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 Vezère, where these caverns occur. The Vezère 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 Vezère. 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, which harmonized well with the rich yellow brown of the stone itself.”11