A remarkable gold reliquary-cross was discovered on cutting through the mound. separating the inner from the outer bailey, in A.D. 1865. It was forwarded, at her own request, to the Queen; and the Secretary of the Treasury, after causing search to be made into its history, wrote that "There is strong reason for believing that the cross at one time formed a part of the royal collection of jewels belonging to King Edward III. Such a cross is described in a list of jewels of that king's reign, and it disappears from all future lists, until restored, after an interment of 500 years at Clare, to the Royal Jewels of Her present Majesty."

Her Gracious Majesty has just created her youngest son-the esteemed scholarly Prince Leopold-Duke of Albany, and Earl of Clarence. The latter title, as will be seen from what has been already said, is a new one. There were several Earls of Clare ancient and potent ones-and an Earl, and Marquis of Clare in comparatively modern. times (temp. James I. and George I.), but none of them were of the Royal family, or Earls of Clarence.

There have been four Dukes of Clarence, all of them the sons or brothers of the reigning monarchs.

His Royal Highness Prince Leopold is the first Earl of Clarence.

Englishmen perhaps might have wished that the ancient and historic dukedom had been revived, and taken precedence of the Scotch title of Albany, as well as the Irish one of Arklow; but English loyalty will be content since, intentionally or unintentionally, each of the three ancient kingdoms, of Great Britain and Ireland-now united under the one royal crown-finds a representative title in the dignities bestowed by its beloved bearer upon her youngest son.

Long and happily-as we are certain he will worthily-may he wear the rose, the shamrock, and the thistle thus united in his princely crown, and may the union be another bond to bind them more firmly and closely together in the royal diadem of his house.

Roman Remains at Malta.

HE

at

Government authorities Malta have, with praiseworthy zeal and discretion, placed in the hands of Dr. Caruana, the librarian of the Public Library at Malta, the work of preparing a Report upon the recent discoveries at Notabile. This Report, accompanied by very excellent photographs, has just come to hand;* and we propose laying before our readers an account of the very important discoveries chronicled therein, and of the valuable historical commentary which Dr. Caruana has added.

It appears that on the 3rd of February, 1881, while some workmen were engaged digging holes for planting ornamental trees on the large esplanade of Sakkaja, without the walls of Notabile, midway between the Gate of the Greeks of that old town and Ghariexhem in Rabuto, some remains of old Roman mosaic were discovered. This was brought to the notice of the Governor, and Dr. Caruana was instructed to visit the site, to ascertain whether it was worth while exploring further. Upon Dr. Caruana's report a committee was at once formed, and the work commenced.

Now that the work is done, the groundplan of the building is found to consist of four large rectangular rooms, a peristyle, and a portico. The four rooms are on one line facing the south, on which side apparently

ran the line of the old street. On the side of these rooms, towards Notabile, is the peristyle, enclosing a compluvium 22 ft. 4 in. by 21 ft. 4 in.; and in the direction of the longer axis of the peristyle, towards the east, there is a porch with two columns. There exist regular openings between the rooms, and between the rooms and the peristyle. Some of these openings were apparently square, are furnished with one or two steps, and still show the holes at the corners to allow them to receive the hinges of the doors; and others, as would appear from the width of the openings and the rotundity of their jambs, had no

We have to thank Miss Toulmin Smith for the opportunity of obtaining a copy, only a few of which have found their way to England.

doors hanging. The traces of the exterior wall to which the porch belongs, on the side of the peristyle towards Notabile, show that another wing of the old building extended towards Notabile.

The following is a list of the objects found :

Mosaic Pavements.-A suite of five large floors, some of them measuring 30' 4" by 37' 10"; a large peristyle, surrounded with sixteen columns, enclosing a large compluvium; traces of several other appurtenances unexplored, all paved with mosaic in the Pompeian style, recording "i bei tempi dell' arte," several remains of mosaic scattered about, having been displaced either by falling or settlement of the ground; and the mosaic pictures, inserted in the pavements, show evidently the profusion of adornment with which the sumptuous building once existing on this site was decorated. The perimeter of three of the rooms, which were probably the most important, and of the peristyle, is adorned with single or double borders of Roman mosaic called "vermiculatum," formed of small pieces of white, red, and green marble, of an ornamental character, having variegated meandering patterns on white grounds, interspersed with masks of superior workmanship. These borders encircle a large band of mosaic in yellowish monochrome, and a large central rectangular ground of marble lozenges (red, white, black, and green), having regular form and size and well fitted together. The other pavements The other pavements and the compluvium are only bounded by a strip of monochrome mosaic, having the central portion paved with marble lozenges like the other floors.

In the proximity of the peristyle were found the remains of a coarser sort of floor, made of shards of broken tiles and small pieces of marble compacted together, and well consolidated in a bed of mortar, the "Opus Signinum" with which the less conspicuous parts were generally floored by the

Romans.

Mosaic Pictures.-Three mosaic pictures, embedded in matrices of stone, and in no respect inferior to those of Pompeii, have been found inserted in these pavements. One measuring 1' 10" by 2', inlaid in hard lime, represents a young man with curly hair,

bearing in one of his hands a bunch of grapes entwined with vine branches, and in the other apparently a pomegranate; a dove flying towards the grapes, and a duck on the left side of the picture. The left shoulder of the figure, which, according to Father Garucci represents Autumn, is much damaged. The second picture, inlaid on a marble slab measuring 2 by 2' 1", of highly superior workmanship to the preceding and in a better state of preservation, exhibits a standing nude male figure, whose feet and hands are tied with cords, a lion's skin and a club at his feet. A female figure, on the right, is engaged binding the hands of the central figure; another female figure, on the left, having a pair of scissors in the right hand, and with the left holding by the beard the male figure, which is in evident distress at being about to be deprived of it. The drapery is very elegant, and its folds well arranged, with bright colours and various shades, and the whole composition exceedingly well grouped and executed with precision. It is most likely one of the episodes in the life of Hercules-namely, the sale of him by Mercurius to the Lydian queen, Omphale, when it was decreed that he should serve a mortal for three years, as an atonement for having killed Iphitus, son of the King of Echalia. A third picture represents two drinking doves sitting on the brim of a bowl, with the reflection of their heads in the water. This picture is in the centre of the compluvium where the Romans used to place a fountain. Another hard limestone slab of the same size as No. 1, and evidently the fellow to it, contained a fourth mosaic picture which has been quite destroyed.

Sculpture.-The remains of three white Carrara marble statues were recovered from the rubbish. The one 4' 6" high, rather a good work of Greek art, represents a male figure, covered with the Roman military cloak (paludamentum); without arms and head, but exhibiting a small cavity between the shoulders, just where there is the articulation of the neck with the bust, where a provisional head with a neck might be fitted.

The second 4' 9" high without bust, which must have been partially nude, as the folding of the upper portion of the apparel, adjusted on the waist and covering the body

and one of the legs, is hanging downwards. Behind a sandstone pedestal, probably of one of these statues, as they were found in the same room, some bones were found inserted in the wall under the plastering. Some other burnt bones were also found in the same room. The third statue 5 ft., without head and arms, represents a female wearing much the same garment as the Ceres, found at Gozo and preserved in the collection of the public library. A white marble bust, of inferior workmanship, representing a female, its nose broken. Several other remains of two colossal marble statues namely, some of the fingers, two hands, one leg dressed with a kind of stocking different from the Roman cothurnus, and one foot; the feet and pedestals of three other minor statues; and a nice large Roman head, apparently representing one of the emperors. Some architectural remnants, as shafts of sandstone Doric pillars, architraves, cornices, and other parts belonging to the crowning of the pediment, the entablature of the roofing, and the basement of the old building.

Inscriptions.-Fragments of three Latin inscriptions on white marble slabs were found; two of them of no importance whatever, bearing only one or two separate letters; a large fragment of the third one alludes to the municipal order of the Decurions by the letter Decur.

Coins.-No medals were recovered, but only several plated brass coins, mostly effaced, only four of them being legible, and none belonging to the Emperors of the East. The four coins are: a second brass of Gordian, A.D. 238-243. On the obverse: the head of the emperor crowned with laurel, and the legend, Imp. Cæs. M. Ant. Gordianus Africanus Augustus. On the reverse, apparently a female figure erect, holding in the right hand the branch of a tree, and on the sides of the figure the letters S. C. very visible. Conf. J. Vaillant vol. i. p. 152. A third brass of Aurelian, A.D. 270274. On the obverse: the head of the Emperor radiated, the body armed with lorica. On the reverse: the Emperor crowned with laurel, and clad in the Imperial mantle, leaning with his left arm upon a spear, and receiving a crown of laurel from the right hand of a figure of Victory.

The legend round the two figures "Restitutor Orbis" very clear, and at the foot the cyphers XXI indicating the worth of the coin. Conf. Banduri's Coins, vol. i. p. 382. A third brass of Constantius, A.D. 337-360. On the obverse: the head of the emperor, bearing a crown adorned with pearls and gems, the bust covered with the imperial mantle, very clear, and the legend "D. N. Constantius P. F. Aug." On the reverse: the Emperor piercing a knight fallen from his horse, with the legend "Fel temp Reparatio," and at the foot the cyphers S.M.K.S. (Sacra moneta Kartagine Secunda). Conf. Banduri's Coins, inter rariores, vol. ii. p. 382. A third brass of Constantine Jun., A.D. 337. On the obverse: the head of the Emperor crowned, and the legend "Constantinus Jun."-the next two words effaced. On the reverse: the gate of the camp (castrorum portum), and round the legend "Providentia” visible; and at the foot the letters R.T. and a crown in the middle. Conf. Banduri, vol. ii. p. 340.

Articles of toilet and domestic utensils, &c. Several large bodkins (Acus comatoria) of ivory, some inches long, to retain the dressed back hair of women plaited on the occiput. Some pieces of wind instruments (tibia) made of bone, showing clearly the fingerstops, and a large quantity of fragments of earthenware vessels.

More

To these important details as to the actual remains that have been found, Dr. Caruana adds an historical notice as to the probable nature and object of the buildings anciently raised on this site, and the epoch of their construction and duration. The relics of these masterpieces of Mosaic pavements belonged evidently to the old heathen Melita, the name of the old capital of Malta. over, the ruins have a close topographical connection with the important remains of two splendid marble buildings which adorned the old capital, a temple and a theatre sacred to Apollo, discovered in 1747, on the same plateau of Notabile, and almost in the immediate neighbourhood. Hence, says Dr. Caruana, the close proximity of the recently discovered buildings to two of the most magnificent edifices of Melita, exhibiting traces of the same grandeur and splendour of construction; the conspicuous position of

the site itself, it being the centre, and, according to appearance, the most aristocratic part of the old town; the domestic arrangement and uncommon extent of the buildings, are all circumstances which make the conjecture highly probable that they were the abode of the representative of the Cæsars. From Pliny, Diodorus Siculus, and Cicero, who mention the magnificence of the villas at Melita as just in their time coming into vogue, we gather that the villa must have been constructed sometime about B.C. 88. As to the duration of their existence, Dr. Caruana goes into the question very deeply and instructively, and by showing the date of the introduction of municipal institutions into the island to have been much later than A.D. 121 (the coming of St. Paul), he concludes that these Pagan buildings must have been preserved for the use to which they had been originally destined up to the time of Aurelius Constantinus. The coins found in the last discoveries fully warrant us in dating the permanence of the building up to Constantius II. in A.D. 360, whilst the total absence of remains belonging to the epoch of the Greek Emperors under whose sway the islands remained up to A.C. 870, does not warrant us in presuming that the same building was still in existence long after A.D. 370. In fact, the mere inspection of these ruins, and the wild destruction of so many statues, shows the over-zeal of the Christians against Heathenism towards the middle of the fourth century.

These premises belong to the architectural class of private buildings, the domestic arrangement of which is detailed by Vitruvius. The private buildings of the Romans consisted of the front portion for the reception of clients, who resorted by daybreak to their patrons either for advice, or support in civil matters, or pecuniary assistance, and other importunate visitors, which formed, says Pliny, the public part of the house. They were, principally, the vestibule, the prothyrum, the atrium, the alæ, and the tablinum. The penetralia, or the inner division, was appropriated for the eating and sleeping apartments-that is to say, the hearth of the family, and consisted of the peristyle, triclinium, bedchambers, &c. The relative situation of the two principal divisions was

always fixed, but that of the parts composing each division, especially the interior department, was not so. For instance, very often the atrium and peristylium were placed on the same axis at right angles with the entrance, so as to afford one view of the nucleus and arrangement of the house, as it is in the house of the tragic poet, and other houses at Pompeii. But very often the peristylium was in one of the sides of the inner building, as in Sallust's house.

We have thus laid before our readers the substance of this very valuable report. The islands of Malta possess a very interesting architectural history, there being at least four historical periods-namely, the Phoenician, the Roman, the Christian, and that of the Knights of St. John. The area of the two islands is dotted with monuments of Cyclopean character, as well as with Phoenician tombs and other remains in a much better state of preservation than the dolmens and cromlechs of Druidic Gaul; whilst the numerous and extensive catacombs at Notabile, Siggieni, Mintua, &c., are still unexplored.

With the invaluable help of Dr. Caruana and his enthusiastic zeal in the cause of antiquarian research, we trust that the Government of Malta (more generous than the Home Government of Downing Street) will do all that is requisite in getting together these fine remnants of a past age into the safe custody of competent authorities.

Reviews.

The Head-hunters of Borneo; a Narrative of Travel up the Mahakham and down the Barito; also Journeyings in Sumatra. By CARL BOCK. (London: Sampson Low & Co. 1881.) 8vo. pp. xvi. 344.

HIS new contribution to anthropological studies is presented with all the additions that make a book at once attractive and useful. With thirty coloured plates, a map, and some engravings, the reader has placed before him a vivid account of the wild people among whom Mr. Bock has travelled, and about whom he tells us much that is most interesting. It is well known that archaic society is studied from two different classes of materials-namely, the structural remains and the ancient customs still existing in civilized countries, and the customs and mode of life incidental to savage society. Of this last, the book

before us is a most welcome addition, for it takes us among several dangerous and troublesome Dyak tribes, who were bound by their adat (custom) to get human heads on certain important occasions in their lives, as before marriage, at the birth and the naming of a child, burials, and other less important events.

First among the industrial occupations of the Dyak is agriculture. Every Dyak has his rice-field, on which he grows sufficient for his own consumption. He selects a piece of forest land, and begins, with the assistance of his family, to clear the ground. The large trees are cut down, and the undergrowth is burnt, the ashes of which act as a manure. Having sown their rice, the Dyaks build small huts in the fields, remaining there till the miniature plants are transplanted out into the newly-cleared field. Now, this primitive mode of agriculture among the Dyaks of Borneo, is exactly the same as that described by Mr. Hunter as existing among the hill tribes of India; and we get here an undoubted type of the earliest system of village farming-a system that extends by a process of development, the lines of which are clearly traceable from savage society to civilized. This is not the only important link which connects these head-hunters with other branches of early society; and Mr. Tylor has already certified to the value in this respect of the drawings of the wooden tombs and of the myth of the separation of heaven and earth. (See ante, v. 28).

We have their marriage customs, their birth customs, their burial customs, of all of which Mr. Bock gives some description. With the special incident of head-hunting, Mr. Bock is particularly interesting; and though he did not in his travels actually meet a war party, or see the rite performed, he gives plenty of evidence as to its practice, and to its influence over the people. Altogether, in the narrative of travel, in the record of old customs, in the descriptions of the habitations, tombs, agricultural implements, weapons of war, musical instruments, and in the side-lights thrown upon the moral and political status of this primitive race, Mr. Bock's book will be found of great value to the student of early man. We cannot

give a list even of the beautifully-executed drawings taken on the spot by Mr. Bock, and reproduced in colour in a most admirable and artistic manner; but they add greatly to the value of the book, because they give the student what cannot always be ob tained from letterpress, and not always from simple woodcuts-namely, important matters of detail as to the colour of the skins, and of the personal adornments of the natives. Quite apart from the anthropological value of the book, every praise is due to the publishers and the author, and we heartily recommend this work to those of our readers who take up that branch of antiquarian science which deals with the habits and ways, the superstitions and the religion, the politics, and the society of primitive man.

Sketches from the Subject and Neighbour Lands of Venice. By EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L, LL.D. (London: Macmillan & Co., 1881.) 8vo pp. xix., 395.

Art and prosperity were once united, but now they seem for ever divorced. Italy is free and prosperous,

and she is fast becoming commonplace. However, there is such a wealth of beauty in that country, and on the Istrian and Dalmatian shores of the Gulf of Venice, that it must be long before it has all been destroyed. There is a witchery about the very table of contents of a book like this, the places are so steeped with interest, that much of the interest clings to the mere names. In reading the burning words of such a master as Mr. Freeman, we can only follow with admiration the path he treads with such firmness. We do not presume to criticize, but submit to the spell he throws over us.

This book is a worthy companion and sequel to the author's former work, Historical and Architectural Sketches, chiefly Italian, and it goes some way towards supplying the want of a good guide to Dalmatia and Istria. The author himself writes, "I am not joking when I say that the best guide to these parts is still the account written by the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus more than 900 years back. But it is surely high time that there should be another." He disclaims, however, for his own book, any such title. For thirty years Mr. Freeman had longed to see the architectural wonders of Spalato, and, in 1875, he found himself in the city which the house of Diocletian has grown into. Again, in 1877 and 1881, he revisited the place. Ragusa must not be seen for the first time from the land, but from the sea; her appearance, as she rises from the shore, with a background of hills, is a sight not be forgotten. Mr. Freeman glories in Ragusa, and devotes a special chapter to Ragusan architecture. He writes: "It would be hard to light upon another such group of buildings as the palace, the dogana, and their fellows. In any case, the Dalmatian coast may hold its head high among the artistic regions of the world. It is no small matter that the harmonious and consistent use of the arch and column should have begun at Spalato, and that identically the same constructive form should still be found eleven ages later, putting forth fresh and genuine shapes of beauty at Ragusa." Beauty remains among the ruins, but when restoration, here as elsewhere, takes place, the result is usually lamentable. We must all agree with Mr. Freeman as to what he says respecting scaffoldings :-" When I was last at Spalato, a process was going on which always makes one tremble."

Descriptive Account of the Incised Slate Tablet and other Remains lately discovered at Towyn. By J. PARK HARRISON, M.A. Oxon. (London: Bernard Quaritch. 1881.) 4to, pp. vi. 20 (4 plates).

In the autumn of 1879, a piece of worked slate, with marks upon it, was discovered by Mr. Humphrey Williams, of Plas Edwards, at Towyn (Welsh for Sandy Bay), a small town on the coast of Merionethshire, picturesquely situated on the line of railway between Aberdovey and Barmouth. The slate was first sent to Professor Rhys at Oxford; but he, finding the forms quite unlike any Welsh characters, suggested that it should be sent to Mr. Park Harrison, to see if they resembled the Cissbury marks. Some persons have supposed that the marks on the slate are meaningless scratches; but we think that a careful.