Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 41.djvu/48

 There were also holes in the upper rooms, which may have been used for peep-holes. Beyond these rooms the wall continued one hundred and thirty feet farther, and the space was divided into rooms of unequal length. The appearance of the place impressed Mr. Jackson as indicating that the family were in good circumstances. These are single specimens of a class of dwellings of which there are probably many hundreds. The ages of these dwellings and the conditions under which they were built and



occupied are unknown. The climate favors the preservation of objects, so that they may be of considerable antiquity; and there is no reason for supposing they were not inhabited down to a comparatively recent period. The objects found within the cliff and cave dwellings, some of which are represented in Dr. Mearns's article, indicate a considerable degree of civilization.

An account was published by Mr. Theodore Hayes Lewis, in Appletons' Annual Cyclopædia for 1889, of some curious drawings that are found in caves at St. Paul, Winona, and Houston Counties, Minn., La Crosse County, Wis., and Allamakee County, Iowa. They include representations of the human form, fish, snakes, animals, and conventional figures.

Many accounts of travelers go to show that residence in caves is not rare in modern times, and that it constitutes a feature of life, though not an important one, in some of the most civilized