142 REPORT—1863. 
and stakes of oak and willow, some of them driven 23 feet into the bottom of the 
loch, similar to those above mentioned. The islet was surrounded by an immense 
number of these, extending to a distance of 20 yards around it; and the masses of 
stone, which apparently were meant to act as breakwaters, were laid amongst them. 
The one next examined stood about 60 yards off, at the extremity of a rocky pro- 
jection into the loch, but separated from it by the now hardened mud. It was 
smaller, and the layers were not so distinctly marked, and some of the timbers in- 
serted in it under the first layer of brushwood were larger, and either split or cut 
toa face. A stake with two holes bored in it about the size of a finger, a thin 
piece of wood in which mortises had been cut, and a sort of box, the interior of 
which was about 6 inches cube, with a ledge to receive the cover, very rudely cut 
out of a block of wood, were found. I succeeded two days afterwards in reaching 
the largest islet in a boat. It appeared by measurement to be 3 feet below the 
level of the other islets; but it was much larger, and several depressions on its 
surface showed that it had sunk. Wherever the soil was not covered with stones 
and silt, teeth were scattered all over it. We found quantities of bones at different 
depths in the mass, but always below the upper layer of faggots, and towards the 
outside. The progress of the excavation was very soon stopped by the oozing in of 
the water; but a workman, plunging his arm up to the shoulder into the soft mate- 
rial, brought up handfuls of the fern layer, mingled with sticks and hazel-nuts and 
large bones, believed to be those of oxen. Near the spot ere of sand and stone, 
fused together, were picked up. On the south side of the island extraordinary pains 
had been taken to secure the structure: heavy slabs of oak, 5 feet long, 2 feet wide, 
and 2 inches thick, were laid one upon another in a sloping direction, bolted 
together by stakes inserted in mortises 8 inches by 10 inches in size, and connected 
by squared pieces of timber 3 feet 8 inches in length. It extended to the length of 
23 yards, and its base, about 5 yards beyond the surface cf the mud, was formed of 
stems of trees laid horizontally, and secured by stakes. In other respects the forma- 
tion resembled that of the other islet, but it was far larger, measuring 100 yards 
round by about 36 yards across. No building of any sort was discovered; but a 
large plank of oak, 12 feet long, 14 inches broad, and’7 inches thick, lay covered 
with stones on the north side. The sinking of the mud had by this time laid bare 
a second canoe between the islet first examined and the shore; it was 183 feet 
long, 2 feet 7 inches wide, and barely 2 inches deep; a block of wood, cut to fit a 
hole left probably by a rotten branch, was inserted in the side, 2 feet long, 7 inches 
wide, aoa, 5} inches thick, and had there been secured by pegs driven through the 
side; across the stern was cut a deep groove to admit a backboard; a hole 2 inches 
in diameter was bored at about one-third of the length of both canoes in the 
bottom. This was so rotten that it would not bear my weight without breaking, 
The next day, being unable to reach the last-mentioned island, I found upon the 
spot which had been indicated to me on my first inquiry, no less than six strue- 
tures similar to those before described, in a semicircle. They were, however, much 
smaller, apparently single dwellings. Though upon some of them charred wood 
was found, nothing else was discovered except a mortised piece of timber, which 
might have drifted there; and in one, inserted under the upper layer of brushwood, 
a large oak timber, measuring 8 feet long by 3 feet in circumference. Throughout 
these investigations, no tool or weapon of any sort has come to light. In the 
layers the leaves and nuts were perfectly fresh and distinct, and the bark was as 
plainly distinguishable on the stems and timber as on the day they were laid down, 
as were also the heather and the fern. It is difficult to conjecture the state of the 
loch when these edifices were formed, and whether or not they were completed at 
one period. The finding of the large stones in the lower layer of ferns might lead 
to the belief that they were gradually raised as the waters of the loch increased ; 
and the necessity of strengthening them by breakwaters would seem to prove that 
the loch must have risen considerably before they were abandoned. No other sort 
of building has been discovered on them; but the great number of teeth scattered 
over the surface of the larger island, and even on the mud surrounding, and the 
immense expenditure of ighout indicated in the shaping and hewing of the large 
timber with tools, which must have been, from the work produced, of the rudest 
description, betoken apparently a considerable population. The loch must have 
