300 FOSSIL MEN. 



at the caves of Mentone; and here a wounded man, 

 whom they had been carrying with them, expired, and 

 was hastily buried in the cave, perhaps in the hope 

 that they might be able to return at some future time 

 and convey the bones to the tomb of his fathers. They 

 laid a few stones around the body of the dead, as a 

 substitute for the cromlech, or funeral cyst, and buried 

 him with an ornamented helmet of shell on his head, 

 shell armlets and anklets, and his robes of fur wrapped 

 around him. His arms had probably been left on the 

 field of battle, and there were no spoils to bury with 

 him. The only thing they possessed, or which the 

 neighbourhood afforded, to promote his welfare in the 

 land of spirits, was a little iron oxide, carried with them 

 to be ground into war paint. With this they, no doubt, 

 painted his face ; but they appear to have sprinkled it 

 over him, and to have placed a little additional supply 

 in a hollow in front of his head, that he might appear 

 in his proper character in the spirit land. All this was 

 precisely what American Indians would do in a similar 

 case ; and perhaps his companions, before they sorrow- 

 fully departed, sang his death-song, and kindled over 

 his grave the fire of a funeral feast, as well to honour 

 his memory as to prevent pursuing foes from disturbing 

 his remains. The next occupants of the cave probably 

 knew nothing of the burial, and the' friends of the dead 

 did not return to reclaim his remains ; so he lay un- 

 disturbed till disinterred by Dr. Riviere, and removed 

 to the Parisian Museum. 



If, as there is every reason to believe, this is an 



