Excursion on Saturday, August %\st. 



175 



were all unhewn, it must have been a work much anterior to the 

 time of Stonehenge. Then he thought, as he said in Mr. Smith's 

 presence, that the little circle south of Silbury really would have a 

 very important bearing. It was a good point of view from which 

 to get a general view of Silbury and Avebury, and he thought it 

 would help much in the elucidation of the system of worship there 

 established. When they came to Stonehenge, though he could not 

 say that the Association had settled his doubts for ever, yet at the 

 same time he thought nobody could hesitate to admit that the week 

 of their meeting had done a great deal towards helping them to 

 elucidate the mystery about Stonehenge. In the first place they 

 had had the very able paper by Dr. Phene, tracing the same sort of 

 temple as he found in Minorca. He had traced those trilithons 

 from Africa to Majorca and LVIinorca, along the coast to Spain and 

 Brittany, and thence to Ireland, and he really thought that was 

 a great step towards the elucidation of the subject. He could 

 not leave this matter without pointing out of what immense 

 importance it was that the outer earthwork, to begin with, should 

 be preserved, and not tampered with and desecrated in the way they 

 had seen. He hoped the Association would commemorate their 

 visit to Wiltshire by doing something to protect this memorial, and 

 if they would ask him to sign any petition to Sir Edmund Antrobus 

 or anybody else, he should like to make a representation as to the 

 vallum being kept sacred, and more care taken of the stones. The 

 trilithon which had fallen within man's memory should be replaced; 

 and the leaning stone should be made secure; it had gone over 

 a good deal more during the last five or ten years, and if it 

 fell down not only would they lose it from its position, but it 

 would infalliby be broken in the fall, and would also knock down 

 the little stone beneath it. As to Roman pavements, he had 

 heard that a great deal of that at Bromham had been taken away 

 during the last two or three years. That ought, certainly, to 

 be preserved, and if such remains ought to be preserved anywhere it 

 should be on land belonging to the Government. He thought there 

 were indications of much larger remains there, and he should like the 

 Association and their own Wiltshire Archaeological oociety to join 



