4S2 
REPORT ON THE EXPLORATION OF BRIXHAM CAVE. 
also caps most of the limestone hills. Peaty masses with prostrate trunks and erect stumps 
of trees occupy the mouths of most of the valleys terminating in Torbay, and extend 
beneath the sea to at least the depth of 5 fathoms, that is to the entrance of the Bay. 
This does not occur off Brixham ; but traces of it were found a short way up the valley*. 
The entrance of the cave, which is on the line of a north and south joint (Plate 
XLI./, tig. 1), was calculated by Mr. Bristow trigonometrically f to be 93 feet above 
high-water mark; whilst Mr. Bovey made it 94 feet 11 inches by levelling, or about 
66 feet above the level of the stream in the valley in front of the cave. It is therefore 
rather more than halfway to the top of the hill, the slope of which is without steep 
escarpments, but with a terrace at the level of 150 feet (Plate XLI. fig. 2 J). 
The work of exploration was completed in the summer of 1859, the cave having been 
then emptied so far as it could be followed, although Mr. Pengelly observes “ that 
galleries certainly extend beyond the point reached by the workmen.” It is probable 
that the hill is in fact traversed by a number of such fissures. 
Respecting the manner in which the exploration was conducted, Mr. Pengelly 
remarks : — “ It was decided first to remove the stalagmitic floor, then the entire bed imme- 
diately below (if not of inconvenient depth) horizontally throughout the length of the 
cavern, or so far as practicable ; this accomplished, to proceed similarly with the next 
lower bed, and so on until all the deposits had been removed. 
“ The more effectually to guard against the chance of error, the materials were first 
carefully examined in situ, after which they were taken at once outside the cavern, where 
they underwent a further inspection. In no instance were they removed, for even tempo- 
rary convenience, from one part of the cavern to another. 
“ Whenever a bone or other article worthy of preservation was found, its situation 
(that is to say, its distance from the mouth or entrance of the gallery in which it occurred, 
as well as its depth below the surface of the bed in which it lay) was carefully deter- 
mined by actual measurement. In order to their identification, the specimens were all 
numbered ; those which were found in the same place received the same numeral, and 
were packed in one and the same box, so that at the close of the exploration the 
number of boxes indicated the number of localities in which fossils had been found ; the 
boxes were also distinguished by numbers, each bearing that which each specimen within 
it bore. Finally, an entry of each box was made in a journal, in which were registered 
the number and situation of the specimens it contained, with the date on which they 
were found, and occasionally a few remarks respecting them.” 
* For fuller accounts of the geology of the district the reader can consult Sedgwick and Murchison’s paper 
“ On the Older Stratified Deposits of Devonshire,” Trans. Geol. Soc. 2ser. vol. v. p. 633; It. C. Godwin- Austen 
“ On the Geology of the South-east of Devonshire,” ibid. vol. vi. p. 431 ; Dr. Hold “ On the Older Rocks of 
South Devon,” Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xsiv. p. 400. 
t The observations were made during extremely stormy weather. 
X The valley line is represented in the figure as descending too low. 
