108 Miscellaneous Notes on Deneholes.
size exists. It is on the road between Ayacucho and
Huancavelica, in Peru, and is called 'Bumi-Huasi' (Quechua
for stone-house). A porphyritic rock forms a high cliff on
the roadside, and out of it has been carved a very large
storehouse, about 60 ft. by 30 ft., and 6 to 7 ft. high, as
nearly as I can recollect. It is used by the villagers there, a
community of some thirty families, for storing wheat, barley,
maize, potatoes, &e. Bach family keeps its stock separate by
means of the limits indicated by niches or shallow arches
carved around the sides. The entrance to this store is a hole
about four feet square in the face of the cliff, which is kept
closed by a stone exactly fitting the opening. The Indians
say it was a storehouse of the Incas, but whether this is true
or not I cannot say. The smaller store-holes vary very much
in shape. They are made in retired spots, in any rock that
may be convenient. They are all more or less old—at least
the Indians say they were excavated by the 'Gentiles,' as
they call their forefathers who existed before the Spanish
Conquest. The people using them are the civilised commu-
nities of Quechua and Ayrnara Indians. I do not think they
were ever dwellings, but that they have always been used as
storehouses. The Indians generally store their grain-crops
in straw and ear. When they have any stock of grain or
flour, they keep it in earthen pots within the granary. Many
of these pots are of very large size, as large as the entrance
will allow them to be. The shape of the entrance varies, but
the stone by which the entrance is closed always fits
accurately, so that the position of the store is by no means
obvious to the casual passer-by. I had ridden many times
past the great store mentioned without having suspected its
existence, till I one day passed when the entrance-stone had
been rolled back."
Appendix III.
Ancient British Granaries.
Winklebury.
In the 'Times' of September 1st, 1883, an account is given
of the exploration of the ancient camp known as Winklebury,
which has recently been examined by Maj.-Gen. Pitt Rivers.
The writer states that one of the most interesting discoveries
was that of "a considerable number of pits excavated out of
the chalk within the area of the camp. Some of these were
as much as four feet in diameter, and upon being cleared out
there were turned up, among other things, a fragment of a
bone comb, such as must have been used in weaving, and