ETHNOLOGY. 370 



and shovel, by finding several flakes of a white flinty stone, and then 

 some fragments of bone, after which the hands were the principal tools 

 used to complete the work, lest I might injure the deconiposing remains. 



The skeletons of two individuals were found, all in a confused heap, 

 occupying a space less than two feet square, excei)t that the leg- bones 

 were extended in different directions, perhaps a foot farther, each way. 

 The skulls had evidently fiillen down upon the other bones of the skel- 

 eton, and all had been crushed together by the falling earth. They had 

 evidently been buried in a sitting posture, back to back. While ex- 

 huming them I concluded there were but two persons, but on a more 

 critical examination I find some fragments of a lower jaw, which lead 

 me to think there may have been three. 



Most of the bones had become as soft as the surrounding earth, and 

 while I could see and follow their outlines it was impossible to remove 

 them, except in fragments. One upper jaw was perfectly outlined in 

 the earth, with the full row of teeth upward, but it crumbled to 

 powder on attempting to remove it. The skulls were crushed and the 

 lower fragments were in the same state of comparative decomposition. 

 I secured the right half of the frontal plate of one and the lower jaw 

 nearly entire. The teeth were worn flat, indicating great age and hard 

 food. The molars and five incisors were perfect, but both canines and 

 one incisor had been lost and the bone had grown over and closed the 

 cavities. I regret that these teeth have nearly disappeared in drying, 

 falling to pieces like slaked lime. 



I also secured a fragment of the right frontal bone of another individ- 

 ual, which I conclude to be that of a female, from its difference in form, 

 and from the fact that the teeth in the fragments of the jaw found with 

 it indicate mature age. The teeth are perfect and beautifully white 

 when washed. 



Neither pottery nor weapons were found in this mound, but in the 

 one through which the railroad was cut were found a stone pipe of 

 beautiful workmanship, two awls of native copper, a large earthen 

 jar containing a black substance, and an earthen bowl, which are de- 

 scribed as having handsome designs on the surface, but which were 

 broken and lost, and ten spear and arrow heads, five of which I se- 

 cured and have represented. They are of a white flinty stone, with a 

 delicate chipping, and are quite thin. The form is different from any 

 of the hundred or more specimens in my cabinet, which are mostly 

 " surface-flints." 



Since I was there I learn that there have been exhumed from the small 

 mound on the railroad bank, (No. 1,) a copper hatchet, which, from the 

 description, I conclude to be similar in form to the European bronze 

 " celt," two more copper awls, or needles, and two jars of pottery, both 

 broken. I have made arrangements to secure them. These remains, 

 as near as I could determine, are found on or immediately below the 

 original surface. The earth in the mounds is as hard and compact as 



