126 INHABITANTS OF THE HILLS. 



Throughout the jungles, every here and there, 

 may be seen a collection of large stones, from 

 twenty to a hundred, raised six or eight feet 

 above the ground, and from eighteen inches to 

 two feet diameter; some standing perpendicu- 

 larly, others obliquely, and some lying flat on 

 the ground between them. 



There was a collection of these stones near my 

 house, arid in taking out some of them for steps 

 to my front door, we found under one of them 

 an earthern pot, the mouth of which was well 

 closed with a resinous cement ; I expected that it 

 contained treasure, but, to my great mortification, 

 it proved to be a woman's brass ornaments, weigh- 

 ing at least three or four pounds ; under it some 

 human bones were dug up, which induced me to 

 conclude the spot to have been a place of burial? 

 and, I imagine, the stones were intended as a 



Formerly it was a common practice in England to nail 

 a horse-shoe to the threshold of the door, to prevent witches 

 from entering Even to this day it is sometimes used by the 

 illiterate in many parts of this country. In India the same 

 idea prevails, and horse-shoes may be often seen nailed to 

 their thresholds. This, with many other old customs, being* 

 alike in both countries, indicate that there must have been a 

 communication, formerly with the inhabitants of this island, 

 and the Hindoos. 



