The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-17 00:00:00

Mr. Pratt said it was important to endeavour to
stop the career of such societies as that of the Gari-
baldi at once, but he might say it was not unlikely
that further proceedings might be taken in the
matter.
He then withdrew.

The Opening of the Castle Howard Tumuli.

The Rev. W. Greenwell, M.A., of Durham, has
concluded for the present year his examination of
the British burial mounds on the estate of the Earl
of Carlisle at Castle Howard, Malton. In all, in-
cluding three openings in 1854, Mr. Greenwell, with
the Rev. John F. Bigge, rector of Stamfordham,
Northumberland, and Mr. Monkman, of Malton,
Yorkshire, has superintended the examination of
the contents of 18 British barrows, all of the crema-
tion age, but all varying in details of interment.
The openings have thrown considerable light upon
the modes of burial of the pre-historic tribes who
inhabited Brigantia. The three openings of last
year, and the five reported lately, were all made in
the moors lying at the base of the Slingsby Banks,
and west of the high road from that place to
Slingsby. The last series of diggings were made on
Taylor's Moor, east of the before-mentioned high
road, and between the village and the banks of
Coneythorpe. The ground was undulated, and had
many rather abrupt knolls, everyone of which when
dug into yielded burials, although the plough had
in most cases nearly obliterated the mounds.
The first opening made was in a tumulus in the
wood at the bottom of the banks, the contents of
diggingroLt,;li or in planting or
ly destroyed and fwehmiculig,
trees, e t 14.1
beenrabb rabbit
o
dis-
persed. Not a single trace of the burial could be
found.

The next examination was made in a large tumu-
lus on Windmill-hill, which from time immemorial
has served as a beacon for the fires of the sth of
November. On the highest point of the south side
was the tumulus, about 50ft. in diameter, and re-
duced by successive ploughing to an altitude of about
3ft. Indeed, the destruction done by the plough
or the drag-harrow was but too evident on the
surface, which was strewn with fragments of finely
wrought British pottery and a piece or two of
wrought flint. A 14-feet trench was cut down to
the plane through the barrow, commencing on the
south. About eight feet south of the centre the
bottom portion of a large and very thick rudely-
made cinerary urn was found, placed on the natural
surface, and filled with burnt bones. The whole of
the top of this large urn had been broken away by
the plough, only some four inches of soil remaining
over the part found. Among the bones and charcoal
in the urn were found a fine thumbflint (unburnt),
and a remarkably well made and perfect flint arrow
head, which had been in the fire, but the burning
had not in the slightest degree damaged it. In ad-.
dition to these flint articles there were a burnt bone
pin and an ornament, also of burnt bone, resembling
a capital P in shape, the semi-circular part being
grooved and ornamented, and only attached to the
straight back or stem at the top. Doubtless at the
period of use the semicircular portion would spring
a little, and it is possible that the two bone articles
together may have been used for fastening the gar-
ment. Whatever 'this P-shaped article may have
been, it is quite unique, none of the gentlemen pre-
sent having met with anything like it in bone. The
fineness and thinness of the skull showed the burial
to have been that of a young warrior, whose wea-
pons and ornaments had been buried with his ashes.
But this burial was not the primary one. At a
distance of six feet N.E., and 14 feet from the
circumferential line, another beautifully ornamented
small cinerary urn, laid on its side and badly
crushed, being only nine inches below the surface,
was found. The pieces were all there, and the
urn will make up. There were no bones accom-
panying this urn, but there was a large stone
north and south of it, and, judging by appearances,
there had been one over the top, which, being
caught by the plough, had been removed. In the
' centre of the barrow, and in a hole made in the
natural ground, the primary burial over which the
tumulus had been first reared was found. The urn
was in fragments, and no trace of the bones could
be found. This was a puzzle ; but a solution was
found in the evening, when a labourer, returning
from his work, came up to the party and confessed
that 10 or 12 years ago he, having heard tradition-
ally that there was treasure buried on Windmill-
hill, had set about digging in search of it, and had
started in the centre of this very "hone," and had
" found the pankin,' but no money in it." In this
way one of the most important and earliest burial
was destroyed, and all record of the nature of the
first interment of this prolific tumulus for ever lost.
Three feet further digging to the north-west pro-
duced another interment, which had been made iu
a very large and highly beautiful urn, having four
impressed cord lines externally on the rim, and lower
down, divided into sections by three, sometimes
four, vertical lines, the compartments being filled
with cord markings. The urn was very full of
burnt bones, but had been placed bottom upwards ;
indeed, had the urn been perfect, the bottom would
have been above the surface. The plough had
made sad havoc there. The remains were very ten-
der from wet and air, and only the rim was of any
unique markings inside. The inside
the mouth of the urn was 13 inches. Mr.
value.
diameter I
oft had
Greenwell resolved to completely remove this tumu-
hie, and the greater part of a day was occupied in
doing so, but no further discoveries were made.
From the many fragments of urns found on the land
it is evident that other shallow secondary burials had
been entirely broken up and destroyed by cultiva-
tion. A considerable length of time was required
for the examination of this rich tumulus. The re-
port of the details of six other openings into low
barrows on an adjoining hill, now completing, will
be given in a day or two.

BARBARIANS.—The commissioners of Blue Earth
county have passed a resolution that they will pay
$2OO for every Sioux Indian killed within the limits of the
county ; the scalp to be produced to the county commis-
sioners, and prpof given that he was killed by the claimant
within the limits of the county. The commissioners have
also appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of blood-hounds
for tracking "Indian murderers and horse thieves prowl-
ing round the frontier settlements."—Mankato (Minnesota)
Record.

BEAUTY OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS.—Nature
has there been prodigal of beauty ; the climate, except
during certain sickly seasons, is delightful ; the sky clear,
the night lighted up by a moon of unusual brilliancy, by
the splendour of the milky way, and by the planet Venus,
which appears here like a lesser moon, and makes ample
amend for the short duration and abrupt departure
of the twilight. The mountainous configuration of the
larger islands causes the wind to blow from all quarterg
towards the land at night. Wore it not for this beneficent
provision, the heat would bo almost too great for human
habitation. Columbus, in one of his letters to King Fer-
dinand, says of the harbour of Porto Santo, " The water
is so clear that I can see the sand at the bottom; the
banks are adorned with lofty palm trees, whose shade
gives a delightful freshness to the air; and the buds and
flowers are fresh and beautiful. I was so much pleased
with the scene that I had almost formed the resolution of
staying here the remainder of my days." After the
Spaniards had exterminated the ancient inhabitants of
Hispaniola, the earth, no longer cultivated, bore noxious
herbs, and the most beautiful of the islands became inac-
cessible and unhealthy wilds, but before the advent of
Europeans they wore in every respect delightful. The
papt,,, tree grows there, and palmetto royal, a column of
200 feet in height, the cedar, the mahogany, the banyan
tree, which

"Spreadsend lenher
thatarm ins
the
Branching so broad gground
The bearded twigs take root, and daughters grow
Above the mother tree ; a pillared shade,
High overarched, and echoing walks between."
Deadly serpents are unknown. The flamingo and the
humming-bird are found in the woods, as well as such
quadrupeds as the agouti, tho peccary, the armadillo, the
opossum, the racoon, and tho musk rat. There were also
alcosc_native dogs who resembled their kind in Europe,
except that they were compelled by natural inability to
renounce the pleasure of barking. Among the peculiar
animals of this favoured land are iguanas, alligators, and
many other kinds of lizards, which vary from three inches
to 20 feet in length, and land-crabs which march down
yearly to the sea in a procession of millions ; nor will com-
mon gratitude permit us to forget the turtle.—Exodus of
the Western Nations, by Viscount .Bury.