INTO THE TERRA-NOVA COUNTRY 27 



several of the old wigwam sites were unearthed, has told 

 me that the floors of these abodes were sunk a foot or two 

 beneath the ground, which was polished smooth and had 

 turf seats. On this floor the family slept and kept their 

 fire alight, one member always being deputed to keep watch. 

 The lower part of the skin covering was raised from the 

 ground, and all vegetation removed for a considerable distance, 

 so that in case of surprise the Indians could bend low with- 

 out fear of being seen or shot, and send a flight of arrows 

 at any invader. 



Their cleverness is shown by the way in which they 

 constructed their retreat. A tunnel, sometimes 30 and 40 

 yards long, was burrowed from the wigwam into the woods, 

 and by this means the Indians retired when the fight went 

 against them. They used pots of iron and a few other 

 simple utensils. 



"Their wooden repositories for the dead," says Cormack, 

 " are what are in the most perfect state of preservation. These 

 are of different constructions, it would appear, according to 

 the character or rank of the persons entombed. In one of 

 them, which resembled a hut 10 feet by 8 or 9, and 4 or 

 5 feet high in the centre, floored with squared poles, the 

 roof covered with rinds of trees, and in every way well 

 seasoned against the weather inside, and the intrusion of 

 wild beasts, there were two grown persons laid out at full 

 length on the floor, the bodies wrapped round with deer- 

 skins. One of these bodies appeared to have been placed 

 here not longer ago than five or six years." 



Cormack's most surprising discovery in one of these 

 dead-houses was "a white deal affair, containing a skeleton 

 neatly shrouded in white muslin. After a long pause of con- 

 jecture how such a thing existed here, the idea of Mary 



