﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  199 
  

  

  other 
  reason, 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  cave 
  was 
  walled 
  up. 
  On 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  the 
  

   Americans 
  in 
  the 
  Territory, 
  some 
  one 
  heard 
  of 
  a 
  tradition 
  connected 
  with 
  this 
  

   singular 
  and 
  isolated 
  rock, 
  which 
  rises 
  like 
  a 
  tumulus 
  from 
  the 
  level 
  surface 
  of 
  

   the 
  isthmus. 
  A 
  fox 
  had 
  forced 
  a 
  passage 
  into 
  the 
  cave 
  and 
  used 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  lair. 
  

   It 
  was 
  then 
  opened, 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  crania 
  and 
  some 
  implements 
  which 
  lay 
  upon 
  the 
  

   surface 
  were 
  removed 
  by 
  curiosity 
  hunters. 
  

  

  The 
  natives, 
  who 
  still 
  retain 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  old 
  superstitious 
  feeling 
  about 
  the 
  

   burial 
  places 
  of 
  their 
  ancestors, 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  secretly 
  removed 
  and 
  buried 
  

   the 
  few 
  remaining 
  relics 
  of 
  humanity 
  which 
  were 
  exposed 
  to 
  view. 
  M. 
  Pinart, 
  

   the 
  ethnologist, 
  after 
  a 
  casual 
  glance 
  at 
  the 
  cave, 
  satisfied 
  himself 
  that 
  it 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  nothing, 
  and 
  then 
  informed 
  me 
  of 
  the 
  locality, 
  and 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  my 
  ex- 
  

   amination 
  have 
  been 
  detailed 
  in 
  my 
  previous 
  and 
  present 
  papers. 
  

  

  In 
  my 
  first 
  paper 
  I 
  remarked 
  upon 
  some 
  other 
  caves 
  on 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Unga, 
  

   and 
  figured 
  some 
  wood 
  carvings 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  them. 
  These 
  caves 
  had 
  been 
  well 
  

   ransacked 
  by 
  curiosity 
  hunters, 
  including 
  M. 
  Pinart, 
  who 
  carried 
  off 
  the 
  better 
  

   preserved 
  and 
  more 
  accessible 
  crania 
  and 
  carvings 
  before 
  we 
  had 
  an 
  oppor- 
  

   tunity 
  of 
  visiting 
  it 
  in 
  1872. 
  A 
  storm 
  interfered 
  with 
  our 
  operations 
  on 
  that 
  

   occasion, 
  and 
  we 
  were 
  obliged 
  to 
  leave 
  the 
  cave 
  with 
  only 
  a 
  handful 
  of 
  the 
  col- 
  

   lections 
  we 
  had 
  extracted 
  from 
  its 
  recesses. 
  On 
  revisiting 
  it 
  this 
  year 
  we 
  

   found 
  everything 
  as 
  we 
  had 
  left 
  it 
  in 
  1872, 
  and 
  proceeded 
  to 
  clean 
  it 
  out 
  thor- 
  

   oughly, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  several 
  others 
  which 
  we 
  discovered 
  near 
  by. 
  We 
  succeeded 
  in 
  

   obtaining 
  a 
  rich 
  harvest 
  of 
  carvings, 
  fourteen 
  well 
  preserved 
  crania, 
  and 
  various 
  

   remains 
  of 
  mummies. 
  These 
  had 
  been 
  so 
  injured 
  by 
  dampness 
  as 
  to 
  afford 
  only 
  

   fragments 
  and 
  pieces 
  of 
  exquisitely 
  woven 
  grass 
  matting, 
  in 
  which 
  — 
  and 
  in 
  otter 
  

   and 
  fox 
  skins— 
  they 
  had 
  originally 
  been 
  enveloped, 
  and 
  then 
  suspended 
  incases 
  

   similar 
  to 
  a 
  hanging 
  cradle. 
  

  

  We 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  Islands 
  this 
  year 
  thirty-six 
  strictly 
  prehistoric 
  crania, 
  and 
  

   one 
  of 
  later 
  date, 
  several 
  hundred 
  bone, 
  ivory, 
  and 
  stone 
  implements, 
  at 
  least 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  carvings 
  of 
  wood, 
  most 
  of 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  gaily 
  painted 
  with 
  

   mineral 
  earths 
  of 
  red, 
  blue, 
  green, 
  white, 
  and 
  black 
  colors. 
  

  

  We 
  obtained 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  large 
  and 
  flourishing 
  communities 
  

   numbering 
  thousands 
  of 
  inhabitants, 
  where 
  now 
  none, 
  or 
  only 
  small 
  remnants 
  

   of 
  population 
  exist. 
  

  

  Underneath 
  the 
  old 
  villages 
  were 
  found 
  still 
  more 
  ancient 
  kitchen-heaps 
  of 
  

   echini, 
  fishbones, 
  and 
  edible 
  shell-fish, 
  many 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness 
  ; 
  the 
  age 
  and 
  

   time 
  taken 
  in 
  forming 
  them 
  hardly 
  to 
  be 
  approximated 
  or 
  counted 
  even 
  in 
  cen- 
  

   turies. 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  strata 
  that 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  indications 
  of 
  progress 
  

   in 
  hunting 
  and 
  fishing, 
  afterwards 
  so 
  notable 
  that 
  even 
  the 
  sperm 
  whale 
  suc- 
  

   cumbed 
  to 
  the 
  attacks 
  of 
  these 
  hardy 
  canoe-men. 
  Their 
  progenitors 
  were 
  con- 
  

   tent 
  to 
  pick 
  echini 
  from 
  the 
  shore 
  and 
  mussels 
  from 
  the 
  rocks, 
  and 
  hardly 
  any 
  

   implements 
  could 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  refuse 
  of 
  their 
  repasts, 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  cen- 
  

   turies. 
  After 
  them 
  large 
  villages 
  of 
  solidly 
  constructed 
  houses 
  rose 
  ; 
  and 
  

   probably 
  at 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  their 
  progress 
  and 
  numerical 
  increase, 
  the 
  almost 
  

   equally 
  barbarous 
  Russian 
  of 
  Siberia 
  fell 
  upon 
  them, 
  and 
  almost 
  swept 
  them 
  

   from 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  earth. 
  Even 
  under 
  Russian 
  influences 
  they 
  continued 
  to 
  

  

  