Given sufficient men, great masses of stone may be moved over long distances and raised into position, even with the rudest means. There is no evidence whatever to show that the ancient Egyptians possessed any machinery to economise human labour in moving great monoliths. They were, it must be remembered, especially favoured in the Nile as a waterway, and the quarries, as a rule, were near its banks. In their pictorial records, so graphic in illustrating every art and craft, there is no reproduction of any machine or engineering expedient, except those of the very simplest kind; but the records do show that they employed large bodies of men in this kind of work, who were specially trained to haul with military precision. The earliest record of such work is that of an official of the 6th Dynasty (3350 B.C.), who brought a monolith to Memphis, which required the services of 3000 men. A record on the tomb of Tehuti-hetap, an official of the 12th Dynasty (2622–2578 B.C.), shows a statue on a sledge, drawn by 176 men, divided into four parties of 22 pairs, each party to a single hawser. A superintendent stands on the knees of the statue, giving, as the inscription states, ‘the time-beat to the soldiers,’ by clapping his hands. The two obelisks, each 97½ feet high, and 300 tons in weight, erected by Queen Hatshepsut (1503–1481 B.C.), were cut in the quarries of Assuan, and transported to Karnak in seven months. A still more remarkable instance of transporting great masses of stone was that of the fallen statue of Rameses II., which must originally have been 60 feet high, and weighed 800 tons. But this work was eclipsed by the same monarch in the statue erected at Tanis in the north-east Delta, which must have stood 92 feet in height, and weighed 900 tons, at least. It was brought from the quarries of Assuan, 600 miles distant. With such examples as these, accomplished with simple means, there is nothing surprising in the erection of the rude megalithic monuments by the primitive inhabitants of these islands. We shall now refer more specifically to some interesting examples of the numerous remains of the rude covered and uncovered chambers found in Ireland, as distinguished from the great tumuli presently to be described. * * * * * [Illustration: Kernanstown Cromlech, Carlow.] _Kernanstown Cromlech_ is about two miles north-east of Carlow, and is the largest in Ireland. This magnificent granite block is securely supported on three uprights at the east side, standing at a height of 6 feet. At the west end this cap is raised 2 feet. The block is 23½ feet long, 18¾ feet broad, 4½ feet thick, and measures 65 feet round. This is estimated to weigh 100 tons. It makes an angle of 35° with the horizon. * * * * *