90 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
face of 70 feet, and 3 feet above the bottom of the cavern, which 
was wholly filled with clay. It was the opinion of Mr. Whidbey 
and of the workmen that the cavern was entirely enclosed in the 
solid rock. Many caverns had previously been met with, but this 
was the first which had contained bones. It was 15 feet wide, 
45 feet long, taking the direction into the cliff, and 12 feet deep. 
The bones were 6 molars, and parts of 2 vertebrae, 1 radius, 
1 scapula, 2 ulnse, 3 humeri, 3 femurs, 2 phalanges, 1 carpus, and 
1 metacarpus.* 
Four years later another bone cave was discovered, and the con- 
tents forwarded by Mr. Whidbey, as in the former instance, to the 
Eoyal Society. These bones Mr. Whidbey, writing on the 11th 
November, 1820, to SirEverard Home,t stated had then been "lately 
found in a cavern 1 foot high, 18 feet wide, and 20 feet long, lying 
on a thin bed of dry clay at the bottom." Sir Everard described 
them as consisting of one molar of rhinoceros — single-horned; teeth 
and bones of the black or brown bear, J two portions of bone of an 
animal of the deer kind, and portions of bone of some animal the 
size of a bear. The cervine remains were found in a cavity near to 
but distinct from that containing the remainder. This cavern also 
Mr. Whidbey described as entirely surrounded by compact rock. 
It was about 8 feet above liigh- water mark, 55 below the surface, 
and 174 yards from the original face of the cliff, the quarries having 
been worked inwards about 120 yards in that direction from the 
cavern of 1816. 
So far the quantity of bones discovered had been small, though 
their importance was great. The next find was of much larger 
magnitude. Continuing to work into the hill, at a distance of 
201 yards from the commencement of the quarry, and 180 
yards in a western direction from the cave of 1816, the first 
of five other caves or chambers was discovered, communicating by 
passages and associated with galleries. The top of the cliff here 
was 93 feet above high-water springs; and while the bottom of the 
lower cave was about 30 feet above high-water, the roof of the 
* Sir E. Home, op. cit. Cited "Devon. Assoc. Trans.," vol. v. part i. 
p. 250. 
f "Phil. Trans.," 1821, parti, pp. 133-5. Cited "Devon. Assoc. Trans., 
vol. v. part i. pp. 251-2. 
X Professor Owen afterwards identified the ursine remains as those of 
both Ursus spelaeus and priscus. Vide "Brit. Foss. Mam.," pp. 84-5. 
