The Dickinson press., 1897-04-17

the wonderful secrets that 1t contained.
Their curiosity was not great enough
to lead them to. attempt an exploration
OF the inner portions Of the cavern,
which could be approached only
through a low. narrow, stiding passage
buried In profound darkness n
choked with the accommodations Of ages.
Yet that passage really led to cham
oers where men had lived and left their
marks In an antiquity so remote that
Greece and Rome seem modern when
contrasted with 1t. There was con-
cealed proof Of the existence Of man
30 many ages ago that nobody car do
than guess at the number OF mill
ienia which have elapsed since all
trace OF those ancestors Of ours was
lost.
The first discoveries of remarkable
things In the cave Of La Mouthe were
made tn 1895 by q learned Frenchman.
ID. Emile Riviere. The nature Of the
BOIL. ' e In the outer part Of the cav
ern, convinced him at once that he wa
standing on ground which prehistoric
man had trod. and q little digging
showed that 1t had been the home Of
human beings during two entire geo.
logical epochs-the Neolithic and the
Quartenary or Glacial. How great an
antiquity. that implies We may readily
understand when We recollect that one
Of b best time-estimates Of the Gla-
cial epoch that We possess places the
end OF 1t at $4,000 years ago. But 1t In
IN b deeper and more concealed por-
lions OF the cavern that d. Riviere and
his assistants. continuing. their explor-
ations during 1895, and during the last
year. have discovered the most won
derful and interesting traces of ancient
man. 1t required courage and resolu-
tion to penetrate the long, sitting pas
sage. through some parts Of which they
could with difficulty force their way
and which led inward and downward
to the strange chambers where the
most important discoveries were made.
Crawling on their faces, breaking OF
the glittering stalactites and stalag-
mites that the slow dripping Of lime
water during untold centuries had cre-
ated like a crystal forest to obstruct
the way, they finally reached a dark
grotto, which is absolutely unique
among caverns. since 1t may be de-
scribed as a prehistoric picture gal
lery, on whose walls and roof are to
be seen drawings made with ochre and
engravtngs cut or scratched in. the solid
rock, which are venerable beyond esti-
nation. In the outer parts of the cav
crn N. Riviere had found many ancient
hearths and the jumbled remains of
wild beasts which have now become ex-
tinct, such as the great cave bear, the
cave hyena, and other creatures whose
huge jaws and long sharp teeth remain
to prove how fierce and terrible were
the enemies with which our pre-his-
toric ancestors fought for the possess
sion Of their underground homes. But
these things are overshadowed in in
terest by the discovery of the pictures
just referred to. These pictures prove
that even in those most historic days
man was instinctively an artist, n
deavoring to represent and reproduce
the scenes and images of the world
around him. Working thus to please
their wi eyes, with no thought Of DOS
terity, men have nevertheless left us
most important and graphic testimony,
touching, not only their own powers Of
intelligent observation. but also the
character of the animals living in their
time. The lime water flowing down the
sides Of the grotto has covered some of
thedrawingsw with q transparent deposit
of ntalaRmite. and manv ara more nr
less completely obliterated. A picture
of the bison is, however, readily recog-
nfzable. and, most interesting Of all,
the picture representing on a gigantic
scale some unknown or unrecognized
animal which seems to combine the
characteristics Of q bison or other boz
vine animal with those Of q horse. The
surprising picture. which seems origin
ally to have been carefully shaded with