TOMBS OF AXCIEXT PRINCES. 105 



house, but tlie roof was already gone, and tlie walls 

 were rapidly crumbling away. At the foot and 

 head of each grave was a square pillar. Near by 

 were the ruins of a building which may have been 

 the residence of one of these princes. It was, like 

 the house enclosing the tombs, about thii'ty feet 

 square, with an entrance on one side. In the front, 

 and right and left sides, were two ranges of holes, 

 probably designed for windows. The upper ones 

 were small, but the lower ones were a foot and 

 a half in diameter; Its walls were eis-hteen inches 

 thick, and of the common coral rock. Several steps 

 led up to the entrance, and this and the windows 

 were grotesquely ornamented. De Cauto informs 

 us that these people were accustomed " to burn 

 their dead, and collect the ashes in urns, which they 

 inter in separate fields, where they erect chapels, and 

 for a year the relatives bring food, which they place 

 on their tombs, and which the dogs, cats, and birds 

 carry off." 



We then took a delightful walk through the 

 adjoining forest of waringin-trees and cocoa-nut and 

 betel-nut palms, and again and again I wished I 

 could have photographic views of the scenery 

 around us to show to my friends, for words utterly 

 fail to convey any idea of the rich grouping of the 

 palms and shrubbery, and festooning vines about 

 us, as the setting sun shot into the luxuriant foliage 

 lonir, horizontal pencils of golden light. 



Here we found the coffee-tree growing wild, and 

 near l)y we came to tlie tomb of a rich native mer- 

 chant. It was a low, square building, surmounted 



