CAVE RELICS OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 5 



these mystic rites were going on a spirit or power descended into the idol. To see 

 it, when thus occupied, entailed death or misfortune, hence they wore large masks 

 carved from drift-wood, supported by a band behind the head and a cross bar held 

 in the teeth. These had holes so cut, generally in the nostrils of the mask, that 

 they could not see anything before or above them, but only the ground about 

 their feet. After the dances were over, images and masks alike were destroyed. 

 In further illustration of the same idea, the dead, supposed to have gone to meet 

 the spirits in another sphere, had one of these placed over the face for requisite 

 protection beyond the grave. 



The methods of burial among the Aleiits, at the advent of the Russians, were 

 as follows : 



Poor persons were wrapped in their clothes, or in mats, and laid under some 

 over-hanging rock, with a mask over their faces. A little drift-wood was some- 

 times placed under the body, but very rarely any weapons or implements. 

 Often, to enclose the bodies, a sort of artificial cave was made by building up a 

 wall of rough stones outside the bodies, until the face of the over-hanging rock 

 was reached ; when the wall was closed over with earth and turf. 



This sort of burial was noticed by me in several localities. On the island of 

 Amakna'k, close to Iliuliuk Harbor, Unalashka, a number of places were dis- 

 covered where such burials had been made. No implements were found in them, 

 except one bone arrow with its shaft and some fragments of masks. There was 

 usually some coarse matting, or sea-lion skin, about the bones, the remains of the 

 original wrapper. The bodies appeared to have lain, at full length on their backs. 

 The bones were usually much injured by falling fragments of stone fi'om above, 

 and the percolation of moisture through the crevices of the rocks. They had 

 also been gnawed in many cases by the lemmings indigenous to the islands. 



The same method was also noticed in the islands to the westward, especially at 

 the island of Atka, where, on one of the small islets in Nazan Bay, under an 

 over-hanging rock, fourteen or fifteen crania were obtained in good condition. 

 The other bones were much decayed, and appeared to have been disturbed. A 

 pair of ribs were found coossified from the capitulum to the distal extremity, but 

 without any sign of disease by which this peculiarity might have been induced. 

 The only implement found was a celt, or stone axe of a chisel shape, of a greenish 

 slaty stone; which is remarkable as the only celt found in all the Aleutian 

 Islands during four years exploration ; during which time other implements 

 were collected by hundreds. 



The crania in this locality were huddled together on the surface and were visi- 

 ble from a little distance. The natives of the adjacent village believed that these 

 skeletons held feasts and festivals, and that on returning to their original shelter 

 they did not always take up the position that they had previously occupied. 



The remains of those whom the early inhabitants held in honor, especially 



