amazement at the scenery which presents itself on the opposite slope; it may remind him of a part of the circumference of a vast amphitheatre, winding gradually, and rising behind the Church to the left, until it retires from his view, by the bend of the Hill, from the summit of which he beholds the interesting prospect. If it be the season of autumn, when he first beholds it, its beauties are heightened by the richness of the foliage; the leaves assume various tints, red, brown, yellow, and greens of every shade, which association can possibly produce: this, with the trees rising one above another from the gradual declivity of the Hill, furnish scenery indescribably beautiful and majestic.

The beholder's enjoyment is not lessened by the chilling feelings of fear; for, whatever may have been the dangers connected with this situation in ancient times, from ferocious animals; those times are glided away, and here security has erected her pavilion. How great are the advantages of cultivation! how vast the privileges which are enjoyed by a country, in the introduction of those principles which have power to soften the brutalized mind into reflection, and to impose industry on the energies of the indolent Savage! There was a period, when this now beautiful retreat, was the residence of carnivorous Animals, unexplored by human beings, and unknown by history and enterprise. After certain ages, the mist of darkness which had long hung over this now beautiful Country, began to be removed, by the inroads made into it by enterprising foreigners; through whose labours religion was propagated,

cultivation was set to work, and pages of history were commenced. It is impossible for us to have any guide but imagination to the state of this district, nearly four thousand years ago; what it was, or what Animals then inhabited this clime; is known with certainty, only to the Supreme Being. We now behold it as it is, we trace it by the light of history, through the lapse of many centuries, beyond which probability is our only guide. Who would have had an idea of the phenomenon, which has rushed upon the public mind, as it relates to the animal remains in the Cave at Kirkdale ?

Little did the boy think, who stepped amongst the bushes, with which the mouth of the Cave was overgrown; or the woodman, when felling the oak; that he was walking on a spot, which in some future time, would interest the literary world, and draw many from the smoke of populous and polished cities and towns, and from the retired cloisters of colleges, to explore a Cavern, then unknown, and to visit a situation, which before had been comparatively unobserved! But unexpected circumstances every day unfold some mysteries, and give fresh stimulus to the energies of the human mind.

The situation of Kirkdale was pleasing to the lovers of retirement, before this species of celebrity was attached to it; but now it is interesting to many, who, had it not been for this circumstance would not have been familiar, even, with its name.

Thus places and persons are brought to public notice by accident; science is improved in the

AND A PLAN OF THE INTERIOR. THE PLAN WAS TAKEN AND DRAWN BY WILLIAM SALMOND, ESQ., OF YORK.

same manner; the purposes of Providence are unfolded by different incidents; and the acquisition of Knowledge is often proposed to the understanding, in a way calculated to produce the most powerful effects. Here indeed beauty, interest, and mystery, are combined; here the geologist finds ample scope for the exercise of his talents; the antiquary gratifies his taste; the botanist has range for the pursuit of his favourite study; and the retiring student can hide himself from public observation, and feast on the narrative of some favourite author, or collect fresh ideas from the volume of nature, which lies open to his view. I shall not dwell any longer, on general observations in the immediate Vicinity of the Cave, but proceed to its Geological Situation, and to a Description of the Cave itself.

GEOLOGICAL SITUATION OF THE CAVE AT KIRKDALE.

KIRKDALE lies on the side of a Road leading from Kirkby-Moorside to Helmsley, about 25 miles N. N. E. of the ancient and venerable city of York, a few miles from the foot of the eastern termination of the Hambleton Hills, facing the direction of Scarborough, and subsiding into the beautiful and fertile vale of Pickering, and not far from the southern extremity of the bleak and elevated district called