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EDITOR OF THE ENGLISH EDITION.
xvii

burial-place of a great hero named Bolder or Balder; and according to others, a light was often seen burning on its summit, which was held to be a sure sign that the mound contained hidden treasures. Some excavations had been made by treasure-seekers in 1827, but after digging to the depth of four or five feet without meeting with any thing, further search was abandoned. After this a farmer in the neighbourhood having occasion to fill up some trenches or hollows on his farm, agreed with the proprietor of the mound for permission to cart away so much earth as he wanted, one of the conditions being, that whatever treasure might be found, should be equally divided between the farmer and the proprietor. At about six feet above the level of the surrounding earth, a small urn of baked clay was found, which almost immediately fell to pieces. This gave fresh hopes of finding the expected treasure: the work was continued, and on arriving at the level of the adjacent lands, the workman came to a heap of small granite stones, about the size of a clenched fist, together with one very large one. On removing these, a large shapeless chest presented itself, which was of course immediately looked upon as nothing less than the expected treasure. According to the account of the finder, it was a work of great labour to remove the stones, and while doing so his foot penetrated through the lid of the chest; when finding that it was full of water he dug a trench from it to allow the water to run off.

His next endeavour was to open the chest, and this he accomplished in a very awkward manner, by thrusting a hand-spike into the hole which his foot had made, and so turning over the lid and breaking it off. By this means a quantity of earth fell into the coffin, but not until it had been seen that it contained various objects laid in some degree of order.