ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 181 



We came to anchor near this rock in the evening, and Captain 

 Lambert, Mr. N., and myself visited the tombs. We were espe- 

 cially careful not to touch or disarrange any of the fabrics, and 

 it was well we were so, for as we turned to leave the place, we 

 found that we had been narrowly watched by about twenty In- 

 dians, whom we had not seen when we landed from our boat. 

 After we embarked, we observed an old withered crone with a 

 long stick or wand in her hand, who approached, and walked 

 over the ground which we had defiled with our sacrilegious 

 tread, waving her enchanted rod over the mouldering bones, as 

 if to purify the atmosphere around, and exorcise the evil spirits 

 which we had called up. 



I have been very anxious to procure the skulls of some of 

 these Indians, and should have been willing, so far as I alone 

 was concerned, to encounter some risk to effect my object, but I 

 have refrained on account of the difficulty in which the ship and 

 crew would be involved, if the sacrilege should be discovered ; 

 a prejudice might thus be excited against our little colony 

 which would not soon be overcome, and might prove a serious 

 injury. 



6th. — The weather is almost constantly rainy and squally, 

 making it unpleasant to be on deck ; we are therefore confined 

 closely to the cabin, and are anxious to get out to sea as soon as 

 possible, if only to escape this. 



In the afternoon, the captain and myself went ashore in the 

 long-boat, and visited several Indian houses upon the beach. 

 These are built of roughly hewn boards and logs, usually covered 

 with pine bark, or matting of their own manufacture, and open at 

 the top, to allow the smoke to escape. In one of these houses 

 we found men, women, and children, to the number of fifty-two, 

 seated as usual, upon the ground, around numerous fires, the 

 smoke from which filled every cranny of the building, and to us 

 was almost stifling, although the Indians did not appear to suffer 



