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ON DRTJIDICAL AND 



where cromlechs are found, as far as the opening in the 

 ghats at Palghatcherry through which they penetrated to 

 the southern plains. In the Nilgiri and Anamalai mountains 

 which lie on either hand of the gap, and in the country 

 of Coimbatore we find the most numerous traces of their 

 former presence, and proofs that there they fixed their first 

 settlement in India, from which they subsequently radiated 

 in various directions. 



UdenhaBy. — There are some antiquities here worthy of 

 notice. In a field adjoining the village lies a " house of a 

 hero " or sculptured cromlech. On the back wall of it are 

 two very singular sculptures which I have copied. The state 

 in which they are would indicate a far greater antiquity than 

 that assigned by the inhabitants to the edifice. A mile and 

 a half from the village near a hill called Turnekonda Drug are 

 some more cromlechs, one of which is very remarkable for its 

 dimensions and its sculptured interior, which represent figures 

 in martial costumes. In the same neighbourhood I found a 

 vast number of perforated cromlechsll formed of four large 

 flag stones, one side being pierced with a circular aperture, 

 and all full of earth, the tops of the four walls, each a single 

 stone appearing level with the surface of the ground, a fact 

 attesting their high antiquity. With one exception they 

 exactly correspond with the closed cromlechs I found on the 

 Nilgiris, but all want the flag-stone roof. The Kakoon 

 of the place assured me there were nearly two hundred of 

 these curious structures. They varied in length being from 

 nine to four feet. These antiquities present the aspect of a 

 large city partly buried under the ground, or a large cemetery. 

 From my examination of similar edifices on the Nilgiris 

 I arrived at the conclusion they were ancient sepulchres. I 

 regretted much I had no leisure to excavate any of them. 



If Precisely similar to the perforated cromlech represented in Bell's 

 " Circassia." 



