m 



The Antiquities of the 



[No. S2, 



account of a very remarkable one I found at Pallicondah near Vellore 

 has appeared in a number of this Journal.* As we advance North- 

 ward, the Cromlechs are found in the forests of Orissa. 



Lieutenant Kittoe, in the account of his journey through these 

 forests, says : 



" At this place (Goorsunk) I remarked a number of stones placed 

 in the same manner as the Druidical monuments (such as the Kits- 

 cotty house near Boxley in Kent) : viz. three set upright, with one 

 on the top of them, the dimensions of these are however very small, 

 and have the appearance of a number of three legged stools. A 

 custom prevails in these parts, of relatives collecting the ashes and 

 bones of the deceased, and after burying them, placing stones over 

 the spots in the manner above described." 



Mr. Kittoe also says, he observed : " two heaps of stones each at 

 the foot of a tree, which reminded me of the tumuli (cairns) the 

 ancient Britons in the North of England used to construct over the 

 graves of fallen warriors, on which each traveller used in olden times 

 to throw a stone on passing by; upon inquiry I found that these 

 were of the same nature, the like practice existing. Those which I 

 allude to, are over the remains of two chiefs who fell in battle on the 

 spot. I had often remarked similar tumuli in other parts of India." 



The inhabitants of these parts are Gonds and Khonds, another 

 remnant of the aborigines of India, and the fact of their having pre- 

 served the Cromlech and cairns, is an additional proof of the edifices 

 of the kind I have prescribed having belonged to the aborigines, and 

 of those on the Neilgherries being the altars of the ancient Thauta- 

 wars, another family of the aborigines of the plains. 



From my " Sketches of the Goomsoor war," published in the 

 Asiatic Journal a year or two back, it will be seen that the Khonds 

 had some customs similar to the Thautawars, such as 



The former sacrifice of children. 



The sacrifice of buffaloes at funerals. 



The burning of the dead. 



The want of respect for brahmins, 

 and some others hereafter to be noticed. 



Speaking of Cromlechs, Mr. Rowland states his belief that they 

 were originally tombs, and that in after times they were used as altars, 

 sacrifices being performed upon them to the heroes deposited within. 

 I rather regard them as having been originally altars and subsequent- 

 * Vol. XIU. r*rt ii. p. 47. 



