correct idea. Like that of Knowth, it consists of an enormous cairn or hill of stones, occupying the summit of one of the natural undulating slopes which enclose the valley of the Boyne upon the north. It is said to cover nearly two acres, and is four hundred paces in circumference, and now about eighty feet high from the adjoining natural surface. Various excavations made into its sides, and upon its summit, at different times, in order to supply materials for building and road-making, have assisted to lessen its original height, and also to destroy the beauty of its outline; but this defect has been obviated, in part, by a plantation, chiefly of hazel, which has grown over its surface. A few yards from the outer circle of the mound, there appears to have stood originally a circle of enormous detached blocks of stone, placed at intervals of about ten yards from each other. Ten of those still exist, and are placed on the southeastern side. It is said that a large pillar-stone, or stele, originally stood on the summit of the mound. Such is the present appearance of this stupendous relic of ancient pagan times, which has elicited the wonder, and called forth the admiration of all who have visited it, and has engaged the attention of nearly all the distinguished antiquaries, not only of the British Isles, but of Europe generally; which, though little known to our countrymen, notwithstanding that it is within two hours' drive of Dublin, has attracted thither pilgrims from every land. Before we speculate upon its date or origin, or offer any conjectures as to its uses, we will conduct our readers into the interior, and point out the objects within it most worthy of attention. This mound is hollow; it contains a large chamber, formed by stones of enormous magnitude, and accessible through a narrow passage, also formed of stones of great size, placed together without mortar or cement; and considering their bulk, and the positions they occupy, exciting our astonishment how such Cyclopean

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masonry could have been erected by a people who were, in all probability, unacquainted with those mechanical powers, so necessary in the erection of modern buildings.

When this opening was first discovered, and whether known to the Irish before the introduction of Christianity, it is now difficult to say. Sir Thomas Molyneux, who is generally, but erroneously, supposed to have first described this monument, states that the opening was accidentally discovered, by removing a part of the stones to make a pavement in the neighbourhood. The earliest describer of New Grange was Edward Llhwyd, the Welsh antiquary, and keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, in Oxford, who, in a letter, dated Sligo, 12th March, 1699, and published by Rowlands, in his "Mona Antiqua Restaurata," gave the following account of it, which we quote, the more particularly, as he evidently had examined it carefully, and in order that its present state may be compared with its condition 150 years ago.* " I also met with one monument in this kingdom, very singular; it stands at a place called New Grange, near Drogheda, and is a mount, or barrow, of very considerable height, encompassed with vast stones, pitched on end, round the bottom of it, and having another, lesser, standing on the top." When we first visited New Grange, some twelve years ago, the entrance was greatly obscured by brambles, and a heap of loose stones, ravelled out from the adjoining mound. This entrance, which is nearly a square, and formed by large flags, the continuation of the stone-passage already alluded to, is now at a considerable distance from the original outer-circle of the mound, and consequently the passage is at present much shorter than it was originally, if, indeed, it ever extended so far as the outer circle. A few years ago, a gentleman, then residing in the neighbourhood, cleared away the stones and rubbish which obscured the mouth of the cave, and

This stone, so beautifully carved in spirals and volutes, is slightly convex, from above downwards, and measures ten feet in length, and is about eighteen inches thick. What its original use was—where its original po

ings exhibit the same handiwork and design as those sculptured stones in the interior, and whether this beautiful slab did not belong to some other building of anterior date, are questions worthy of consideration, but which we have not now space to discuss. This is the first representation that has been

This stone, of which we can only perceive the edge, is five feet eight inches long; its sculpture, both in design and execution, far exceeds any of the rude carvings which are figured, apparently at random, upon the stones found within the cave; and as it never could have been intended to be concealed from view, it is most probable that it decorates the entrance into some other chamber, which further examination may yet disclose. The larger of the Egyptian pyramids contains several chambers, superincumbent upon the great sepulchral vault in which the sarcophagus was placed. This stone is of the same composition -a micaceous slate-as the great spirally-carved slab beneath, and is not found at all in this neighbourhood; nor, indeed, are any of the great stones of the passage or the chamber, of a rock found in the vicinity, while the small broken stones, which form the great bulk of the mound, were evidently gathered around.

We now enter the passage, which measures sixty-three feet in length, and is formed of twenty-one upright stones upon the right side, and twenty-two on the left, and roofed with flags of immense length, resting in some points upon the upright side stones, but in other places chiefly supported by masonry external to them; one of these is seventeen feet long and six broad. The general height of the passage, for about three-fourths of its length, is about six feet: but from the accumulation of earth towards the entrance, it is scarcely that much at present. Its average breadth is about three feet; but some of the side stones having fallen inwards, so as almost to touch, one requires to creep on allfours to pass this point. Most of those stones are remarkably smooth, even on parts where the rubbing of a century and a-half could not have produced this polish, and appear to have been long exposed to water or the atmosphere.

Some have smooth indentations, as represented by the next drawing; and very many of the stones throughout this building, as well as others used for like purposes in the neighbourhood, have small sockets, mortices, cut near, or in their edges, of which we have an example before

or

leads to a large dome-roofed chamber, within seventeen feet of which it rises so as to slope gradually into its roof; and the stones of which this portion is composed are of gigantic size, many of them eight and ten feet high. Immediately behind this rise in the gallery, we find another somewhat similar elevation.

As all is perfect darkness within this cavern, it is necessary to illuminate it in order to form any just idea of its figure or extent. When about half lighted up, and we begin to per

ceive the size and character of this great hive-shaped dome, and its surrounding crypts, formed by stones of such immense size, half revealed to us by the uncertain light of our tapers, an air of mystery steals over the senses a religious awe pervades the place; and while we do not put any faith in the wild fancies of those antiquaries of the last century, who would make the world believe that this was a great Druid temple, an Antrum Mythraæ, in which the sacred rites of paganism, with its human sacrifices, were enacted, we wonder less at the flight which their imaginations have taken.

This cavern is nearly circular, with three offsets, or recesses, from it-one opposite the entrance on the north, and one on each side, east and west, so that the ground plan, including the passage, accurately represents the figure of a cross.

The accompanying cut, from a sketch by Mr. Connolly, gives by far the truest idea of one of these crypts,

The basement of the great chamber, to about the height of ten feet, is formed of a circle of eleven upright stones, partially sunk in the ground, placed on edge, with the flat surfaces facing inwards, and forming the sides of the cavern. From this course springs the dome, formed by stones somewhat less in size, placed horizontally on the flat, with the edges presenting towards the interior; and by each layer projecting slightly within that placed beneath, they thus, by decreasing the circle, form a dome, without an arch, and the whole is closed at top, by one large slab: the stability of the mass is preserved by the pressure of the sur. rounding material. This form of roofing, which evidently preceded a knowledge of the principle of the arch, is to be found in many of our early buildings, generally pagan, and chiefly sepulchral, in this country; in the interiors of some of the duns or raths, and in very early Christian oratories; and not only in Ireland, but in Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor; in one of the pyramids of Sackara, as well as in the remains of a temple at Telmessus. Pococke had observed a similar structure in the pyramid of Dashour, called by the Arab name of Elkebere-el-Barich; and all the visitors to the Cyclopean walled

Mycenæ are well acquainted with the appearance of the great cavern, known by tradition as the tomb of Agamemnon, or believed by some antiquaries to have been the treasury of Atreus; between which and New Grange comparisons have often been made: their resemblance, however, consists in the principle on which the dome is constructed. That remnant of the early Hellenic people was formed by an excavation scooped out of the side of a natural hill. The gallery which leads to it does not appear ever to have been covered in; the sides of the dome spring directly from the foundation, like that at Clady, and not from a row or circle of upright pillars. The interior is perfectly smooth, and was originally covered over with plates of brass; some of the nails which fastened these even yet remain; but these latter circumstances merely show a greater perfection in art in the early Greeks the architectural principle perhaps is the same in both. The ground plan of thegreat Boyne monument also finds its analogy in the Orient; at Tyre, and at Alexandria we find tombs carved out of the solid rock, of precisely the same cruciform shape, having three minor excavations projecting from the several chambers. But while we thus allow ourselves to draw upon our re

collections of other lands, we fear our readers, and the visitors to New Grange, for whose use in particular we write, may require some further information as to the measurements, construction, and hieroglyphics of this remarkable monument. The top of the dome is nineteen feet six inches from the floor, which is now covered with loose stones and rubbish. From the entrance to the wall of the chamber opposite measures eighteen feet; and between the extremities of the right and left crypts, twenty-two feet. Each of the side chambers are nearly

square, their sides being formed of large oblong blocks of stone; but they are not all of the same size that on the right of the entrance, the eastern, is very much larger than either of the others, and is also the most enriched with those rude carvings, volutes, lozenges, zig-zags, and spiral lines, cut into the stones, and in some instances standing out in relief, to which we alluded in describing the passage.

In order to afford our readers some idea of these curious markings, we have introduced the accompanying illustrations.

Here is one, of the projecting edge of the top stone in the southern wall of the great right hand recess. The lozenges, six in number, are cut in about three-quarters of an inch deep. Another specimen of this form of decoration may be perceived on the horizontal slab at the meeting of the passage with the roof. A few of those have carvings upon them of spirals, coils, and zig-zag lines, cut by some sharp tool, about half-an-inch in depth.

ing with a loop, and in most instances having seven turns. Many of these spirals, or scrolls, look like the first drawing or marking for the subsequent engraving in relief, such as we find in the finished work of the great flag at the entrance. These "scribings" appear to have been done with a tool like the pick used in roughening mill-stones.

Here again is a portion of the device found upon the roof of the eastern recess, carved upon a great flag, 12 feet

Upon a careful examination of the spiral carvings, we find them nearly all formed of a double coil, commenc

in length, which spans the entire breadth