436 



ETHNOLOGY. 



Trees from three to five feet in diameter were growing over the graves, 

 one, a " sassafras," five feet in diameter, had come to maturity, died, then 

 withered away, leaving only its roots in a sound condition. The negro 



Fiff. 1. 



W-r^ 



•"/'( 



laborers, with superstitious terror, would faiu have fled from their work 

 on the first discoverj^ of the bones, and they were persistent in destroy- 

 ing the pottery to prevent its removal. Tbeir aim was to conceal in the 

 dump or embankment both bones and pottery. It was, therefore, with 

 some difliculty perfect specimens were procured by Mr. Pillow, and those 

 obtained (my gift comprised about one-third of the number) were 

 brought to his residence iu Maury County, Tennessee. In this rare col- 

 lection there was one vessel, capable of holding half a gallon, iu the 

 shape of an animal. It bore great similarity to a vessel, which some time 

 before I had examined, brought from the pyramids, Egypt, by the Eev. 

 Dr. Burgess, of Dedham, Mass. 



ON THE ACCIRACY OF CATLIN'S ACCOFNT OF THE MANDAN CEREMONIES. 



By James Kipp. 



We publish the following letter as an act of justice to the memory of 

 the late Mr. Catlin, and as a verification of the truth of his account of 

 a very interesting ceremony among the Mandau Indians, a tribe now 

 extinct. The ceremony was especially interesting in its resemblance to 

 some of the self-inflicted tortures of the devotees of eastern superstitions. 



