NATIVE TOMBS, 



137 



side, about fifty feet from the sea, we found a native 

 grave, on the brow of a small precipiec. It con- 

 sisted of a pile of skulls and bones, chiefly of turtle, 

 but with a few that had belonged to a dugong. 

 Most of the bones were very old, but some of those 

 of the turtle were almost fresh, the shell still 

 adhering to them. The pile was six feet long, four 

 feet wide, and three feet high. It was surrounded by 

 slabs of stone, and from the centre of it protruded 

 a piece of bamboo about five feet long. Similar 



graves were found at one or two other points on 

 this island, and one on a little bushy islet some 

 miles to the eastward. This one, however, was in 

 a peculiarly picturesque and appropriate situation, 

 a bleak and desolate spot, overhanging the sea, and 

 well adapted for solemn and mournful reflections. 



