casing, as it were, the mound. On the top of some of these were observed fragments of bone, and small sticks, as of bushes, and I am strongly disposed to think of mistletoe, and two or three pieces of the ribs either of the ox or red deer, in a sound and unusually compact state, and also the tine of a stag's antler in the same condition. This being the second instance in which this portion of the stag's horn has been found in these operations, it is not improbable that it may have been specially regarded. This first chamber having been excavated as far back as the line marking the conical heaping of the earth extended, a similar one was formed on the right-hand side of the tunnel nearer the entrance, leaving so much of the earth between as was necessary to support the roof, with similar results; and on the opposite side a passage was cut at right angles with the tunnel extending three yards, and this at the extremity was turned to the left, in consequence of the peculiar compactness and blackness of the earth, which also appeared to dip more than elsewhere towards the west. This having been worked as far as seemed necessary, another cutting was commenced on the opposite side northward, and following the curve of the heaping up of the central cone. In all of these the sarsen stones were similarly disposed; but after cutting in this direction about 3 yards, the workmen came to an upright seam in the hill, and found before them no longer the dense black concrete, but loose unconnected chalk, evidently the fillingin of the shaft, 5 feet wide by 4 feet 6, sunk from the summit of the hill in 1777. These operations had occupied until Wednesday the 15th of August, the last day of my most enjoyable sojourn in these mysterious regions, which I left with much regret. The subsequent investigations were carried on under the auspices of the Rev. J. Bathurst Deane; and it may, perhaps, be satisfactory to him to have found that Silbury Hill, so far as is yet known, and as he had declared, was not a sepulchral tumulus. One thing is manifest, that the examiners of 1777 did not hit the actual centre of the tumulus, whilst we have excavated its very core. It is not likely, therefore, that the version given of their discoveries by the ancients Blake and Maskelyn, viz. that “they found a man," is correct. Whether EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 17 the piling up of the sods, and the peculiar and marked effects with which that part of the hill is distinguished from the rest, and the layer of sarsen stones, should lead to any future inquiry, for it is possible that this central and conical heap might have been the platform, as it were, on the apex of which the deposit was placed before the remainder of the hill was raised,-will much depend on the observations made subsequently to my departure. If nothing else has been achieved, a more general knowledge of these secluded but most magnificent national antiquities has been effected. Many have wondered at Avebury and Silbury-have seen for themselves the Roman road deflecting to the right to avoid Silbury-have observed the same road cutting down the high bank of the Wansdyke, and adopting its line, who before had no notion that England possessed such relics. But more than this, an anxious desire for further information, a sedulous care for the preservation of these and other antiquities of the neighbourhood, continually brought to light, has been implanted in the neighbourhood, in proprietors and occupiers, and even in the labourers and flint-diggers, the frequent discoverers of exquisite remains. And whilst my friend Mr. George Brown of Avebury has engaged that he will take care, and his sons after him, that not a stone at Avebury shall again be injured or removed, I feel confident that a general spirit of antiquarian conservatism has been widely and effectually instilled, from which the cause of archæology and our Institute will reap much advantage. J. M. с DIARY OF THE EXAMINATION OF BARROWS AND OTHER EARTHWORKS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SILBURY HILL AND AVEBURY, WILTS, IN JULY AND AUGUST 1849. July 18th.-Reached the way-side inn, the "Waggon and Horses," at Beckhampton, in Wiltshire, subsequently yclept by our party the Archæological Hotel; proceeded to inspect tunnel at Silbury Hill, which had then penetrated 30 yards; went to Avebury, after an interval of 30 years; since my last examination missed several stones from thence and from the Kennet Avenue. 19th. This day employed in visits to the tunnel and in obtaining leave to open barrows, successfully and without loss of time, through the aid of Mr. George Brown, and by the kindness of others in the neighbourhood from time to time; made a circuit over the downs east of Avebury, Bye Hill Down, and Hacpen, to select barrows for examination. The breaking up of the land for tillage made it very difficult to recognise the exact spots where I had formerly opened some, and observed others. 20th. Opened a flat barrow (No. 1) of about 25 yards from skirt to skirt, and 5 feet from the apex to the level of the surrounding down, situated in the centre of the flat down about a mile and a quarter from Avebury, and at half a mile's distance from any other barrow. At the centre, 18 inches below the surface, were the fragments of a coarse unornamented vase, containing the bones of a child which had cut its first teeth, but had not changed them. In the chalk rubble were numerous pieces of deer's ribs. 2 ft. 6 in. from the surface was a skeleton of an adult (A); the thigh-bones measured 14 inches, the whole |