Two apparently inaccessible caves, that have been the habitation of man
as a temporary refuge, and that have been explored by M. Philibert
Lalande, show that there was a way in which some, though by no means
all, were reached. The grottoes of Puy Labrousse near Brive, comprising
five or six chambers, have isolated from the rest one that opens in the
face of a sheer precipice at a considerable height above the valley. It
can be entered only from behind, by a very small oval opening, preceded
by a gallery very narrow, and masked at the entrance by enormous rocks,
and which could be barricaded by stout beams, hollows for the reception
of which are visible.

The other is at Soulier-de-Chasteaux on the Couze, an affluent of the
Vezere. Here are two caverns excavated by the hand of man. The most
curious is on the right bank near the top of a Jurassic cliff that is
absolutely precipitous, and this also can be entered _a retro_. A
narrow path leads to an opening very small, excavated in the vault of
the cavern, through which a man could squeeze himself so as to descend
into it by means of a ladder. The gaping mouth of this grotto, which is
from 15 to 18 feet square, is in part closed by a breastwork of stone.

Below this cave is a very large shelter cut out square-headed in the
cliff, but not deep; and this is used by the peasants of Soulier as a
place for stacking their hay. Square hollows wrought in the rock show
that formerly some building was accommodated to it, and the roof ran
back under it. In Auvergne are many _souterrains_ that have served
as places of concealment in times of war. The Puy de Clierson occupies
the centre of an area of four volcanoes. It is shaped like a bell, the
slopes are covered with brushwood, and a ring of broken rocks forms the
precipitous wall of the circular and flattish cap. The hill is composed
of trachyte, and the upper portion is perforated in all directions by