The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-05-12
EXCAVATIONS ON THE SITE OF THE ANCIENT
CITY OF URIcoNIUM.

/
! CITY OF URICONlUM.
| Wo have previously noticed the excava
tons OIL the site of the Roman city Of Ur.
coniu,n, now the village OF Wroxeter, on the
Severn, and on the ancient Waiting street.
about six miles from Shrewsbury. One
particular object ofantiIuity, n portion of u
wall Of Roman architecture, about 90 feet
high, aud 100 feet long, still remains. On
the 3D. of January last, tile excavations were
commenced, under the direction of Mr..
Ihomar Wright, +. $. A., of London, and
Dr. ii. johnson, Of Shrewsbury; since
which time several hundred feet Of the ORIG
inai walls have been traced. The nor.
ton OF the sito cxcavated is in the immcdi
alto vincinity ofthc old wall standing above
ground, and the trench was dug fourteen
feet deep to the foundations. Tho walls
followed for a considerable length, and the
excavations formed parallclogram o2G
feet by p. In this portion, some very beau
tiful specimens Of tesselated pavement have
been found, besides several silver and other
coins OF tho ,eigns of Nero, Trajan, Domti
tIan, Antoninus, Plus, Valens, Constantine
Iheodosius, &c. Numerous clasto spcci
mems Of Samian ware have been picked up,
on one of which may be traced tho letters
ELsr, being evidently tho work of the 10
man potter, Celsi," bronze rings, fbule,
axe heads, roofing states, will, tho original
nails still attached, an iron tripod, horns
and tusks of tho red deer and wild boar.
together with numerous other relics, have
como to light. On tho 9th instant, how
ever, the most important clicovery vet madc
gladdcncd the eyes Of the cxplorers.-
About forty feet from the West end Of the
old wall trench was opened, running ut
right angles there with, in cutting which he
cxcavators discovered portion Of hypo
caust, or furnace chamber, whence hea
was conveyed through pipes in the wall
to all parts Of tho building, and especially
to the baths. This hypocaust is not yet
luliy traced it is semi-circular in appear
ance the exterior wall is two feet thick, the
outside being plastered with concrete, COL
ore4 red; in the interior are three pillars.
formed Of square quarrics, which probably
supported floor. Portions of tho ashes Of
tho fuel used, and some SCOT, wore found in
the interior. There is ample evidence dis
covered to show that tho ancient city of tile
Cornav was destroyed by fire. Mr.. Wright
and other antiquarians describe tho exca-
vations at Wroxcter as the most important
undertaking of tho kind yet commenced in
England.-Europcan Times, l9M Aiurch
FIJI" Not Confined to ALan.-Tho fol-
lowing interesting paragraph is taken from
! work entitled passions of Animals"
Small birds chase each other about in play,
but perlap. the conduct of the crane and
trumpcter is tho most extraordinary. The
latter stands on ono leg, hops about in the
most eccentric mannor, throws somersets.
The Americans call it the mad-bird on ac.
count of these singularitios. Water birds,
such as ducks and geese, dive after each
other and clear the surface of the water with
ousstretchod neck and Tapping wings, throw
ing abundant spray around. Deer often
engage in sham battle, or trial of strength
by twisting their horns together, and push
ing for the mastery:
All animals pretending violence in their
play, stop short Of exercising it; the dog
takes tho greatest precau.ion not to injurc
by his bite; and the o,irang outany, in wrest
ling with his keeper, pretonds to throw him,
and makes feints of biting him. Some ami
mails carry out in their play the scmbIancc of
catching their prey; young cats, for in
stance, leap after every small and moving
objects, even TO the leaves strcwed by the
aulum wind they crouch and steal forward
ready for tho spring, tho body quivering,
and the tail vibrating with emotion, they
bound on the moving leaf, and again spring
forward to another. Bengger saw young
jagllars and cougars playing with round
substances, like kittens. Birds of the mag
pie kind are the analogues of monkeys
full of mischief, play and mimicry. There
is story of tame magpie, that was seen
buisily employed in garden, gathering
pebbles, and with much solcmrity and a
studied air buried them in hole made to
receive post. After dropping each stone,
it cried "currack y" triumphantly, and set
off for another. On examining the spot,
poor toad was found in this hole, which the
magpie was stoning for Ills amusement.
AN EDIToR's DEFENSE OF FRIESD.-
An editor, vindicating tho private charac