238
REPORT ON THE DENEHOLE EXPLORATION.
sifting of the upper parts of the mounds, we contented ourselves with
securing and putting aside any bones which might be turned up in that
part of them, reserving the lowermost two feet, or thereabouts, of the
heap for more careful examination in the following way. As each
spadeful was cast upwards into the barrow we turned it over with short-
handled rakes, holding candles in our other hands to ensure as much
light as possible. When full, the contents of the barrow were pitched
into one of the side chambers, and so on. In the heap, but at
various heights above the floor, were bones of the ox, horse, sheep,
dog, and badger; also, two femurs, a tibia, and some smaller human
bones, apparently those of a man. These human bones may pos-
sibly form part of the skeleton mentioned by Mr. Cole in our "Journ.
of Proceedings," vol. iii., pp. 31, 32. There we read a quotation from
the "Cambrian Register" for 1818, to the effect that a gentleman of
the Cathedral of Canterbury, accompanied by a surgeon and a peasant,
formed the "extraordinary resolution" of descending one of the Hang-
man's Wood pits. The peasant was lowered down first, bearing a light,
which speedily became extinguished. On being joined by his com-
panions he was found to be in a state of extreme terror from a fancy
that he had seen another pit still more awful and profound yawning
to receive him. His fears were by no means removed on the arrival
of another light, as he then saw that he had been standing on a
skeleton of gigantic size, most of whose bones he had trodden to
pieces in his agitation. This skeleton they conjectured had been
there many years, as on being rudely touched it crumbled to pieces.
The skull being unusually large, the surgeon enveloped it in his
handkerchief for removal, but smashed it against the sides of the
shaft while reascending. It seems therefore not unlikely, to say the
least, that the femurs and tibia we found were once part of this
skeleton, and are some of the bones which fortunately escaped from
the ravages of those destructive influences, the surgeon and the
peasant. It is true that the pit is described in the "Cambrian
Register" as four-chambered, and that No. 12 is the only pit we
have entered that could be so described, but the party seem to have
been so excited, and so badly provided with lights, that an inaccuracy
of this kind is quite possible as the result of over hasty observation or
imperfect memory. The remains of a horse were found close to
those of the man, together with part of an antique-looking bit. Two
pieces of pottery were found in this mound, in the gravel, about two
feet above the floor. Mr. Franks and Mr. C H. Read, of the