On the bank I was shown two heaps of oak beams which had been removed from the excavated débris, and amongst them were some of the ordinary transverses, containing square-cut holes at their extremities. Upon inquiry, I found that some of these, when exposed, were in position in the line of the surrounding stockade, with uprights projecting through the holes. One thick beam was deeply grooved, and resembled one found at Lochlee, figured and described at page 84. A few large flat planks, having a round handle-like projection at one end, some 18 inches long, had only one square-cut hole, sometimes close to this handle, and at other times at the opposite extremity. Another stout oak beam, 6 feet long, contained a series of round holes about an inch in diameter, and from five to six inches apart. The holes, which were on the broad side of the beam, were about 2 inches in depth, but only penetrated half through it, and from one of them portion of a wooden pin was extracted. This beam was in a fragmentary condition, being, like many others, partially charred. On examining the surface of the island, as now exposed, I noticed some very large oak beams, prepared like railway sleepers, and in one place, near the centre, there were some stones and clay as if they had formed the base of a fireplace; but the whole area was so muddy that it was difficult to say whether or not this was the exact surface of a former log-pavement. On looking at the isolated pillars left standing, we noticed that their substance, which consisted of vegetable débris, mixed with brushwood, ashes, and in one place layers of clay, had a more or less stratified arrangement. The depth of the layer removed varied from 2-1/2 to 3 feet, and it appeared to me as if the island had sunk less towards its shore-side than on the far-off side, as the tops of the surrounding piles had become barely visible on the latter, whereas, on the former, not only were the piles exposed for about 18 inches or 2 feet, but some of the transverses were actually found in position lying over them. At the junction of the gangway and island, a full view of which we now had, the uprights of both structures appeared to be on the same level, but as those of the former approached the shore, they became gradually more elevated, till, as mentioned at page 166, they projected above the grass. As regards the deeper structures of the island, I was always of opinion, considering the amount of subsidence of its surface that had taken place, that their depth would be correspondingly great. This opinion was now shared by the engineer, contractor, and others, who judged more from the great solidity and firmness presented by the whole mass. In attempting to ascertain some further particulars by digging a hole in its centre, Mr. Mathewson writes as follows:-- "LOCHSPOUTS, _2d May 1882_.