58 Buddhism and Odinism. [No. 1. 



cement, those of Norway and JTinmark shew no signs of any cement 

 having been used in their construction. 



In the interior of the tope as well as of the haug there is a quad- 

 rangular chamber formed of flags of stone, and placed generally on a 

 level with the ground surrounding the monument, sometimes on a 

 level with the upper surface of the basement, and sometimes higher 

 up, but never below the level of the surrounding land. 



As appendages to the topes and the haugs may be enumerated flags 

 ou the summit, pilasters on the sides, pillars around, pavements and 

 ditches surrounding the tumuli, tanks and tombs in their viciuity, 

 and cells of the officiating priests. 



Elags were common to the monuments both of India and Norway ; 

 but of the other accessories, Norwegian monuments seem to have 

 had less than those of India. Tanks and wells are invariably found in 

 the neighbourhood of topes, because supplies of water were absolute 

 necessities for ceremonial purposes among the Indian Buddhists ; 

 but in a country like Norway, where ablutions could not be generally 

 enforced, they must necessarily be few. They are, however, not 

 altogether wanting. At Vigeroe, near the coast of Sondmor in the 

 diocese of Bergen, there is a large haug, having in its neighbourhood 

 a rectangular excavation, 54 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 6 feet deep, 

 the sides being regular and sloping. It is singular in appearance and 

 attracts the attention of all who visit the locality. To account for 

 its origin, it has been said that it was excavated to afford the neces- 

 sary material for the erection of the haug; while others suppose it 

 to be the foundation of a house ; but both these hypotheses seem 

 to be inconsistent with its regular shape and sloping sides, and 

 we must therefore take it to be the remains of a tank. Similar 

 excavations exist in the neighbourhood of haugs in the dis- 

 tricts of Indre-Holmedal, Tttre-Holmedal, Sieloe and Tysnaes.* 

 M. Stromf supposes that there existed at one time a subterranean 



* " It is curious, that in the United States of America may be found artificial 

 mounds, consisting of many layers of different materials and formed in the shape 

 of cupolas, often having a tank in its vicinity (Transact. American Ethnological 

 Society, Yol. III. p. 157). These mounds suggest the idea of a population pro- 

 ceeding from the Norwegians, who discovered America in the year 1000 of our 

 era." Holmboe, p. 23. f Sondmors Beslcrivelse II. p. 41. 



