Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/390

330 in that one area, we proceeded towards the edge of the ravine, some one hundred and fifty yards off to the west. For some distance after the flints had ceased there were no stones or other objects to be found on the ground, but when getting towards the edge we found a few quartz pebbles, which became more numerous, and which we discovered came out of a band of very dark conglomerate which outcrops and forms the edge of the ravine just there, having withstood the action of the weather better than the soft sandstone. This conglomerate was about fifty feet above the ferruginous band, and appeared to be quite local. All the strata there dip to the east at a very considerable angle, and the dark conglomerate would therefore be a long way below the surface at the place where the flints were found, one hundred and fifty yards away; while, at the same place, we calculated that the bed of ferruginous conglomerate would be at least two hundred feet below the surface.

There is thus no possible connection between the conglomerates (least of all the ferruginous conglomerate) and the flints which we found; and, though it might be suggested that they came out of some higher band which had worn down, leaving them on the surface, the circumstances under which they were lying grouped together—evidently the chips from stones broken up on the spot—point to a different conclusion.

There can be no doubt of the identity of these chips with those described and figured by Dr. Noetling. Mr. LaTouche, who has examined both, tells me that they are exactly alike in appearance, and he cannot detect any difference. They have the same porcelain glaze, are in the same condition, and they were found (though not in the ferruginous conglomerate) in the immediate vicinity of the spot where Dr. Noetling found his. Two or three of our specimens are, Mr. LaTouche says, better than any of those found by Dr. Noetling, and more clearly intended for some purpose such as arrow-heads.

An examination of them shows that they may be roughly divided into irregular lumps and thin flakes. The stone itself is chert, or impure flint, and I do not know for certain from where it was brought. There were no other stones at the place where the pieces were found. There is one obvious core, and there are at least three specimens which seem to be more or less finished