GROUP 2-THE EARTH-THE STORY OF THE HOME OF MAN-CHAPTER 33
IN THE MIDST OF THE EARTH
The World’s Impressive Subterranean Hollowings and Cavernous Waterways A DUSTLESS AND GERMLESS UNDERWORLD Le t u s now consider the subject of caves. Though caves have not the grandeur of waterfalls, they have always appealed to the imagination of men. There is room in their shadowy grottoes for many dreams and many mysteries, for sibyls and nymphs, for fairies and gnomes, for Typhon and Cyclops. From caverns spake the oracles of Corinth and Delphi; into a cavern in a hill did the Pied Piper lead the dancing children ; and a cavern in the hills of Granada still hides Boabadil and his Moors. But caves have appealed not only to the imagination, but also to the practical instincts of men; they have been used from time immemorial as dwelling-places, as fortresses, and as tombs. Lot went up from Zoar and dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters ; in caves kings of Canaan and kings of Scotland, freebooters, smugglers, and martyrs have found refuge from their foes. In a cave good Obadiah concealed a hundred prophets ; in a cave Joshua imprisoned live kings. In the cave of Machpelah sleep Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, and Joseph. It is probable that whole races of Palaeolithic men dwelt in caverns, kindling fires there, cooking food there, sharpening their flints there, drawing pictures of mammoths and bisons there. In Neolithic days multitudes of men inhabited the caves, and much of our knowledge of early man is derived from a study of the contents of such rocky chambers. Even still there are cave- dwellers to be found. In the Canary Islands, for instance, within a stone’s-throw of large modern hotels, are natives of the islands who still live in caves. Burial caves, like dwelling caves, are found all the world over, and, like dwelling caves, have done much to throw light on the ways of primitive man. In the Cave of Itruipe, in South America, Humboldt counted 600 skeletons and mummies preserved in baskets woven from the petioles of the palm-tree. Along with the skeletons and mummies were found sandals, and implements, and ornaments. In burial caves in the Aleutian Islands, Mr. W. H. Dali found mummies in a sitting posture which had been carefully wrapped in many wrappings. First came line grass-wrapping ornamented with tufts of reindeers’ hair and with feathers, then a second coarser wrapping, then a sack made of the skin of birds. Then came more mats, line and coarse, then a packing of dry grass, then a covering of fine, large otter-skins. Finally the package was sewn together by a braided network of twisted sinews. Beside the mummies were found masks and effigies, awls and needles, axes and arrows. In a cave in Teneriffe were found more than a thousand mummies, which had been embalmed, sewn up in goatskins, and bandaged with leather. In Egypt the caves in the rocks were sown with myriads of mummies, and in Italy are the Catacombs of Rome ; but these are artificial excavations, and do not rightly come under consideration here. Many caves, known as bone caves, are notable chiefly for the bones of animals which they contain, and the light they thus throw on the biological history of the country. In a cave at Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, Buckland discovered teeth and bones of no less than twenty-three species of animals—hyaena, tiger, bear, fox, weasel, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, ox, deer, hare, rabbit, water-rat, mouse, raven, pigeon, lark, duck. Buckland calculated that there must have been hundreds of hyaenas in the cave. In the Yealm Bridge bone cave there have been found bones and teeth of the elephant, rhinoceros, ox, horse, sheep, dog, wolf, hyaena, fox, bear, water- rat, and of a large bird of unknown species.
EMBRACING GEOLOGY, PHYSIOGRAPHY, CHEMISTRY. PHYSICS,METEOROLOGY
IN THE MIDST OF THE EARTH
The World’s Impressive Subterranean Hollowings and Cavernous Waterways A DUSTLESS AND GERMLESS UNDERWORLD Le t u s now consider the subject of caves. Though caves have not the grandeur of waterfalls, they have always appealed to the imagination of men. There is room in their shadowy grottoes for many dreams and many mysteries, for sibyls and nymphs, for fairies and gnomes, for Typhon and Cyclops. From caverns spake the oracles of Corinth and Delphi; into a cavern in a hill did the Pied Piper lead the dancing children ; and a cavern in the hills of Granada still hides Boabadil and his Moors. But caves have appealed not only to the imagination, but also to the practical instincts of men; they have been used from time immemorial as dwelling-places, as fortresses, and as tombs. Lot went up from Zoar and dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters ; in caves kings of Canaan and kings of Scotland, freebooters, smugglers, and martyrs have found refuge from their foes. In a cave good Obadiah concealed a hundred prophets ; in a cave Joshua imprisoned live kings. In the cave of Machpelah sleep Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, and Joseph. It is probable that whole races of Palaeolithic men dwelt in caverns, kindling fires there, cooking food there, sharpening their flints there, drawing pictures of mammoths and bisons there. In Neolithic days multitudes of men inhabited the caves, and much of our knowledge of early man is derived from a study of the contents of such rocky chambers. Even still there are cave- dwellers to be found. In the Canary Islands, for instance, within a stone’s-throw of large modern hotels, are natives of the islands who still live in caves. Burial caves, like dwelling caves, are found all the world over, and, like dwelling caves, have done much to throw light on the ways of primitive man. In the Cave of Itruipe, in South America, Humboldt counted 600 skeletons and mummies preserved in baskets woven from the petioles of the palm-tree. Along with the skeletons and mummies were found sandals, and implements, and ornaments. In burial caves in the Aleutian Islands, Mr. W. H. Dali found mummies in a sitting posture which had been carefully wrapped in many wrappings. First came line grass-wrapping ornamented with tufts of reindeers’ hair and with feathers, then a second coarser wrapping, then a sack made of the skin of birds. Then came more mats, line and coarse, then a packing of dry grass, then a covering of fine, large otter-skins. Finally the package was sewn together by a braided network of twisted sinews. Beside the mummies were found masks and effigies, awls and needles, axes and arrows. In a cave in Teneriffe were found more than a thousand mummies, which had been embalmed, sewn up in goatskins, and bandaged with leather. In Egypt the caves in the rocks were sown with myriads of mummies, and in Italy are the Catacombs of Rome ; but these are artificial excavations, and do not rightly come under consideration here. Many caves, known as bone caves, are notable chiefly for the bones of animals which they contain, and the light they thus throw on the biological history of the country. In a cave at Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, Buckland discovered teeth and bones of no less than twenty-three species of animals—hyaena, tiger, bear, fox, weasel, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, ox, deer, hare, rabbit, water-rat, mouse, raven, pigeon, lark, duck. Buckland calculated that there must have been hundreds of hyaenas in the cave. In the Yealm Bridge bone cave there have been found bones and teeth of the elephant, rhinoceros, ox, horse, sheep, dog, wolf, hyaena, fox, bear, water- rat, and of a large bird of unknown species.
EMBRACING GEOLOGY, PHYSIOGRAPHY, CHEMISTRY. PHYSICS,METEOROLOGY
