Scientific American Supplement, No. 508, September 26, 1885

we could hardly use our picks, and the excavation had to be performed with very short hooks, and often by hand. In this way I was enabled to remove the bones without accident. The lower pocket was dug out first, and with extreme care, the bones being hoisted out by means of a basket attached to a rope. Three or four candles sufficed to give us light. The air was heavy and very warm, and, after staying in it for two hours, it was necessary to come to the surface to breathe. After extracting the bones from the lower pocket, and when no more clay remained, we successively dug out the upper ones and threw the earth to the bottom of the well.

On the 20th of December, 1884, my excavating was finished. To-day the Oubliettes of Gargas are obstructed with the clay that it was impossible to carry elsewhere. The animals that I thus collected in the well were the following: The great bear (in abundance), the little bear (a variety of the preceding), the hyena, and the wolf. The pockets contained nearly entire skeleto