BY RICHD. HELMS. 405 



The grave was situated in an elevated position on a low rise 

 consisting of coarse gritty and clayey soil. The dry situation and 

 the natural compactness of the soil no doul^t greatly helped to 

 preserve the grave, which could be distinguished quite plainly 

 although it was over seventeen years since it had been formed. A 

 circular mound rose about two and a half feet from a base which 

 was upwards of five feet in diameter, irregularly flattened out at 

 the edges and strewn with sparsely imbedded rock fragments. In 

 the centre of the mound there were three posts. 



In removing the soil and stones I found that the grave must 

 have been dug over six feet deep in the solid ground, and seemed 

 to have had an oblong shape of about four feet in length by two 

 and a half feet wide. At the bottom a dome-like excavation 

 about three feet long and nearly two feet high had been made in 

 one of the longest sides of the hole, into which the corpse had 

 been pushed. The opening had been covered by bark and grass, 

 against which flat stone slabs had been placed. The hole was 

 filled with granite slabs carefully laid down, with grass in the 

 interstices, for some distance, and over this with stones and earth. 

 At each end of the grave had been placed a strong sapling that 

 rose from the bottom by the side of the cavity in which the bod}'- 

 rested to about four feet above the surface of the ground, and 

 a third one was placed midwa}^ between them after a few feet 

 had been filled in. These were the posts that rose from the 

 mound, and which guided me to the cavity containing the corpse. 



Although the death took place seventeen years before I opened 

 the grave, I found no difticulty in determining the method in 

 which the body had been prepared for interment. The knees had 

 been drawn up to the abdomen and lashed with bast, the elbows 

 had been laid close to the sides, and the hands were placed flat in 

 front of the face. Although nothing but the bones of the man 

 remained, their position left no doubt that the limbs were placed 

 as described. It was evident that the body had been lashed 

 together into the smallest possible compass by bast being coiled 

 round it in all directions. After being tied up it had then been 

 Avrapped in a blue blanket, perished fragments of which still 



