ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 87 



bas erected a comfortable dwelling on the top of it, two stories in height, where 

 he resides. 



Immediately in the rear, and extending northwardly, are three others, about 

 the same distance from each other, respectively sixty, forty-five and forty feet in 

 diameter at the top, and fifteen, twelve and ten feet in height, with a basin- 

 shaped depression in the top of each. They are situated in a beautiful and 

 picturesque valley, well wooded, and thoroughly shielded from the prevailing 

 summer winds, by the surrounding hilis and high lands, with a stream of water 

 at their base, and in full view of the waters of the Bay. 



Here must have resided a chief of a tribe, with his " men of science " about 

 him, as the position and shape of these mounds indicate more than ordinary 

 Indian skill and design. 



Differences of opinion may and probably do exist as to the origin of these 

 mounds, y-et the more general opinion appears to be that there was no other 

 definite object in their construction and subsequent growth than the one herein 

 suggested. They are undoubtedly the work of the present race of Indians on 

 this coast and their immediate ancestors. 



Those that I have seen are uniformly situated in the neighborhood of beds 

 of mussels or other shell fish, either on the banks of bays or streams of water, 

 distant from a few chains to a quarter of a mile. A favorable place is 

 selected for a residence or lodge, and a commencement is made by excavating a 

 depression in the earth and throwing up a circular ridge ; or where the ground 

 is too low, commencing a foundation by a basin -shaped deposit of earth. 

 Around and on the ridge, poles or stakes are planted, with the tops connected, 

 to form a haystack-shaped structure, which is covered by bark, or more gen- 

 erally with the skins of animals. Around this lodge the refuse of their shell- 

 fish, as well as the bones and other oflal from other animals are thrown daily. 

 After years of such deposits and accumulation, which at different times has 

 been more or less covered over with earth when the stench became too offens- 

 ive, and when fleas and other vermin became unbearable, a "purging by fire'' 

 is resorted to ; then new structures are formed, and another series of years and 

 deposits is added. 



Let this extend to centuries, as has been the case on this coast, and you have 

 the shell mounds which we see in favorable and desirable localities. 



There is another species of mounds similarly formed, but not for the same 

 purpose, which I may call attention to at a future day. 



Mr. Yale read some notes on the "meteoric showers" of the 

 night of the 13th and 14th instants, as observed by him. 



The skj was clear before midnight, but fog partially obscured 

 the sky from 12.30 until 3 A.M. He saw no meteors except at 4.45, 

 when " the largest and most brilliant meteor I ever witnessed shot 

 through directly from east to west. It illuminated the heavens and 

 the earth on the line of its track, and appeared four to five inches 



