ous depths on the landing-places I have just mentioned: the bones lay loose and naked on the actual spots on which the animals had died, and to which they had probably fallen when passing carelessly along the surface of the Park above; they were neither broken, nor buried in loam, nor incrusted with stalagmite, as at Kirkdale, but simply stripped of their flesh; they are not adherent to the tongue when fractured, but retain much more animal matter, and are in all respects more fresh and recent, than those which occur at Kirkdale entombed beneath the loam. "In a geological point of view, the occurrence of these bones, under the circumstances above described, is important, as illustrating the manner in which the bones of antediluvian animals may have been accumulated by falling into similar fissures, which are now filled up with diluvial mud and pebbles; for if fissures existed (as they undoubtedly did) on the antediluvian face of the earth in much greater abundance than since that grand aqueous revolution, which has entirely filled up so many of them with its detritus, there is no reason why the then existing animals should not have fallen into them and perished, as modern animals do in the comparatively few cavities that remain still open in our limestone districts: and when we consider that it is the habit of graminivorous animals to be constantly traversing the surface of the ground in every direction in pursuit of food, it is obvious that they are subject in a greater degree than those which are carnivorous to the perpetual danger of falling into any fissure or imperfectly closed chasm that may lie in their way; and in this circumstance we see an explanation of the comparatively rare occurrence of the remains of beasts of prey in the osseous breccia of the antediluvian fissures, although they also occasionally perished in them, as the dogs do at this day in the open fissure at Duncombe Park.” The caves now mentioned by our author are: 1. The Cave at Hutton in the Mendip Hills. 6. The Cave at Crawley Rocks, near Swansea. 7. The Cave at Paviland, near Swansea. 1. The Cave at Hutton.-This cave is one of many cavities of mountain limestone, which were lined and nearly filled with ochreous clay. The bones found in it were the teeth and bones of the elephant, and some few remains of horses, oxen, and two species of stag, besides the skeleton of a fox, and the metacarpal bone of a large species of bear, and the molar teeth and tusk of a large hog. Mr Buckland supposes that these bones were not dragged in by beasts of prey, but were either drifted in by the diluvian waters, or derived from animals that had fallen in before the introduction of the ochreous loam, which is clearly of diluvian origin. 2. Cave on Derdham Downs.—This cavity in mountain limestone contains fractured bones, partially encrusted with stalactitical matter, and the broken surfaces have also an external coating of thin vitreous stalactite, proving the fracture to have been ancient. One specimen is the fossil joint of the horse. "It is," says Mr Buckland, "the tarsus joint, in which the astragalus retains its natural position between the tibia and os calcis; these are held together by a stalagmitic cement, and were probably left in this position by some beast of prey that had gnawed off the deficient portions of the tibia and os calcis." 3. Cave at Balley.-This cavity of mountain limestone was intersected in working a lead-mine, and contained some bones and molar teeth of the elephant. stone. 4. Dream Cave.-This cave was discovered in December 1822, in the pursuit of a lead-vein through solid mountain limeIt was filled with a confused mass of argillaceous matter and fragments of stone, in the middle of which was found nearly the whole skeleton of a rhinoceros, and some remains of the ox and the deer. Mr Buckland infers that these bones were derived from animals that perished by the same waters that introduced them to the cave. 5. Caves near Plymouth.-An account of some of these caves has already appeared in the Philosophical Transactions for 1817 and 1821, and some of the others will be described in the volume for 1823. VOL. IX. NO. 18. oct. 1823. P The bones of horses, oxen, hyænas, deer, and wolves, have been discovered in these caves in great quantities. Mr Buckland is of opinion, that the animals had fallen during the antidiluvian period into the open fissures, and there perishing, had remained undisturbed in the spot on which they died, till drifted forwards by the diluvian waters to their present place in the lowest vaultings with which these fissures had communication. 6. Cave at Crawley Rocks.-This cavity is in Oxwich Bay, about twelve miles SW. of Swansea, in a quarry of limestone. The bones found in it were those of the elephant, rhinoceros, ox, stag, and hyæna. They have a slight ochreous incrusta tion. 7. Cave of Paviland.-There was lately discovered, about fifteen miles north of Swansea, two large caves, facing the sea, on the front of a lofty cliff of limestone, which rises more than 100 feet perpendicularly above the mouth of the caves, and be low them slopes at an angle of about 40° to the water's edge. In the principal one, called the Goat's Hole, Mr Buckland found bones of the elephant, rhinoceros, horse, stag, bear, hyæna, fox, wolf, ox, deer, rat, birds, and a portion of that of a woman clearly postdiluvian. Rods and rings of ivory, a skewer of bone, charcoal, and fragments of recent bones, were also found. The remains of a British camp exist on the hill immediately above the cave. The other cavern, also explored by Mr Buckland, is about 100 yards farther to the west, and is very similar to the first in size, form, and position. Mr Buckland concludes his account of the English caves with the following observations: "The above facts are, I think, sufficient to warrant us in concluding, that in the period we have been speaking of, the extinct species of hyæna, tiger, bear, elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, no less than the wolves, foxes, horses, oxen, deer, and other animals which are not distinguishable from existing species, had established themselves from one extremity of England to the other, from the caves of Yorkshire to those of Plymouth and Glamorganshire; whilst the diluvial gravel-beds of Warwickshire, Oxford, and London, show that they were not wanting also in the more central parts of the country; and M. Cuvier has established, on evidence of a similar nature, the probability of their having been spread in equal abundance over the Continent of Europe. But it by no means follows, from the certainty of the bones having been dragged by beasts of prey into the small cavern at Kirkdale, that those of similar animals must have been introduced in all other cases in the same manner; for as all these animals were the antediluvian inhabitants of the countries in which the caves occur, it is possible that some may have retired into them to die, others have fallen into the fissures by accident and there perished, and others have been washed in by the diluvial waters. By some one or more of these three latter hypotheses, we may explain those cases in which the bones are few in number and not gnawed, the caverns large, and the fissures extending upwards to the surface; but where they bear marks of having been lacerated by beasts of prey, and where the cavern is small, and the number of bones and teeth so great, and so disproportionate to each other as in the cave at Kirkdale, the only adequate explanation is, that they were collected by the agency of wild beasts. We shall show hereafter, that in the case of the German caves, where the quantity of bones is greater than could have been supplied by ten times the number of carcases which the caves, if crammed to the full, could ever have contained at one time, they were derived from bears that lived and died in them during successive generations. 66 Although it must appear probable from the facts I have now advanced, that similar bones abound generally in the caves and fissures of our limestone districts, we shall yet cease to wonder that their existence has been so long unnoticed, when we consider the number of accidental circumstances that must concur to make them objects of public attention. 1st, The existence of caverns is an accidental occurrence in the interior of the rock, of which the external surface affords no indication, when the mouth is filled with rubbish, and overgrown with grass, as it usually is in all places, excepting cliffs, and the face of stone quarries. 2d, The presence of bones is another accident, though probably not an uncommon one in those cavities which were accessible to the wild animals, either falling in, or entering spontaneously, or being dragged in by beasts of prey, in the period immediately preceding the deluge. 3d, A further requisite is, the intersection of one of these cavities, in which there happen to be bones, by a third accident, viz. the working of a stone-quarry, by men who happen to have sufficient curiosity or intelligence to notice and speak of what they find, and this to persons who also happen to be willing or able to appreciate and give publicity to the discovery. The neces sary concurrence of all these complicated contingencies renders it probable, that however great may be the number of subterraneous caverns, in an inland country, very few of them will ever be discovered, or if discovered, be duly appreciated. Those I have mentioned in Yorkshire, Devon, Somerset, Derby, and Glamorganshire were all laid open, with the exception of the caves at Paviland, by the accidental operations of a quarry or mine." ART. IV.-Account of a Map drawn by a native of Dawa or Tavay. By FRANCIS HAMILTON, M. D. & F. R. S. & F. A. S. Lond. & Edin. With a Plate. Communicated by the Author. map THE accompanying Map, Plate V. was procured from the native of Dawæ, mentioned in my account of the general of the Empire of Ava*. He had been sent by the King of that country to Ceylon, in order to bring an account of the Temples at Anuradapura, the ancient capital of the island; and, when I arrived from Rangoun, was at Calcutta on his return. As I had an opportunity of shewing the man civilities and kindness, he gave me his assistance in arranging the geographical materials procured in Ava; and, being far from danger, spoke and wrote without fear or restraint. I have, however, to regret, that I omitted to procure all the names of places in the Mranma character. The Map was originally drawn on black paper, with a pencil of steatite, such as the Mranmas commonly use. A Mahommedan painter copied the outlines on paper, and I wrote the names in English letters, as the man read them from his black book. Afterwards he added the Mranma characters * See this Journal, No. iii. p. 91. |