B.] 



219 [Perry. 



dulled when brought into contact Avith so hard a rock as 

 granite. 



The Rev, J. B. Perry called attention to some interesting 

 Indian relics, which he had seen in Swanton, Vt. 



In the vicinity of Swanton Falls, in Franklin County, Vt., many 

 Indian relics have been found from time to time. These have either 

 come to light accidenUUy, or they have been discovered amidst the 

 ruins of old wigwaips, and in places of burial. They consist of im- 

 plements of which the Red Man made use in hunting and fishing, in 

 agriculture, perhaps also in a rude kind of weaving or netting; also 

 of weapons of war, and of religious emblems. They are of special 

 interest as indicating the degree of advancement to which the Abor- 

 igines had attained. 



In. the neighborhood referred to, there are remains of two 

 Indian burial-places. These are of very different ages. The first 

 claiming our notice is situated about two miles below the Falls, on a 

 sandy terrace of considerable thickness, which rests on underlying 

 clay. It is near the Missisquoi River, and undoubtedly belonged to 

 the St. Francis tribe, a branch of the gi-eat Algonquin race, inhabit- 

 ing that portion of Northwestern Vermont when it was first settled 

 by whites. This burial-place was apparently connected with an old 

 Indian village in the neighborhood, which consisted at an early 

 day of about fifty huts, and was called Missisquoi, after the estuary 

 or stream, on the banks of which it stood. It was unquestionably 

 used as a place for the interment of the dead at a comparatively 

 recent date; still some circumstances have led me to susj^ect that a 

 portion of it served the same j^urpose at a much more ancient period, 

 and long before it was thus employed by the St. Francis tribe. Its 

 main featui-c^s, however, clearly refer it to the last named Indians. 

 On this ground have been discovered in abundance imjjlements made 

 of stone, both hatchets and axes, spear- and arrow-lieads, gouges and 

 chisels; also rude specimens of earthern ware of several descriptions, 

 ■with various trinkets, as beads and other articles of adornment. In 

 times of high water, when the river is swollen, human bones have 

 been often washed out of the bank on which this old burying-ground 

 is situated. Among these it is said that bones, in a few instances, 

 liave been met with, of such size as to indicate that the individuals to 

 whom they belonged must have been of extraordinary stature. 

 Though it be by no means certain, still it is jwssible that these were 



