ESQUIMAUX C4RA VES . 5 1 3 



the course of years must have been blown in through the 

 cracks of the walls. The bottom itself consisted of a 

 layer of earth and sand, on which lay some stones 

 probably fallen from the roof. 



A human skeleton, or, indeed, any other object, we 

 did not at first see, but soon found the somewhat decayed 

 ends of bones, evidently human. "VYe now dug carefully 

 in the hard earth, and came upon a number of bones 

 belonging to a human skeleton. It was, however, quite 

 impossible, in spite of our care, to get it perfect; and 

 besides the small bones of the feet and hands, the skull 

 was unfortunately missing. The position of the bones, 

 particularly those of the limbs, was strikingly irregular ; 

 but from that of the ribs and vertebrsD we could safely 

 conclude that the dead, when first buried, lay either in a 

 recumbent or an upright posture, with the face to the 

 south, overlooking the water. If from the first the corpse 

 had not been disturbed by foxes, &c., I might, from the 

 position of the arm and leg-bones, have believed that it 

 was placed upright, although this was not in unison with 

 the lengthened form of the grave. 



The bones were, on the whole, in good preservation, 

 and pretty heavy. Their condition made the absence of 

 the skull more conspicuous, and gave us reason to sup- 

 pose that it had either been unearthed by some animal, or 

 that the English, under Clavering, had taken it with them 

 forty-six years before. Anything in the shape of weapons, 

 or vessels, buried with the corpse, we did not find. 



Besides these graves, we were also struck the first few 

 days by the before-mentioned " Tent-rings." These rough 

 stones are ranged in a circle of about three yards in 

 diameter, and are more or less firmly imbedded in the 



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