18&9-90.] ELEVENTH MEETING. 19 



women out of the other ; of the Eskimo, who thought that their fore- 

 fathers were seals, tired of the sea, who began a new Hfe on the land 

 Myths of migration were also discussed, and the importance of recording 

 at once all that can possibly be obtained of the myths, legends, and folk- 

 lore of the Canadian Indians was dwelt upon. The sociology, customs, 

 and habits of the Indians were becoming more and more a subject of 

 research, and in Canada valuable results in this field had already been 

 obtained, and much more was to be expected in the very near future. 

 The writer concluded by emphasizing the importance of the study of 

 the American Indians for the proper understanding of the evolution of 

 modern civilization and modern social and political institutions, and by 

 expressing the hope that both the Provincial and the Dominion Govern- 

 ment would in the future aid in carrying out these needed researches 

 much more than they have done in the past. 



Mr. Boyle said the time had gone by when students of archaeology 

 would endeavour to trace any connection between the Indians of North 

 America and the Israelites and any other Asiatic nations. It had also 

 gone by when America was considered the younger continent. He con- 

 sidered philology was the key that would unlock the difficulty of the 

 origin of the Indian people. He corroborated what Mr. Chamberlain 

 had said respecting the origin of Indian myths. It was impossible to 

 give anything as a pure myth. He urged the importance of collecting 

 all these myths. Mr. Boyle then referred to the loan of specimens to the 

 museum by Mr. Lowry ; they were peculiarly valuable as having been 

 found within a radius of a few miles of Toronto. Another young man 

 who had heard of what Mr. Lowry had done, declared his intention of 

 doing the same, 



Mr. Harvey, in reference to the mounds, said there was no evidence 

 whatever as to their origin. He understood that the connection of the 

 mound builders with Asia was now under consideration by members of 

 the order of Jesuits in all parts of the world. At present there was 

 nothing known with certainty. He had recently found a short statement 

 in Les Relations des Jesiiites that speaks of Lake Superior as the rendez- 

 vous to make their trade. This was corroborated by specimens of shells 

 now in the museum. With respect to the myths, he suggested to Mr. 

 Chamberlain that it would be well for him to obtain an introduction to 

 the Seminary at Quebec, and obtain access to the documents of the early 

 Jesuit relations. The earliest of these were very difficult of access, and 

 still remained in manuscript. 



Mr. Chamberlain had intentionally omitted to use the word "mound- 

 builders," because it is generally agreed that there was no such people as 



