14 JULY 1900, Page 3

The Daily Mail of Tuesday publishes a striking account of

the opening of the Cave in Mount Dicta, in Crete, the tradi- tional birthplace of Zeus. After blasting away the limestone blocks which obstructed the mouth of the cave, Mr. Hogarth found' on entering a quantity of offerings, chiefly bronze weapons and terra-cotta statuettes, many of them ornamented with the double axe, or symbol of Zeus. A lower cave was also reached by a shaft 150 ft. deep, and found to contain, in the niches of the stalactites, quantities of offerings of higher value than those in the cave above. In view of the fact, attested by countless references in classical writers, that Crete was one of the greatest centres of ancient worship, the finds of Mr. Evans and Mr. Hogarth may be only the prelude to discoveries of far greater ethnological importance.