EARLY REMINISCENCES England, from the undue extent to which Scottish affairs are dealt with in the book. As my father had his pair of horses, I was able to ride about a good deal in the neighbourhood, and to visit objects of interest. Between Buzy and Arudy beside the road is a well-preserved dolmen buried up to the capstone At some recent period it had been excavated, but what was found I know not. That this was done in ignorant fashion was clear from a slab of reddish sandstone having been thrown out, marked w th concentric circles. When I saw it I sketched the slab on my cup, intending to revisit it at a later opportunity. But that opportunity did not occur till 1913, when I saw it again and found that the slab had been broken up by the road-menders ; nevertheless a fragment with some of the circles remained. Above Bilheres in the Val d'Ossau on a terrace of the Mont Benou are some small stone circles very much like those on Dartmoor. I climbed the mountain to sketch them, but had no time to plan, as my father was with me ; he took no interest in prehistoric remains, and was impatient to get back to Bilheres, so as to reach Eaux Bonnes early. At Laruns is a benitier with carved fish and a mermaid inside the bowl. At the fetes at Laruns some of the old costumes are still worn by the women, and one may there hear sung Bearnais carols and ballads. The following is an extract from a letter I wrote at the time to my uncle, Thomas George Bond, at Moretonhampstead : " I have been to Bielle where are some circles on the side, and near the top, of Mont Acou. There are nine circles in all, the largest being connected with the chain of eight by a serpentine row of upright standing stones. They are about the same size as those on Dartmoor, but are not hut-circles as there are no traces of walling and mounds about them, nor are there accumulations in their interior. The two highest upright stones are 4 ft. and 3 ft. 6. I send you a rough plan of the arrangement. I have been told that in the Val d'Ossau there are more of these circles but at a great height up the mountains. These are real sacred circles, consisting of ten or twelve huge stone menhirs, ranged in a ring, some are the height of a man, others the height of two or even three men standing one upon the shoulders of another.
