1847.] 



Neilgherry Hills , ^ c. 



95 



stretched arms joined, could not " put a girdle round about" this 

 tree : the largest I recollect having seen. If testimony were want- 

 ing to the antiquity of the cairn, the girth of this tree would amply 

 furnish it ; its roots have entwined themselves amongst the stones of 

 the cemetery, and spread over the entire area. Some enterprising 



cairn-hunter" has endeavoured to reach the contents of this cairn 

 by cutting through the roots, on purpose to reach the grave-stone, but 

 his efforts have been foiled ; for after reaching the slab, he found 

 that a root of the tree, having insinuated itself beneath the stone, had 

 wholly occupied the place of the grave. The stone may now be seen 

 suspended in the body of the tree a foot or two below the natural 

 surface of the cemetery. 



Near this cairn I discovered a barrow consisting of a circular 

 mound of earth encompassed by a trench. In shape and size it is 

 precisely similar to some of those of the ancient Britons (Celtic Scy- 

 thians) which, during my late residence in England, I saw on the 

 cliffs of the Isle of Wight and on Salisbury Plain. 



Anxious to investigate the contents of this tumulus, I ran a trench 

 along its entire length from North to South, and another at right 

 angles ; but was disappointed to find nothing. On some of the lawns 

 and terraces of the hills may be seen old walls of piled uncemented 

 stones ; leading, from their frequency and association with the rest of 

 the antiquities, to the conjecture that the early Thautawars were 

 much more numerous in former times than at the present day. 



Between Ootacamund and Chinna Coonoor lies a ridge covered 

 with architectural remains. At the northern extremity of it is a cir- 

 cular hollow from the area whereof rise several stones once encir- 

 cling an altar. The altar a monolithe of vast dimensions has been 

 removed by violence from its pedestal at the foot of which it now 

 lies. Great labour must have been employed in transporting this 

 stone to its original position. Altogether the place reminds the an- 

 tiquary of Bryn-Gwynn in Anglesea, which is a circular hollow sur- 

 rounded by an immense agger of stones and earth, the case here. 

 Bryn-Gwynn has only a single entrance, likewise the case in the pre- 

 sent instance. The Welsh antiquity is supposed to have been the 

 grand consistory of the Druidical administration. 



I lately said that bells were frequently found in digging open the 

 cairns ; indeed I discovered two in a cairn near Coonoor ; with re- 

 ference to this fact, and in farther proof of the cairns having belonged 



