74 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



the central one at right angles, and a fourth short one, with " split " 

 ends, on the left-hand side, below tlie centre of the slab. 



The wide, shallow groove crossing obliquely from left to riglit is, 

 I think, a subsequent marking, possibly from a ploughshare passing 

 lightly over the stone. It has the appearance of having been done 

 quite recently. Perhaps the most noticeable featui'e of the inscribed 

 side of the stone is the well-defined arrow, extending obliquely 

 across the specimen fi-om right to left. This certainly helps one, at 

 least, to imagine some plausible explanation of the meaning of the 

 various markings. 



The relic was found in a dense swamp, which until very lately has 

 in no way been disturbed, otherwise than by cutting off the matured 

 timber. Just where found it probably had been lying since the dis- 

 tant day when, for some purpose, it was placed in position by the 

 aborigines. 



That the specimen is really an Indian relic I am positive, having 

 examined the spot where it was found ; and from the fact that the 

 lad that found it brought it to me with considerable doubt in his 

 own mind as to its being really " Indian " work. In the immediate 

 neighborhood were found quite a number of stone axes, spears, and 

 arrow-points, all of them of the rudest workmanship. 



As the specimen exhibits no attempt on the part of its primeval 

 owner at ornamentation, not even polishing, it can scarcely be 

 doubted that the markings upon it were placed there to express some 

 fact to others who might find it ; that it is a " bark-letter " written 

 upon stone a very primitive attempt at " picture-writing." 



Admitting, then, that the specimen has been engraved, as we now 

 find it, by an aborigine, I suggest the following as an explanation or 

 interpretation of the various markings : The slab has been engraved 

 and then placed in the trail which the Indian or party of them were 

 following, with the long central line pointing due north or else in the 

 direction of the trail. The crossing lines would indicate three days' 

 journeys up to the time of " locating " the stone, or, more probably, 

 that three streams of water had been crossed ; and the direction oi 

 the arrow indicated the direction the party had taken from the point 

 where the stone M^as j^laced, on leaving the trail they had been fol- 

 lowing. 



That the specimen was intended to convey some such meaning, I 

 have myself no doubt ; but, looked at in any light, it is certainly a 

 very remarkable form of " relic," and being (as yet) unique, in the 

 enormous "find" from this neighborhood, I think goes to show it is 

 really a "record" or "letter," as such "picture-writings" would nat- 

 urally be made at rare intervals and under unusual circumstances. 



The specimen is preserved in the Museum of the Peabody Acad- 

 emy of Science, at Salem, Massachusetts. 



