes mixed 
with bones, antiquarian relics, and earth ; below was clay, stalagmite 
and rock. In some parts the stalagmite rose to the surface, and 
immediately beneath was clay, with bones and relics. In other parts 
the loamy clay with charcoal ashes, containing bones, pottery, and 
other ancient remains, rested upon a solid limestone floor. 
The Dowkabottom Caves, near Arncliffe, are situated on a lofty 
plateau of the rocky crags of the Kilnsey Range, 1,250 feet above the 
sea, from which a descent is made into a lofty chamber from whose 
roof hang large masses of stalactite. Turning by a narrow passage to 
the left, a large, lofty cave is entered, a considerable portion of the 
floor of which is covered with stalagmite, owing to the constant flow 
of a rapid stream of water through it from the extreme end of a 
