368 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



inhabited by a race of dwarfs, who were served by 

 a race of giants ; that one great use to which the 

 dwarfs put the obedient giants, was the construction 

 of durable and substantial habitations, and that the 

 excavations we were inspecting were the result of 

 their labours. The circular apertures were the en- 

 trances, and as the little people used to ride on hares, 

 their dimensions were most appropriate. While 



L was delivering this marvellous history with 



great unction, we were sketching the subject of his 

 discourse. Their whole aspect and position invested 

 them with an air of solemnity and mystery. The 

 gnarled trunks of gigantic oaks rested heavily upon 

 the rude architecture, or twisted their giant roots 

 into the crevices of the sculptured rocks. The dense 

 foliage overhead drooped sometimes over the whole, 

 so as almost to conceal it ; rank grass and ferns grew 

 in dark moist corners, and mosses and lichens clung 

 to the weather-beaten surface. It was a silent hidden 

 spot, at the bottom of a deep valley, from which no 

 view was visible, seldom visited even by the natives, 

 for the path we were travelling was so little fre- 

 quented that it was often nearly invisible, and never 

 seen before by a European. We were the first to 

 discover its secrets, and speculate upon their origin ; 

 doubtless, for years to come the majestic grove in 

 Avhich lie concealed these monuments of a bygone 

 race will remain untrodden and unknown. 



Shortly after leaving this interesting spot, we found 



