At Western Temple, Acropolis.—There are twelve slate and four granite monoliths still standing on the walls, and four slate monoliths, three still intact, have been found in wall-débris. Originally those on the south and west walls were exactly equi-distant. Bent found and removed several sections of different soapstone monoliths, both decorated and plain, but he found no soapstone bird in this temple. In 1891 the lower portion of a soapstone bird was discovered and taken to Johannesburg, and its whereabouts are at present unknown. In August, 1902, the head and neck of this same bird were found, as also a length of the beam upon which it stood, and this is beautifully carved with chevron pattern. This beam originally stood on the summit of the north wall. All slate monoliths are plain, but many of those of slate have been rounded with tools of which they bear the markings. Several monoliths have fallen since 1888. One immense granite beam which occupied an upright position immediately north of _The Platform_ in the Elliptical Temple has disappeared since 1891. A monolith in the interior facing the _Western Entrance_ has fallen within the last few years, while a tall granite beam at the same spot has broken off just above the ground within the same period. Another tall granite beam occupied the _Central Area_ in the temple, and this has also disappeared within the last seven years.[44] Relic prospectors of the nineties appear to have excavated round the spots occupied by monoliths and caused their fall. The finest specimen of a bird on a soapstone beam yet discovered at Zimbabwe was found by the author in _Philips Ruins_ in February, 1903. • • • • • _Slate and granite beams._—These are plentifully found in all the enclosures. Sections and splinters of slate beams are found in entrances which have portcullis grooves, one still standing in position 8 ft. above the floor. Slate beams used as entrance posts in portcullis grooves were erected before the building of the entrance, as the enclosing blocks follow the irregularities of the beams. Wood posts found in some portcullis grooves in poorer built walls are not considered ancient, and their comparative modernity is testified to by experienced builders who have very recently examined a collection of such posts. Mopani hard wood and mahobohobo have not been used in all such instances, some of the posts being of soft wood. Wooden posts have not so far been found in well-built entrances. The posts outside the clay huts of old Makalanga are older in appearance and condition than the majority of the posts found in the poorer entrances, though they very closely resemble one another in measurements and in the wood used. In one instance the groove was too large for the wooden post which had been wedged in with granite splinters, the granite being only slightly weathered.