130 



which had formed the door was extant — it had been placed edge- 

 ways, and was rudely carved in spiral lines.* 



The entrance is in the side of the mount, at some distance above 

 the base, and is so low that the person going in must creep on the 

 hands and knees for the first four or five yards ; at this part one of 

 the side stones has either fallen, or was originally placed-f- diago- 

 nally, so as to leave an extremely small space through which to 

 force the body. That difficulty overcome, the passage immediately 

 becomes high enough to allow a man to stand erect : this gallery, 

 as it has been called, is sixty-two feet long, the sides being formed 

 of stones of great lenghth set on end, and the roof by long flat stones 

 laid transversely ; it rises gradually as it conducts to a dome-shaped 

 chamber, about eighteen feet diameter, and twenty feet high to 

 the centre stone ;| the dome springs unevenly at eight, nine, and 

 ten feet from the ground, and is formed of thick flag-stones laid 

 in courses, each of which project a little beyond the course next 

 below it, till the whole is closed with a flat stone, nearly a square, 

 of three feet ten inciies. Around this chamber are three unequal 

 recesses formed by upright stones, about eight feet high, covered 

 with a large flag, each niche or cell resembling a large Ciste- 

 Bhana ; thus the interior of this ('aim bears the shape of a cross, 

 pretty nearly that which is called the cross of Hermes or Taut ; 

 a sacred form in which many of the most ancient temples were 

 built.§ In each of the side rece&ses stands a large bason, somewhat 



the Irish Highlands, it is said to be customary for mothers to pile round white stones on the graves 

 of their children. And a similar practice is described by some of our travellers, as obtaining along 

 the eastern coast of Africa. 



• Philosophical Transactions, V. p. 694. Edit. 1809, abridged by Hutton, &c. 



-J- The latter seems most probable, as none of the neighbouring stones are displaced or shaken. 



X Archeologia, II. p. 255. 



§ Origin Pagan Idolatry, III. p. 287. 



