4A2 Mr. Tate o?i Yeccring Bell, &c. 



On Swint law (Plate XV. ^y. L) eight of these hut circles 

 were explored. They are of various sizes, from 8 feet to 25 

 feet in diameter, and are either circular or oval in shape. 

 One of them, 2S feet by 20 feet in diameter, with an eastern 

 entrance, is divided by a cross wall into two compartments ; 

 and in the south chamber, at the depth of 1 foot, a fragment 

 of a glass armlet was found. (Plate X.YI. Jig. 11.) 



This fragment is only If inch long, but when perfect it 

 had been 8 inches in circumference. As in the oak rings, it 

 is flat on the inner surface and rounded on the upper. It is 

 formed of glass of various colours and of enamel very artist- 

 ically fused into each other. A pale green glass, of which the 

 principal part of the ring is composed, is overlaid on the 

 upper surface by a bright blue glass, and into this are 

 worked wavy lines of white enamel, the centre of each wave 

 being ornamented by a patch of yellow enamel ; a line of 

 white enamel also goes round the side of the ring. This would 

 be a showy and not inelegant adornment of the female arm. 

 Though the glass is not of superior quality, as there are here 

 and there air vesicles in it, yet it is not in any degree de- 

 composed. 



Near to this hut is a double dwelling, formed by two hut 

 circles abutting against each other, but intercommunicating 

 • by a rude passage from 2 feet to 3 feet in width ; the larger 

 hut is 11 feet 8 inches, and the smaller 7 feet 8 inches in 

 diameter ; both of them are roughly paved with small stones. 

 Within this dwelling an iron instrument was discovered at 

 the depth of 18 inches. (Plate XYl.Jlg. 12.) 



This iron relic is much oxydised ; its form will be best 

 understood by the figure. It is S inches long and 1^ inch 

 broad at the base, where there is a rude protuberance on each 

 side, apparently the remains of a socket or ring by which it 

 could be attached to a wooden pole ; upward it tapers to a 

 point, Avhich however is broken off ; it is somewhat bent in- 

 ward, and though it may have had a sharp point there is no 

 appearance of cutting edges. It seems to be a spear head of 

 a very rude and imperfect form ; and probably enough, is one 

 of the earliest of iron weapons in the islands. 



Of the other hut dwellings explored, one is 8 feet in 

 diameter, and another of a long oval shape is 25 feet by 10 

 feet ; but neither yielded any relics, excepting charred wood. 



Fortified Dwelling on Switit law. (Plate XV. Jig. D.) 

 Eastward of this group of hut circles about 100 yards, a small 

 Fortlet was examined, situated in the opening of a gorge on 



