he rude outline of a human figure.

So far the evidence seems to bear out the same conclusions as do those
of the British caves, though it also shows that the men of the Drift
inhabited caves quite extensively. We must remember, however, that the
greatest wealth of cave relics belongs to the so-called Cave-men,
but that savage tribes have always resorted to caves as a place for
occasional habitation.<10>

It is in France that we find the greatest wealth of relics of Cave-men.
Sir John Lubbock has left us a description of the valley of the Vezere,
where these caverns occur. The Vezere is a small tributary of the
Dordogne. "The rivers of the Dordogne run in deep valleys cut through
calcareous strata: and while the sides of the valley in chalk districts
are generally sloping, in this case, owing probably to the hardness
of the rock, they are frequently vertical. Small caves and grottoes
frequently occur: besides which, as the different strata possess unequal
power of resistance against atmospheric influence, the face of the rock
is, as it were, scooped out in many places, and thus 'rock-shelters'
are produced. In very ancient times these caves and rock-shelters were
inhabited by men, who have left behind them abundant evidence of their
presence.

"But as civilization advanced, man, no longer content with the natural
but inconvenient abode thus offered to him, excavated chambers for
himself, and in places the whole face of the rock is honey-combed with
doors and windows, leading into suits of rooms, often in tiers one
over the other, so as to suggest the idea of a French Petra. Down to a
comparatively recent period, as, for instance, in the troublous times
of the Middle Ages, many of these, no doubt, served as very efficient
fortifications, and even now some of them are in use as store-houses,
and for other purposes, as, for instance, at Brantome, where there is an
old chapel cut in solid rock.

"Apart from the scientific interest, it was impossible not to enjoy the
beauty of the scene which passed before our eyes, as we dropped down the
Vezere. As the river visited sometimes one side of the valley, sometimes
the other, so we had at one moment rich meadow lands on each side, or
found ourselves close to the perpendicular and almost overhanging cliff.
Here and there we came upon some picturesque old castle, and though the
trees were not in full leaf, the rocks were, in many places, green
with box and ivy and evergreen oak