ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 269 



Tanah, and called by the Malays, Battu Berala, or the 

 Idol Stone. The best idea of the shape of this last will 

 be given by the accompanying engraving.* 



The Battu Kawa is not in any way reverenced by 

 any of these people, and from the square hole in the 

 centre, and its being situated in a place where Moham- 

 medans are known to have been buried, I have thought 

 that with a post, which may have decayed, placed in the 

 hole of the stone, it may have served to commemorate 

 the interment of a saint, or some other distinguished 

 person of that religion. But the Malays deny all know- 

 ledge of its uses, or the period of its construction, and 

 none of them are now capable of producing anything 

 like it in stone. 



The Battu Berala, on the contrary, is highly vene- 

 rated by the surrounding Dyaks, who suppose the 

 slight elevation on which it is placed, to be the resi- 



* Dimensions of the Battu Berala: 2 feet 7 inches across the 

 upper surface. Diameter of the round hole, 12 inches ; diameter 

 of the square hole, on the lower surface, 7 inches. Thickness of 

 the whole stone, 6 inches ; thickness of the upper edge, 4 inches. 



