CAVE CONTAINING OCHRE. 
65 
In the same field with the Dream Mine, and on the upper edge 
of a steep declivity, is a small crag that overhangs the subjacent valley 
and has in its face an aperture called the Fox Holes, by which we 
enter an extensive suite of connected chambers and vaultings of irre¬ 
gular size and shape, perforating the rock in various directions, and 
at various elevations. In all of these the floor is covered to the 
depth of many feet, whilst some of the smaller ones are entirely filled 
with a mass of clay and ochreous loam, which in many parts is suf¬ 
ficiently pure to have been extracted for sale as a coarse pigment, and 
to have caused much of the diluvial sediment within these chambers 
to have been dug over in search of it, as was done in the cavernous 
fissure of Hutton in the Mendips, just described as having contained 
the bones of an elephant and other animals imbedded in ochre. In 
the cave of Fox Holes, now before us, no bones have been discovered, 
nor are there any traces of pebbles or angular fragments of stone 
except near the mouth. The quantity of stalactite and stalagmite 
also is small: and this little occurs chiefly near the entrance, 
where the roof is clustered with tufts of beautiful lac lunge. The 
position of the cave on the edge of a high cliff, and far above the 
possible influence of any floods from the nearest brooks or rivulets, 
obliges us to refer the enormous deposit it contains of ochreous mud 
to no other than diluvial origin; and Mr. Gell informs me, that in 
all the caves and in the greater number of the fissures which he has 
for many years been in the habit of frequently exploring with the 
miners in this low peak district of Derbyshire, he has constantly ob¬ 
served a deposit of mud and stony fragments similar to that which I 
