142 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
and had to be put away at once, so that many of the most in- 
teresting novelties were not available for the entertainment of 
our visitors. 
On Sundays some of us went to church, according to our pref- 
erences; others wrote letters and read, and still others took 
long walks on the mainland. Of course the Church of England 
is the leading one in the Colony, but several others, such as the 
Roman Catholic, Wesleyan, ets. are available. Parish churches 
are found all over the island, and the Sabbath is very universally 
observed as a day of rest and devotion. The negroes are dressed 
in their Sunday best and a fair proportion of them attend 
ehurch. 
Many of these churches are old and intimately connected with 
Colonial history, and the tombs outside and the memorial tab- 
lets inside would repay a detailed study, as they represent 
members of eminent British families who have lived and served 
since early in the seventeenth century and were indeed an 
essential part in the history of the Colony. 
At Christ Church, near Oistins, we were shown the tomb, now 
unoccupied, which has a spooky story that would not do for 
nervous children before going to bed. It seems that several 
members of prominent families were buried there many years 
ago in very heavy leaden coffins; and when the tomb was opened, 
or reopened, to receive another occupant, these coffins were 
found shuffled and displaced in a most incomprehensible man- 
ner. Note was then taken of the position of the coffins and the 
tomb officially sealed. Sometime afterward it was again opened 
in the presence of several officials, only to find that these heavy 
coffins were again shuffled and some of them stood on end! 
Again with the utmost precaution against anyone entering the 
tomb, it was sealed and for the third time it was opened. 
Once more the coffins were found with their relative positions 
changed and one or more of them on end. Numerous solemn 
affidavits were signed and sworn to by witnesses, but the awful 
mystery still remains unsolved. I went into the tomb myself 
half expecting to be stood on my head, but nothing happened, 
perhaps because I had neglected the usual pre-requisite of being 
dead and securely sealed. 
The old verger who showed us the tomb had an explanation. 
