43G 



ETHNOLOGY. 



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

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

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



Fig. 1. 







hiborers, with superstitious terror, would fain have lied from their work 

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

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

 dump or embankment both bones and pottery. It w-as, therefore, with 

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

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

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

 lection there was one vessel, ca|)able of holding half a gallon, in the 

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

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

 Dr. Burgess, of Dedham, Mass. 



OX THE ACll'KAtT OF CATLIS'S ACCOl'KT OF THE MAXDAX CEKE2I0NIES. 



By Jamus 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 Mandan 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. 



