"While thus engaged, our landlady made her appearance, and from her we learnt that this was her collection of curiosities, gathered from the neighbouring country; and she readily imparted to us all she knew of the subject. Taking up one of the stones, which resembled those we had seen on the road,--'This,' she said, 'is a petrified snake, with which this neighbourhood abounds. These were once fairies that inhabited these parts, and, for their crimes, were turned first into snakes, and then into stones. Here'--showing a stone of a conical form--'is one of the fairies' night-caps,[6] now also become stone.' 'Do, madam,' addressing Emma, 'pray observe this pattern; is it possible lace-work like this should ever have been worked by human hands? This--and this--are pieces of bones of giants, who lived here after the fairies were destroyed.' These bones, she informed us, were frequently dug up in several parts of the county, as well as innumerable _thunderbolts_,[7] some of which she also showed us, affirming that they were the very thunderbolts by which the giants were in their turn annihilated. [Footnote 6: A Cidaris, or turban-echinite; see Plate LIII.] [Footnote 7: _Belemnites_, popularly termed "thunderbolts," Plate LIX.] "We all listened attentively to this discourse, and on my smiling, when she withdrew, at the romantic account we had received, Wilton strenuously defended our good landlady's narration, and declared, he thought it was not without a fair share of probability. On the return of our hostess, I did not venture to express any doubt of the truth of her story, but merely requested to know if she was aware of there being anywhere a more extensive collection of similar curiosities. 'To be sure. Sir,' she replied, 'our University has a museum full of them; and if you be going through Oxford, it will be well worth your while to see it.' "After taking refreshment, we left our kind and communicative hostess, but not with an intention of immediately visiting the Museum of the University. On the contrary, I felt that, without some previous knowledge of the objects to be examined, our curiosity would be only excited, not gratified; and I resolved to defer our visit to Oxford, until we had obtained the information necessary to insure us both pleasure and profit in the investigation of the relics of interest it contained.