399 



where a poor's box invites the contributions of visitors. Light is ad- 

 mitted through the open end of the passage, and by an aperture under 

 the covering stone of the chamber, at the west side, sufficient to give a 

 tolerably distinct view of the interior. The interference of the lights, 

 however, renders it very difficult to detect the shallow depressions in the 

 undressed granite surfaces ; which may account for the fact that, in a 

 monument so much frequented, the existence of iuscriptions should not 

 have been previously observed. 



On visiting the Mane Nelud^ on the 29 th of August, 1863, the writer 

 observed inscribed characters on some of the stones which form the 

 parietal inclosure of the chamber and passage. Further examination, 

 on several subsequent days, with the advantage of the light of the early 

 morning and late afternoon, resulted in the discovery of five inscribed 

 stones, of which the most remarkable is (1) the terminal supporting 

 stone of the passage, on the right hand, at the entrance to the chamber. 

 On the opposite side of the passage, the fourth stone from the end (2) 

 and terminal stone at that side of the entrance to the chamber (3), are 

 also inscribed, but not so largely; and the writer did not copy the lines 

 on the latter, regarding them as ornamentation merely. Within the 

 chamber, the stones adjoining the headstone, on the west (4) and east 

 (5), respectively, bear groups of characters. The subjoined ground plan 

 of the monument exhibits the position of the stones in question in the 

 order above enumerated. 



Fig. 1. 



STEPS 



The writer exhibited drawings, traced from the stones, and verified 

 by rubbings ; but, owing to the roughness of the natural surface of the 

 granite in which the lines are incised, an uncertainty exists as egards 

 some portions of the characters which are indicated in the drawings by 

 a lighter shading. IS'othing, however, has been transcribed, except 

 such depressions of the surface as appeared to the eye and touch to be 

 incised or picked out by an instrument. 



See reduced cuts of drawings on following pages. They are reduced 

 on a scale of about one inch to the foot. 



