Oct. 1850. MONUMENTAL STONES. VANDA CCERULEA. 321 



thirty -two feet by fifteen, and two in thickness ; and states 

 that the sarcophagi (which, however, are rare) formed of 

 four slabs, resemble a drawing in Bell's Circassia, and 

 descriptions in Irby and Mangles' Travels in Syria. He 

 adds that many villages derive their names from these 

 stones, " man ' signifying "stone -." thus " Mausmai ' is 

 " the stone of oath," because, as his native informant said, 

 " there was war between Churra and Mausmai, and when 

 they made peace, they swore to it, and placed a stone 

 as a witness ; ' forcibly recalling the stone Jacob set up 

 for a pillar, and other passages in the old Testament. 

 "Mamloo' is "the stone of salt," eating salt from a 

 sword's point being the Khasia form of oath : "Mauflong ' 

 is " the grassy stone," &c* Returning from this grove, we 

 crossed a stream by a single squared block, twenty-eight 

 feet long, five broad, and two thick, of gray syenitic granite 

 with large crystals of felspar. 



We left Nurtiung on the 4th of October, and walked to 

 Pomrang, a very long and fatiguing day's work. The route 

 descends north-west of the village, and turns due east along 

 bare grassy hills of mica-schist and slate (strike east and 

 west, and dip north). Near the village of Lernaioak woods 

 are passed, in which Vanda ccerulea grows in profusion, 

 waving its panicles of azure flowers in the wind. As this 

 beautiful orchid is at present attracting great attention, 

 from its high price, beauty, and difficulty of culture, I shall 

 point out how totally at variance with its native habits, is 

 the cultivation thought necessary for it in England. f The 



* Notes on the Khasia mountains and people ; by Lieutenant H. Yule, Bengal 

 Engineers. Analogous combinations occur in the south of England and in Brit- 

 tany, &c, where similar structures are found. Thus maen, man, or men is the 

 so-called Druidical name for a stone, whence Pen-maen-mawr, for " the hill of the 

 big stone," Maen-hayr, for the standing stones of Brittany, and Dol-men, " the 

 table-stone," for a cromlech. 



f We collected seven men's loads of this superb plant for the Royal Gardens 



VOL. II. Y 



