260 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ch. 



seldomer wrong than any of our other leaders." 

 It is praise as high as it is discriminating. On 

 the 28th he writes : " Memorial service for the 

 Duke of Devonshire. What a loss ! " 



A loss which touched Lord Avebury even 

 more closely in personal relations was that of 

 Sir John Evans who died a few weeks later in 

 the same year. Lord Avebury writes of him as 

 " One of my oldest and greatest friends. It has 

 been one of the privileges of my life to have 

 enjoyed his friendship." 



He was at Kingsgate when he received this 

 sad news. He had gone there after a visit to 

 Avebury, with his daughter, Mrs. Pelham, and 

 his old friend Mr. Philip Norman, to see some 

 excavations that were in progress — opening out 

 an old ditch. He found that the diggers were 

 down about fifteen feet and had disinterred 

 many bits of Norman pottery down to a four- 

 foot depth. Below that were Romano - British 

 evidences down to six feet three inches, and at 

 seven to eight feet British pottery, which he 

 ascribes, with a query, to the Bronze Age. 

 Near the surface, or about one foot down, they 

 had found a pipe which he dates approximately 

 at the Jacobean time. 



They were at Kingsgate the greater part of 

 June, and at the end of the visit he notes : 

 " While we have been here I have worked at 

 (1) Obituary notice of poor Evans, (2) Propor- 

 tional Representation Society's address, (3) 

 Darwin jubilee address, (4) Correcting proofs 

 of Society of Antiquaries' address, (5) Royal 

 Microscopical Society address, (6) New Edition of 



