he found no doubt was a pleistocene one; but such bones as I unearthed were mixed with those of the small domestic ox (bos longifrons); so that if they were in situ, which is more than doubtful, were neolithic, prehistoric, or recent, for both ox and bear flourished here as late as the days of the Welsh princes. Regarding homo paleæolithicus, or man of the old stone age, I never came across any human bones, or human handiwork, in the Hoyle cave, that were attributable to this race. Professor Dawkins, in a letter to the writer, says:—
I never dug ont any flint or hornstone implements with my own hands in association with pleistocene beasts in this cave; I believe, however, that Mr. Ayshford Sandford found them in association with bear, under the stalagmite near the end of the cave, on the left hand side; I have met with them in the breccia, under the stalagmite at and near the entrance, on the right hand side, along with fragments of charcoal, and splinters of bone; these I consider pleistocene.
My dear old friend, Mr. G. N. Smith, of Gumfreston, although an indefatigable cave digger lived and died an infidel so far as pleistocene man was concerned, and this I think was brought about partly, no doubt, by the bias of his faith, and partly by the fact that he never unearthed man's work in association with the remains of the great pleistocene mammals. Hoyle’s Mouth seems to me to have been used by hyænas during the old stone age. In neolithic times it became both a dwelling and a cemetery for men.
THE LITTLE HOYLE.
This cave, situated about five hundred yards nearer to the sea than Hoyle’s Mouth, is excavated from the apex of a small ridge of rock, dividing a little valley which runs up from the Marsh to the Ridgeway. The ridge known as Longbury Bank, is as pretty a Spot as man need wish to see. The Little Hoyle was cursorily examined in 1866 by the Rev. H. H. Winwood. The late Mr. Smith, of Gumfreston, had also dug in it, before Professor Rolleston, Mr. Power and myself, cleared it out in the years 1877 and 1878. We discovered, what the others had failed to find, slight but unmistakable traces of pleistocene bones, (those of the larger beasts, probably either rhinoceros or elephant, perhaps both.) There were no hyæna bones, coprolites, or tooth markings; but the conclusion arrived at was that in pleistocene days this was a hyæna den. The rich neolithic harvest we gleaned from the floor of the Little Hoyle will be mentioned further on.
BLACK ROCK.
The Little Hoyle is about equi-distant between Hoyle's Mouth and the Black Rock quarries ; in these, at intervals during the last twenty years, pleistocene remains have been found, which I have had the opportunity of examining. The conclusion I have come to is, that all these bones were carried by water through one soaker, or external fissure, and from thence distributed through the ramifications of one large cave. They consist of hyena (crocuta var. spelæa), wolf (canis lupus), mammoth (elephas primigenius), woolly rhinoceros (tichorinus), reindeer (cervus tarandus), a small deer with palmated antlers, fox (canis vulpes), lion (felis leo var. spelæa), horse (equus caballus), hippopotamus (H. major), elk (cervus alces), Irish elk (cervus megaceros), bear (spelæus, ferox, priscus, and arctos), ox (bos primigenius), red deer (cervus elephus). My principal reason for supposing that these bones were water carried is, that in certain instances they lay in natural position, notably those of a rhinoceros. Unfortunately the quarrymen pounced on this and carried it off piecemeal, and the bones being in a very biscuity condition, were ruined before it was possible to recover them. There
