200 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
There the bones lie at promiscuous depths, without any 
stratification. We must, therefore, suppose that some 
other agent, than an inundation with its deposits, has con- 
tributed to the latter phenomena. 
It may excite surprise, that these bones, which have 
lain here a thousand years, and perhaps thousands of years, 
should yet be in a state of entire preservation. But when 
it is recollected, that the earth here is strongly impreg- 
nated with salt, and when it is stated, that many of these 
bones are now entirely petrified, that surprise will be 
diminished. 
Only a small part of the earth which contains these fos- 
sils, has yet been dug ovei\ For centuries to come, these 
enormous bones, which have been the wonder of natural- 
ists, will still be found. 
Captain Phinnel, who keeps the boarding-house in this 
watering place, informed the writer, that he found within 
a space not more than six feet square, at the depth of 
three feet, thirty-two grinder-teeth of the mastodon and 
elephant, one of which, he said, weighed fourteen pounds. 
They were all at one depth, and were supposed to have 
been collected in that spot, as they have never been found 
numerous in any other. 
In the possession of that gentleman, I saw a large bone, 
twenty-six inches in length, and weighing about sixteen- 
pounds, entirely petrified, which has never belonged to 
any of the mastodon or elephant species, but to some ani- 
mal now unknown. It has been part of the leg of a quad- 
rupid, between the knee and the pastern joints. It re- 
sembled in shape the bone of a hare, except being larger 
in proportion to its length. The quadruped to which it 
belonged was eleven feet high. — Ibid. 
THE VALLEY OF DEATH, IN THE ISLAND OF 
JAVA. 
By A. Loudon, Esq. 
My Dear Sir, — The following is an extract from my 
journal of a tour through the Islands of Java and Madara 
last year: — 
“ Balor, 3 d July, 1830. — This evening, while walking 
round the village with the Patteh (native chief,) he told 
me that there is a valley three miles from Balor, that no 
person could approach without forfeiting their lives, and 
that the skeletons of human beings, and all sorts of beasts 
and birds, covered the bottom of the valley. I mentioned 
this to the Commandant Mr. Van Spreewenberg, and pro- 
posed our going to see it; Mr. Daendels, the assistant- 
resident, agreed to go with us. At this time I did not 
credit all that the Javanese Chief told me. I knew that 
there was a lake close to this, that it was dangerous to ap- 
proach too near, but I had never heard of the Valley of 
Death. 
“Balor, 4th July . — Early this morning we made an 
excursion to the extraordinary valley, called by the na- 
tives Guwo Upas, or Poisoned Valley: it is three miles 
from Balor, on the road to the Djiang. Mr. Daendels 
had ordered a footpath to be made from the main road to 
the valley. We took with us two dogs and some fowls, 
to try experiments in this poisonous hollow. On arriving 
at the foot of the mountain, we dismounted and scrambled 
up the side, about a quarter of a mile, holding on by the 
branches of trees, and we were a good deal fatigued before 
we got up the path, being very steep and slippery, from 
the fall of rain during the night. When within a few 
yards of the valley we experienced a strong nauseous suf- 
focating smell, but, on coming close to the edge/this disa- 
greeable smell left us. We were now all lost in astonish- 
ment at the awful scene before us. The valley appeared 
to be about half a mile in circumference, oval, and the 
depth from 30 to 35 feet, the bottom quite flat, — no vege- 
tation, — some very large, in appearance, river-stones, and 
the whole covered with the skeletons of human beings, 
tigers, pigs, deer, peacocks, and all sorts of birds. We 
could not perceive any vapour or any opening in the 
ground, which last appeared to be of a hard sandy sub- 
stance. The sides of the valley from the top to the bot- 
tom are covered with trees, shrubs, &c. It was now pro- 
posed by one of the party to enter the valley; but at the 
spot where we were, this was difficult, at least for me, as 
one false step would have brought us to eternity, as no 
assistance could be given. We lighted our cigars, and, 
with the assistance of a bamboo, we went down within IS 
feet of the bottom. Here we did not experience any diffi- 
culty in breathing, but an offensive nauseous smell annoy- 
ed us. We now fastened a dog to the end of a bamboo, 18 
feet long, and sent him in; we had our watches in our 
hands, and in 14 seconds he fell on his back, did not move 
his limbs or look round, but continued to breathe 18 
minutes. We then sent in another, or rather he got loose 
from the bamboo, but walked in to where the other dog 
was lying: he then stood quite still, and in 10 seconds he 
fell on his face, and never moved his limbs afterwards: 
he continued to breathe for 7 minutes. We now tried a 
fowl, which died in l£ minute. We threw in another, 
which died before touching the ground. During these ex- 
periments we experienced a heavy shower of rain; but we 
were so interested by the awful scene before us, that we 
did not care for getting wet. On the opposite side, near 
