The roof of the cave has partially fallen in at the entrance, forming
a re-entrant curve 30 feet across and extending 11 feet inward; the
large blocks from this, and from the stratum described later, were
lying on and in the talus at the present front but did not extend to
the red clay beneath. Some of the blocks could be reduced with a heavy
sledge hammer to an extent that made it possible to roll them out of
the way; but 24 of them had to be broken up with dynamite.

The talus at its thickest part has a depth of 6 feet; it extends down
the hill on the outside and has washed back into the cave, gradually
decreasing in quantity, to a distance of 50 feet. The roof, at the
front, is 5 feet above the talus; the thickness of the ledge forming
it is only 8 feet, the slope of the hill starting from this line.
Owing to the restricted width of the ridge, on top, the entire area
draining over the ledge measures only 70 feet in width above the
entrance, and narrows irregularly to a breadth of 30 feet at an
outcrop 120 feet up the hill, or with an approximate space of 6,000
square feet. On this small tract more than half the rock is bare, with
scanty patches of soil and humus in the crevices and on flat places.
At the present time the water which flows over the ledge during hard
rains is scarcely turbid; consequently a period of several centuries
was required for the debris to accumulate.

Fourteen feet back from the farthest-receding part of the curve of the
roof at the front is the edge of a stratum 3 feet thick; the bottom of
this was 3 feet above the talus immediately beneath it. This stratum
is continuous, with a perceptible dip to the interior, as far as it
can be seen.

The width of the cave at the mouth is 44 feet; 30 feet within it
widens to 51 feet. A small amount of water making its way from the
interior over the level floor collects in a little basin scooped out
to receive it, and sinks into the floor near the inner foot of the
talus 55 feet from the entrance. At this point the width of the cave
is 36 feet; the height to the roof is 41/2 feet. As the floor beyond
here is soft mud, the cavern was not followed farther.

Owing to the limited space between the floor and the roof it was
necessary to remove the excavated earth to the outside. The water
which flows from the hill and falls upon the talus during rains also
had to be provided against. A trench 4 feet wide at the bottom, with
sufficient slant to the sides to