Over these pillars, which at present lean to one side, is laid another enormous stone about 6 feet 6½ inches long, and of the same width as the pillars, so that the whole structure bears a surprising resemblance to the most conspicuous part of the celebrated Celtic ruins at Stonehenge[19] and other ruins in Malabar[20], about the religious purpose of which not the least doubt remains at present. But besides these, there are other very curious stones of different workmanship, and destined evidently for different purposes; some of them are large, flat, and quadrangular, very peculiarly worked, and adapted, probably, to sacrifices. One of them is three feet in length and breadth, but with a projection on one side, as is represented in the woodcut, and 1 ft. 2′ high. On the surface of this stone, and parallel to its sides, is carved a channel 4⁸⁄₁₀ inches broad, forming a quadrangle; and from this a small channel branches along the projecting part. Several stones of similar workmanship lie about. There is also the remnant of an enormous stone 3 feet 7½ inches at the back and across, but rounded off at the corners, looking like a solid throne, excepting that on the upper side there is an excavation measuring 1 ft. 3²⁄₁₀ in. at the back, 9⁶⁄₁₀ inches on the front, and 1 ft. 1²⁄₁₀ in. across, and about 10 inches deep, with a small opening. This stone looks very peculiar, and probably formed an altar. These ruins are certainly very remarkable. Any one who looks at them without prejudice or preconceived opinion, will be impressed with the belief that they belonged to a place of worship; though how this peculiar structure could be adapted to religious purposes, I will not undertake to decide. It is well known, that the most ancient idols were mere pillars or stones, not only of a round or conical shape, as symbols of the procreative power of nature, but even of a square form. It is also well known, from the example of the columns in On or Heliopolis, of the two celebrated columns, Yakín and Boʿaz, in front of the temple in Jerusalem, and from that of the two pillars of the Phœnician Hercules in Gades, that the power of the Deity was often represented by a pair. A pair of massive columns or pillars, covered with a similarly massive impost, may well serve to represent symbolically the firmness and eternity of the cosmical order, while the name of the chief deity of the pagan Berbers, ʿAmún, may possibly have the original meaning of “the Founder, Supporter.” But I will not enter here into such conjectures; I will only say that my distinct impression on the spot was, that the structure was a rude kind of sun-dial, combining the vertical with the horizontal principle. That it could not be intended as a common doorway, even if it were connected with another building, is evident from the narrowness of the passage; but it may have had the purpose of serving as a sort of penitential or purgatory passage in consecrating and preparing