War Cemetery to a museum in South Africa.

Bermuda National Trust conservation officer Mr. Robert Duffy said the stone arrived at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

From there, it will be sent to the Museum of the Boer Republic in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.

Shipping the 130-pound headstone out of Bermuda would have cost about $700, if not for the generosity of Bermuda Forwarders and USAir, who packed and shipped the stone free of charge, Mr. Duffy said.

The South African National Monuments Trust has financially supported the Boer War prisoner of war cemetery on Long Island, which is cared for by the National Trust.

The cemetery has 35 headstones marking the graves of about 38 Boer prisoners who died in Bermuda near the turn of the century. About 4,600 mainly Afrikaner prisoners were brought to Bermuda during the Boer War and held in camps on islands in the Great Sound.

But the headstones -- made from soft Bermuda headstone -- have gradually become defaced so that the numbers on them are hard to read.

The Monuments Trust in South Africa has agreed to replace the stones with new ones, also made from local stone, Mr. Duffy said. The Trust is now overseeing that work.

As a gesture of goodwill, one of the original stones is being sent to the South African museum. The stone, bearing number 11, marked the grave of 41-year-old J.A. Calitz, who died of pneumonia and was buried on November 21, 1901.

Another of the originals was turned over to the Bermuda Historical Society and has been on display at the library. A third is in the care of the National Trust.

The Boer War was fought in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. Each stone bears only a number, which corresponds with a name and number on an obelisk in the corner of the cemetery.