TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 137 



pointed out to him -where traces of former cities were overgrown and liidden by 

 the dense vegetation. 



On the Delta of the Amazons. By H. "W. Bates, Assist.-Sec. B.G.S. 

 The area which geogTaphically constitutes the Delta of the Amazons forms an 

 irregular triangle, measurmg about 180 miles each way. Contrary to what might 

 be expected in the mouth of a gi'eat river l.png on the equator, the country in and 

 around it has a pleasant .and salubrious climate. The islands and neighbourin"- 

 mainland are not formed wholly of fluvial deposit : this is the case only with a 

 portion of the area, 120 miles distant from the sea, the remaining poriion, or that 

 lying nearest the sea, having a rocky base and a sandy soil, the product of the dis- 

 integration of the rocks. The author concluded that this alhnial portion of the area 

 was the true delta, and that at no very distant period the seaward portion of the 

 present delta fomied a series of islands lying off the mouth of the river. These 

 islands he proved to be of great antiquity by an analysis of their fauna, which 

 shows (in the groups examined) a large proportion of endemic species. The strong 

 affinity of the fauna of the south side of the delta with that of Guiana also tended 

 to show that the two regions could not have been formerly separated by a gulf 180 

 miles wide, impassable by these species. Had this been the case, the southern 

 margins would more naturally have been peopled from Brazil further south, there 

 bein^ no known banier to hinder the migration of species from this direction. All 

 the facts furnished by the physical geography and tlie ftiuna pointed to the residt, 

 that an ancient tract of land or chain of islands bridged over the space between 

 Guiana and what are now the southern borders of the delta. 



An Account of the Human Bones found in TvmuU situated on the Cottesiuold 



Hills. ' By -Dr. H. Bird. 

 The barrows and tumuli on the Cotteswold Hills vary in their size, structure, 

 and contents. They are of two kinds — round tumuli and long barrows. The 

 round tumuli are roughly constructed, and a kist is generally placed near the centre. 

 The kist may contain the bones of one or many human bodies of different ages 

 and both sexes, and flint-flakes and black rude pottery. The long tumuli or 

 bari-ows are constructed in a superior manner. The bones found in the round 

 tumuli indicate a peculiar race. They are tall, stout, square-built, and athletic, 

 varying in height from five feet six inches to above six feet. They had long oval 

 heads with large bases, widt^ and expanded behind, nan-ow, low," and contracted 

 in front. Tlie human remains discovered in the long barrows differ from those of 

 the round tumuli, and are often mixed. Most of the higher-developed skulls, 

 found in the vaults of the long tumuli, were broken across the vertex ; and Dr. 

 Thumam has suggested that such broken skidls found at Eodmorton tumulus may- 

 have been broken before death, being the remains of murdered prisoners, or of 

 persons slain for sacrificial purposes. Dr. Bird described some of a large collection 

 of bones which he had taken from the tumuli, expressing an opinion, from the 

 difference in configuration of some of the skulls, and some slight diflference in the 

 thigh bones, that some were the remains of an inferior race — the aborio-incs of the 

 coimtiy— and others of a superior race that had made incursions into 'them from 

 other lands. He contended, too, that the flints which he had found were iden- 

 tical in character with tliose recently discovered abroad, and which were held as 

 proofs of an earlier history than that current among us. 



Advance of Colonization in North-Eastern Australia. 

 By Sir Geoege Bowen, M.A. 



On the Present State of Dahome. By Captain BtrRTOiir. 



In the year 186.3-64, the author twice -dsited Dahome; and he was now 



induced to thus make kno-wn the results of his observations of Dahome life 



in the belief that his experience would rectify many popidar mistakes. The extent 



of the land of Dahome had been exaggerated, and was but about 4000 square 



