MANUAL OP THE nIlAQIRI DISTRICT. 245 



I do not allude to the numerous small buildings of this type, formed ClIAJ'. X. 

 with dressed stones, and generally having one or two figures of Hindu ^^ 



deities carved upon them, but to those of a much ruder description, 



foi'med with unhewn stone, and without any carving or inscriptions. 



4. In one respect these cromlechs differ from those in the British 

 Islands. 



The latter arc ruder in construction : the upright stones are often 

 without any particular form, as if they intended merely to support the 

 top stone. 



The number of suppoi'ts too, varies greatly, sometimes only three, 

 sometimes six ; and thus the chamber is variable and rude in form. 



The cromlechs in this district are, on the contrary, formed with 

 carefully selected flat stones placed on edge, so as to form a chamber 

 nearly square and nearly completely enclosed. 



The covering stones have not so decided a slope as have those of the 

 cromlechs of the British Isles. 



5. Of unmistakable cromlechs, I have seen not more than six. 

 Four of these are in the valleys of the Baw4ni and Moyar Rivers ; 



and two in the valley of the Noyel River or the Bolamampatti Valley : 

 one of the latter is close to the road from Coimbatore to Dambrapale- 

 yam and about five or six miles from Coimbatore. 



These two are remarkable for having, in a stone forming one side of 

 the chamber, an oval shaped hole about 10 or 12 inches in diameter. 



6. Major Hamilton when he visited the higher ranges of the 

 Anamalais discovered a cromlech precisely similar to those in the 

 Bolamampatti Valley. 



i It is on the east side of, and about 400 yards from, the Tora Kddavu 



j River, about three or four miles south of Ponachi. 



' I did not see this cromlech, but having seen Major Hamilton's sketch 

 and heard his description, I have no doubt but that it is a real crom- 

 lech. 



Sepulchral Tumuli. 



7- These are found in every part of this district — in the cultivated 

 plains — in the lands that have been irrigated for hundreds of years — 

 around the base of the Anamalais — in the deep gorges at the foot 

 of the Nilgiris— -and in the now untrodden unhealthy jungles in the 

 valleys of the Bawani and Moyar, I have found these sepulchral tumuli, 

 svith their kistvaens, cinerary urns, and the other characteristics 

 tvhich distinguish the tumuli that are scattered over Northern and 

 Western Europe. 



, 8. These tumuli are not generally found isolated or singly here 

 |ind there. In some places 10 or 12 acres are covered with them ; and 

 j.hese burial places are so close to each other that it is impossible to 

 •esist the belief that the whole of the country must, at one time, have 

 jeen thickly peopled : it is scarcely possible that these could be the 

 ■esults of the occasional visits of a nomadic race. 



9. By far the finest specimens of these remains, that I have seen, 

 re in the valley of the Moydr. 



