the Red Indians in Newfoundland. 325 



iron pyrites, from which they produce fire, by striking them to- 

 gether) lay at his head ; there were also various kinds of culi- 

 nary utensils, neatly made, of birch rind, and ocnamented ; and 

 many other things, of some of which we did not know the use 

 or meaning. 



Another mode of sepulture which we saw here was, where 

 the body of the deceased had been wrapped in birch rind, and 

 with his property, placed on a sort of scaffold about four feet 

 and a half from the ground. The scaffold was formed of four 

 posts, about seven feet high, fixed perpendicularly in the ground, 

 to sustain a kind of crib, five feet and a half in length by four 

 in breadth, with a floor made of small squared beams, laid close 

 together horizontally, and on which the body and property rested. 

 A third mode was, when the body, bent together, and wrap- 

 ped in birch rind, was enclosed in a kind of box, on the 

 ground. The box was made of small squared posts, laid on 

 each other horizontally, and notched at the corners, to make 

 them meet close ; it was about four feet by three, and two and 

 a half feet deep, and well lined with birch rind, to exclude the 

 weather from the inside. The body lay on its right side. 



A fourth and the most common mode of burying among these 

 people, has been, to wrap the body in birch rind, and cover it 

 over with a heap of stones, on the surface of the earth, in some 

 retired spot ; sometimes the body, thus wrapped up, is put a 

 foot or two under the surface, and the spot covered with stones ; 

 in one place, where the ground was sandy and soft, they appeared 

 to have been buried deeper, and no stones placed over the graves. 

 These people appear to have always shewn great respect for 

 their dead ; and the most remarkable remains of them common- 

 ly observed by Europeans at the sea-coast, are their burying- 

 places. These are at particular chosen spots ; and it is well 

 known that they have been in the habit of bringing their dead 

 from a distance to them. With their women they bury only 

 their clothes. 



On the north side of the lake, opposite the River Exploits, are 

 the extremities of two deer fences, about half a mile apart, where 

 they lead to the water. It is understood that they diverge 

 many miles in north-westerly directions. The Red Indian makes 

 these fences to lead and scare the deer to the lake, during the 

 periodical migration of these animals ; the Indians being sta- 



