Procestrium is oblong, being 1910 feet by 1340, and would hold 4000 men. One gate remains on the north side, while the south gate connects it with the station; on the west side are two small ponds, and the east has been ploughed down. The intrenchments have been much stronger than those of the large camp. It appears also to have been a subsequent work; for part of the area of the great camp being included in the Procestrium, the intrenchments of the former have been carefully levelled.*

To the north-west of the Procestrium, is the great camp, which is oblong, but not altogether a parallelogram, from which we see the Romans, at this period, occasionally yielded to the ground; the longest sides, however, being only a little deflected, would not hinder the regular distribution of the troops. The public road enters by the south gate, and in so doing has cut down one half of the epaulment which covered it; the other half remains to this day. The north gate is a little to the east of the egress of the highway, covered by a straight traverse, and another gate on the west side is similarly protected. Part of the intrenchment on the south end of the east side has been ploughed down; but the north gate on that side is defended, not only by a square redoubt within the lines, but also by a clavicle; from which it may be inferred that a weak legion was quartered in that part of the camp. There are two or three small ponds on the intrenchments, and the whole ground would not now be considered favourable for the encampment of an army, being rather of a

* A corner of the Procestrium is seen emerging from the parallel of latitude which bounds the map.

morassy nature; but, in the first century, it might have been in a very different state. The mean length of the great camp is 2800, and its mean breadth 1950 feet: according to the Polybian system, it would hold between 25,000 and 26,000 men; and we agree with General Roy in thinking it very probable that it was here Agricola encamped with his army, before dividing it into three bodies, as above mentioned; and also, in the following year, before marching against Galgacus.

West of the great camp, and upon somewhat higher ground, is the little camp, situated half within and half without the former; the public road passing through the north-east corner. It is oblong, being 1910, by 1340 feet, and would hold upwards of 12,000 men; that is, more than a legion, with its auxiliaries; and was probably constructed to hold that division of the army with which Agricola remained, after dividing his forces. It has evidently had six gates, three of which are still to be seen, covered by straight traverses. The south side, and a considerable portion of the west, have been ploughed down. One thing is very remarkable in the small camp, namely, that the Romans did not level that part of the intrenchments of the great camp, included within the area of the little one, which they must have found so troublesome, even from its obliquity, as to have entirely deranged the interior order and regularity of their encampment. It seems probable they marched in a hurry, without having had time to do it, and perhaps to succour the 9th legion, when it was attacked, immediately after the army was divided.

A mile and a half to the north-east of these camps, upon a ridge, called the Muir of Orchil, is Kaims, or Camp's Castle, a square redoubt, constructed by the

Romans as a lookout post, and from which is seen the stations of Lindum and Hierna, or Ardoch and Strageth. There are also upon this muir two huge cairns, one called Cairn Wochel, and the other Cairn Lee. The first is the largest, and, according to Gordon, is 182 feet in length, by 45 in breadth, and 30 in sloping height. The name seems Pictish, and akin to the celebrated Pen-vahel: we have no doubt that Cairn Wochel implies the cairn at the walls, from being in the vicinity of the Roman camps. In Richard's map, an altar is represented a little north of Lindum; it is probable Cairn Wochel is that altar, and that Cairn Lee is also a monument of Druidical superstition. In such cairns are generally found urns, or Cist-vaen, stone chests, containing ashes of the dead, and skeletons in stone coffins. Accordingly, on opening Cairn Wochel, a stone coffin was found, wherein was a skeleton seven feet long. Stat. Acco. vol. viii. p. 495-7. In another large Druidical cairn, of an oblong shape, about a mile west from Ardoch, was likewise found a stone coffin, enclosing a skeleton seven feet long. Stat. Acco. vol. ix. p. 51-2. So many skeletons of extraordinary size have been found in every district of North Briton, (Stat. Acco. passim.) as not only to confirm the relation of Tacitus respecting the large stature," magni artus," of the Caledonians, but also to shew that the popular tradition of giants being of yore in this country, is not without some foundation. As formerly mentioned, there are no appearances that indicate a great battle, either on the Muir of Orchil, or in the neighbourhood of the camps at Ardoch.

For the next station, we must consult Ptolemy and Richard. The former is, with too much reason, reckoned a very inaccurate geographer; and Richard, though

much better qualified to guide us, as having had access to various sources of information, unknown to Ptolemy, is not yet altogether to be depended on. His Itinera,* however, appear to be wonderfully correct, agreeing, in most cases, with the distances now actually measured. According to the 9th Iter, from Lindum to Victoria, it is 9 Roman miles; thence, to the station at Hierna, it is 9 Roman miles more. Hierna is undoubtedly the station at Strageth, where the Roman road crosses the Earn, Ierne, and is only 6 Roman miles from Ardoch. From this it is evident, that the 9th Iter has made a detour to take in the station at Victoria, which, of course, must be situated on the apex of an isosceles triangle, whose base, corresponding with the direct route from Ardoch to Strageth, is only 6 miles, and each of its sides 9. The real distance is 84 English miles, from Ardoch to the Roman camp at Dealgin Ross, near Comrie, and 81 from Dealgin Ross to Strageth. We must, therefore, agree with General Roy in concluding Dealgin Ross to be the station Victoria: Chalmers, in his Caledonia, is of the same opinion. It is true, Bede and Richard say Victoria was built by Agricola on the Tay, 20 miles from the place where it falls into the sea; but, if Richard had

* Ricardus Corinensis, or Richard of Cirencester, was a writer of the 14th century, whose work was discovered in Denmark, by Mr Bertram, an English gentleman, and it was published at Copenhagen, in 1758. Its authenticity has never been questioned, and it appears unquestionable. Richard had, it seems, travelled to Italy, and had there perused Cæsar, Strabo, Ptolemy, Tacitus, and other authentic writers. In constructing his Itinera, he also founds upon certain fragments of the work of a Roman Dux Britanniarum, or governor of Britain. Lib. i. cap. 7, p. 35. See also Stukely's Account of Richard of Cirencester, 1757, 4to.

known the country, and compared it with his 9th and 10th Itinera, he would have found, that 30 Roman miles, which Victoria is distant from the Wall of Antoninus by the 9th, or even 32, the distance assigned to it in the 10th, would by no means reach the Tay. It is plain, from his 9th Iter, that he meant Dealgin Ross upon the Earn, 20 Roman miles from the place where it falls into the Firth of Tay, being 9 miles distant from Lindum, and the same distance from Hierna. As it is 40 miles from Dealgin Ross to Abertay, it is probable, either that xx had been omitted in Bede's account of the distance from the mouth of the river, or that, being ignorant of the country, he also had mistaken the Tay for the Earn. We see no probability of this station being Perth, which by some has been supposed to be Victoria, a city founded by Agricola, and free of Rome. The distances marked in the Itinera forbid us to indulge such a supposition; and, though the situation of Perth may now be much admired, it appears to be just such a place as Agricola would not have chosen for a temporary encampment, and far less for a station. Without good water, it is not only exposed to inundations, but can be commanded by the heights in its vicinity. Vegetius says, no camp should be pitched where the enemy, from adjoining eminences, may be able to see what is going on within it.

We agree with General Roy in thinking it probable that, after Agricola had divided his forces into three bodies, two divisions of his army respectively occupied Dealgin Ross and Strageth, and we shall now examine the Roman works found at the former. Here we find a small rectangular camp, 1020 feet in length, by 950 in breadth, which would only contain a weak legion,