159 



proportionate to the consequence, and the number of friends and 

 dependants of the chief.* jj^jiji « h; - ».:7f ai . :oi. -siJi-i- 



Some of these smaller earth-works contain witHin them small cblls, 

 of which some are empty, while others were the depositary of the 

 urn, &c. ; in some there is no chamber, and the urns have been 

 protected by a bed of round white stones carefully piled around the 

 vase ; and in others by fotir flags, placed one on each side, with a 

 fifth one laid over as a cover. -f Small earth works containing caves 

 are frequently situated in the vicinity of the larger Ralhs ; possibly 

 these were in some degree sacred, and appropriated for places of 

 worship, as is the case in great part of India, where mounts, con- 

 taining small chambers, are placed near the villages ; and on par- 

 ticular days the Bramins in procession carry their stone idols to the 

 summit, and there perform their pouja, or worship. J j. 



In the church-yard of Dungiven, county of Londonderry, there 

 is a very remarkable tumulus with a pillar-stone standing upon it ; 

 and a second mount adjacent to it, when opened, was found to con- 

 iain an earthen urn and some bones placed in the middle, and pro- 



• Klaproth's Travels in the Caucasus, p. 337. 



•|- A tomb of this sort was discovered some years back at Ardmulchan, in the county of 

 Meath, by Mr. M., who, in levelling part of a hill, probably an artificial tumulus, found several 

 skeletons placed without any regularity, and one Cisde Bhana, of size sufficient to contain a 

 skeleton apparently of a person of uncommon stature. On one finger was a golden ring, under- 

 neath the head a silver ball, and beside it an urn, on which was an inscription in the ancient 

 Irish character. It contained about twenty pieces of coin, mostly of Edward the Confessor, 

 The ring on the finger, and there being no ashes in the urn, indicate that the ancient practice of 

 burning the bodies of chieftains had at that time fallen into disuse, and the more modem mode 

 of sepulture, by inhumation, been adopted. 



X Origin of Pagan Idolatry, III. p. 237. — Sir William Ouseley, in his third volume, mentions 

 that many of the tumuli are called tapeh-Gaur, or the Ghebres Mount — such earth works being 

 generally considered at the high places of the Fire-worshippers. ^ . 



Gaur-tepa, the high place of the Ghebres. Kerr Porter's Travels, v. II. p. 606. * ' 



