192 



the water supplied by a channel from the river some miles higher up, 

 and the drainage of the country. A large slab of granite has an inscrip- 

 tion cut on it, and placed on the upper level of the tank ; the character 

 of the letters is the same as the 

 present language of the country 

 (Tamil) is written in, but the 

 language of the inscription can- 

 not be made out. This may be 

 taken as a voucher for the anti- 

 quity of the tank ; but the vast 

 number of kistvaens that are to 

 be found on the two low hills be- 

 fore mentioned, from their sum- 

 mits to base on all sides exposed 

 to view, prove these hills to 

 have been used as a burial 

 ground long before the tank was 

 constructed. I opened several 

 of these monuments of antiquity, and found broken pottery in a few 

 of them. 



" The tradition of the people here also is the same, — ' that the stones 

 were placed to mark where the people that preceded them buried their 

 dead.' 



" I will not attempt any conjecture as to the purpose for which the 

 Cromlechs were set up ; I submit the fact of their existence to you and 

 the members of the Royal Irish Society. 



" Apologizing for the liberty I have taken in addressing you, 

 " I beg to remain, Very Rev. Sir, 



" Your obedient servant, 



" HexW O'Haica, M. I. C. E. L, 



" Deputy Commissary, Retired List, H. M. 

 India Army. 



" Fermoy, Co. Cork, Nov. 25, 1864." 



MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1865. 

 John Feancts Walleb, LL. D., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Robert Henry Beauchamp, Esq., was elected a member of the Aca- 

 demy. 



On the recommendation of the Council, it was — 



Resolved, — That the sum of £29 15s., bequeathed to the Aca- 

 demy by the late Beriah Both" eld, Esq., be allocated to the Library 

 department. 



