The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-02-06 00:00:00

REMARKABLE DISCOVERY.

A very remarkable discovery I. rep sited te hay* been
ru "le in ?loud which hi. been Caly investag ate I I.y
the California Academy of Selene., and which has
rat-acted • gre at de .1 et att into° o. K c •nily the Warden
of toe N ival• State Filson at Uuaon r•hort id to :he
kedenty that in °teeing up the prisi n quarry some
uory r quark ifile imp esetions hat been fount In the
tall [sumo eb cc was being taken out for boildint por-
n as. A pear wee iminedist deopcched from the
Academy to invertigate the en a.ter, mod they have
recently returned with caste of in•ot of the impressions
dancuvered, and the ieiult is raid to be that the
existence of man has been conclusively proved at •
time when the mamusdh and mastodon roamed wild in
the woods of Western Arnwlek The cite of the Careen
nriesna is 2,14'0 feet above the Carson desert, it is on • hill
00 feet high, formed of nandstone overlying shale, and is
suppose! to have its origin in the detritus brought by
wind and water from the Sierras. The sandstone bee
been quarried toe depth of from 15 feet to 32 feet, and
the flow of the quarry bears evidence of once haying been
the shore of an ancient lake. Under the sailetone, in the
shale 11 a-, are toned faithfully printed the footsteps of •
variety of anima, and birds, and many track, of the
sondal•d foot of nue. Towle tracks are found alongside
the tracks of the mammoth in a plioosne formation, and
the mud appears to have been very soft at the time, as a
ridge to the height of five Inches in some caw is preened
up all round the tracks. The following is the description
given by Dr. Harkness o' what he saw
About fret, pm,' to the south, coming apparently
from under the cliff, and from the same point on the
short, are tracks of still greater interest. Striding alone
with even pace to the smith-east are twelve great foot.
p late, such as a gianthaan would make if shod with a
thickened moxisato or with& As the tracks proceed
the itnpre coos grow deeper and deep tr, as If the shore
mu I had been soft-r la that direction Beyond the
twelfth track the surf Ace on which the Impressions are
found has been broken away: but • little further to the
ea apparently tit, stow tracks are seen stain, retro-
grading as if toward the bank or sho-e. A little farther
to the south are c ofueed tracks of a lean and some large
an intl. tooly tiro or three steps of the man are distinct,
than the con'u& in that appears to mark • struggle, and
then the impression where • great bole has fallen. After
the 'trued., the great crane has waded about over the
apt; is tracks ',iodine in and out, as if It had been avoid.
in( with care the deep imprestioes made by the Corns
b %tants, t• 11 at last. cumbling into ons, It risei in startled
tight. Farther to the north are many human track., all
telling different s'ories of the trackwunkere Tie nosh
varying slightly, all are at ant sight.'
• iet of the tracks hare the s•raight-pointed toes, which
ace suppoired to distinguish the white man of the present
diy, and they are nearly all strongly turned not, with
short 'tee., as though the man was c arrying • heavy
euight. Many hum lead footor•ne were examine& and
the
foot theca inelcw, and th. y all proc tin one direction,
so thee in ore w.ll be disc...versa as Vie querry is opined
op. The geol revel exoninat•on it. the loedity showed
to at the valley i•uc • c •nt tined • lake, with we isl.nd in
thee intre and outlet tithe dot, acid the theory is, that
the animate tireut to the lake to drink and Were there
:attacked liy the men of • worl I mere ancient than we
are well On* t cone:ire. Ant ingot the tracks of animal i
were eight great aquaria iinpreseiona, about 20 a 22
inch s iii s•sh and a stridi of eke out 41 feet. Toes, are
supposed to he tricks either of the man noth or the
mastodon, but tit •F mu t have bun c mtemporeneous
with the human tracks, as they were made when the
sandshoe was rtur.l exposed ou the chores of the lake,
which most have born quickly e wered up with sand. It
ha, mien sued-rate l that the supposed tracks of the human
foot may have been mole by hears or some saurise, but
Professor Harkness says that no . os who hit seen these
pro's could doubt that they are that of human feet. The
age of tie son latone has net yet been determined, es no
ex oninatiora has he in made of the shell, cid other remains
which will be found in it, and it is, therefore, doubtful
whether th as priete are older than the N-anderthal and
Calaveras skulls, which belong to the quitrternary period.
In eny case, it these footeprinti on the sands of time be
what they are belie ved to he by compete nt perilous, we have
eh. 'lute proof of the exiatence of man at a very remote
puled, when the mum NMI roamed the woods and drank
at the alcient lakes. We have pr.( of the ex stence of
i.en wog before the present Wetere ,1111.011 were formed;
before the covering op of whole tracks of land with basalt,
and when • trip eel forest grew where there are now only
ec nity sage-bush and gressewood.