PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 681 



Torquemada, in giving- the traditions of the wanderings of the Cholu- 

 tecos or Chorotegas in Central America, says that one party left the 

 main body and reached the Atlantic. After following the coast of 

 Nicaragua and Costa Rica, they turned back across country in search 

 of the fresh water sea (Lake Nicaragua), of which they had heard so 

 much.* Possibly this party left settlers in the region of the Rio Frio. 



However, light will soon be thrown on the subject by the study of their 

 language now prosecuted by Seiior Fernandez.t 



ANCIENT REMAINS IN WHITE RIVER CANON. 

 By R. T. Beon, M. D., of Camp Apache^ Arizona. 



Since writing the description of the ruins in White River Canon in 

 1878, other discoveries have been made, an account of which follows. 



In the autumn of 1878, two burial-places were discovered, one near the 

 ruins at the mouth of the caiion, about three miles down the stream from 

 Camp J. A. Rucker. This cemetery consisted of one hundred or more 

 tumuli of stones varying in height from one foot to three feet, and scat- 

 tered irregularly along a small valley. 



Above the ruinsat Camp Rucker, about three-fourths of a mile, the sec- 

 ond cemetery is to be seen on the left bank of White River. This burial- 

 place is situated onablufi" about 60 feet above the bed of the stream. It 

 was covered with a growth of pines, some of which are over 18 inches in 

 diameter and many of them are growing out of the mounds. It was in 

 this last-named cemetery that an excavation was made in the largest 

 mound, supposed to contain the remains of some notable person. The 

 length of the structure was about 15 feet, the breadth 8 or 10 feet, and 

 the height 4 feet. It was formed of cobble-stones thrown together. Af- 

 ter the stones were removed an excavation was made 4 feet deep into 

 the soil. During the digging, at a depth of 18 inches, bits of broken 

 pottery were found, but no bones. Growing out of this mound was a 

 large pine tree, 4 feet in girth. In the immediate neighborhood of this 

 mound the piles were larger than at other places. 



Two or three smaller mounds near the mouth of the caiion were ex- 

 amined, and fragments of pottery were taken from each, but no bones 

 or any relics. The cemetery in the caiiou seems to have belonged to 

 the three settlements, as it is almost equidistant from each, about half a 

 mile. The one in the valley at the mouth of the canon must also have 

 belonged to the two or three settlements in its vicinity. 



The remains of buildings are' much more numerous than was indicated 

 in my last annual communication. On careful search they were found 



" Monarquia Indiana, by Juan de Torquemada. Madrid, 1723 ; torn. 1, page 333. 



t Studentis interested in this and neighboring tribes will do well to consult Hubert 

 H. Bancroft, Native Baces of the Pacific States, page 747, et seq.; Wagner & Scherzer, 

 Cottta Rica, «fec., and especially Benzoni, who gives an excellent account of the expe- 

 dition of Gutierrez. 



