THE MOORLAND PLYM. 
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search. With this we leave Trowlesworthy, which must at one 
time have been a veritable stronghold, and even now presents 
more signs of careful and elaborate fortification than any other 
district in the southern quarter of the Moor. What the reason 
might have been for such precautions we cannot now know. 
The slopes of Legis Tor, on the northern bank, are thickly 
covered with hut-circles and enclosures, and probably once the 
population was equal to that on Trowlesworthy. But with the 
exception of one wall opposite Spanish Lake, and the summit of 
the tor itself, no efforts at exceptional fortification have been 
made. 
I have prepared a rough plan of the arrangement at the summit 
of the tor. It will be seen that two of the wing walls embrace 
a natural pile of rock, and the others, diverging more widely, 
present an outer rampart. So far all is plain. But in the centre, 
where the four walls meet, a short channel, six inches wide by ten 
high, has been formed between two rows of granite stones, and 
covered in by a square stone 3 ft. 6 in. long and 2 ft. broad. 
And in this three square holes, each 1| by 1J, by 2^ or 3 inches 
deep, have been cut to form the points of a triangle, of which 
two sides are each 1 ft. and the third 1 ft. 7 in. in length. 
(See figure C.) 
I confess I cannot imagine any possible use for all this, but 
have been led by a series of unfortunate circumstances to conclude 
that it is a taboo stone. 
In the first place, when examining it, I am sorry to say I cut 
my hand ; and secondly, when, having put my knife on the large 
block, after clearing out the holes with it, I turned my back for a 
moment, I never saw that knife again, and no amount of search 
would recover it. Finally, after taking a photograph of this 
unlucky spot, I discovered, when proceeding to develop it, that I 
had elaborately re-exposed an old negative. This series of disasters 
have left a lasting impression on my mind. 
On this Tor there is an hitherto unrecorded kistvaen, the cover- 
stone of which measures 5 feet by 4 feet 1 inch. The sides have 
fallen in. 
A wall which runs north and south from Spanish Lake presents 
an arrangement of demilunes and circles, evidently intended to 
protect the entrance. (See figure D.) 
vol. x. 
Y 
