ON SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 21 
ly swept away, and where no human habitation 
can be found for many leagues.—On the plain 
of Troy, the Tumuli are the only remaining 
monuments of a time celebrated beyond all 
others in the history of mankind;—the Pyra- 
mids of Egypt have long survived the cities of 
the monarch who erected them;—at Mycene, 
the Tombs of the Atride may be seen in their 
original integrity, though their Palaces have 
left no vestige behind them, and their massive 
Citadel is fast crumbling into ruins;—and of 
the renowned and magnificent Sardis, the only 
uninjuredrelic which has reached our timesisthe 
sepulchre of the sovereign, who first raised it 
into splendour. 
To whatever part of the world we turn our 
attention, we find Barrows or Tumuli in great 
abundance, and differmg from each other but 
little, either in construction or in form—They 
are generally conical hillocks, of larger or smal- 
ler dimensions, constructed sometimes of earth, 
sometimes of stone,—in some cases solid,—in 
others containing a vaulted chamber.—In our 
own country they are found in Cornwall, and 
more especially in Scotland and the Orkneys, 
where they are known under the name of Cairns: 
Dr. Clarke relates having met with them abun- 
