first discovered without any coffins. As the excavations proceeded, a stout oak coffin was discovered, very much decayed; the lid and bottom were nearly pressed together, the sides being too weak to resist the pressure of the earth above. On lifting up the lid nothing appeared beneath it but a dark blueish mud, or clay; but on the under side of the lid I observed a small round substance, which proved to be an amber bead. A careful search was then made in the muddy deposit lying on the bottom of the coffin, and twenty or twenty-four beads of amber and jet were found, together with a small gold crucifix, a gold ring set with stones, and a silver brooch. The brooch was so oxidized that it fell to pieces; these I afterwards united together as well as I could, to show the form of the ornament. There had also evidently been a staff deposited in this coffin, and it had been gilded, but it was so completely decayed that only a black line of decayed matter remained, with the particles of gold leaf about it. I always thought that this coffin had contained the remains of one of the prioresses, and that this might have been her official staff. In the progress of the works the remains of about forty of the sisterhood were unavoidably dug up; the bones were carefully collected, and placed in two new coffins covered with black cloth, and decently buried in the churchyard at Rusper. Some of the skeletons lay without any trace of coffins; all the coffins that were found were of greater width at the head than at the foot. In several of the coffins I discovered pewter chalices, or cups resembling chalices in form, and each of these was covered by a paten. The position of these chalices would indicate that they had been placed in the hand or between the hands of the corpse, on the breast. In one of the graves, which appeared to have been disturbed at some previous time by digging through it (unknown probably to the persons who did it), a chalice of enamelled copper was found, with a cover or paten of gilded copper, engraved, but so much oxidized as to crumble to powder. The chalice was also much corroded, but, at Mr. Hurst's desire, I repolished the enamel, and in other respects, by gilding the surface of the metal (perhaps injuriously to its authentic aspect as a relic of antiquity), restored it as nearly as possible to its original appearance. One of the coffins was formed of por-
