On the estate of Mr Thomas Lainé, in the adjoining parish, may be seen the grave of a chieftain of old, which was discovered in the year 1818, by some workmen who were planting a tree in the côtil. Whilst digging the hole, they were stopped by some large stones, which being removed, there appeared the tomb of the ancient warrior. The grave was walled in, and was six feet nine inches long. There were no bones, and the present remains are in the possession of the proprietor of the estate and Mr F. C. Lukis, of Grange road. They consist of a lance, a piece of ornamental brass, a sabre in a steel scabbard, and a vase. The lance has a handle which is supposed to be cedar wood, and the vase was full of blackish composition, conjectured to be the ashes of some distinguished personage; and was found about thirty paces from the grave, in a depth of nearly fifteen inches of ground. The inner part is of the colour of a dried chesnut leaf, and the outside of a dark brown, whilst the pottery was of the finest clay. Its weight was upwards of two pounds; height, eight inches, and breadth at the top six inches. This vase, and the spear, are in the possession of Mr Lukis, and form no small addition to that gentleman's interesting collection of antiquities. The following is from a drawing taken some years back. Unfortunately the flat stones that covered the grave were not sufficiently closed, wherefore the body from the access of the external air has been decomposed, thereby only leaving us the above remains.
Taking the road for town the tourist will fall in with the Câtel church which has been already noticed. The roads in this district, as well as in most parts of the island, are remarkably good and may furnish the traveller with another specimen of insular comfort; for here, if they are not exactly equal to some of those of England, at least have this advantage, that they are entirely exempt from tolls, bars, gates, and every other imposition, whereby his carriage or horse may be stopped at every stone's throw. The roads are generally seventeen feet broad, and the raised foot-way, that always forms the one side, from three to four; thereby allowing two vehicles to run abreast without fear of encroachment on the foot-paths. The by-lanes which he may have frequently entered, afford a tolerable specimen of what the old roads were, previously to the spirited undertaking of Sir John Doyle in 1810. Similar to the roads, they have a narrow rough causeway, but in general much higher, and in their present condition, afford many a rural retreat for the green-lane botanist, as they are more or less screened from the summer's heat by umbrageous trees. In the sylvan districts, they are not unfrequently graced with the waving verdure of the beech, and on their mossy banks put forth a profusion of herbs, primroses, and other wild flowers, forming a cool and pleasant retreat for solitude, reading, and botany.
With these, or the like reflections, the stranger may reach town, where peradventure, should his walk be towards the latter end of autumn, the approaching charms of winter yet await him.—Closed shutters, a blazing fire, slippers, and an easy chair; and, whether it be fancy or not, I cannot tell, but it strikes me forcibly, that a smoking goose and a bottle of old port, always seem more dainty when viewed beneath the sparkling rays of four candles, than the most superb banquet that ever glittered beneath the all-glorious beams of the brightest sun that ever shone out of an Eastern sky.
