BOSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 13 



their dead in this manner: First they swathe the body and tie it up 

 in skins ; not lengthwise, but with the knees against the stomach and 

 the head on the knees, as we are in our mother's womb. Afterwards 

 they put it in the grave, which has been made very deep, not upon 

 the back or lying down as we do, but sitting. A posture which they 

 like very much, and which among them signifies reverence. For the 

 children and the youths seat themselves thus in the presence of their 

 fathers and of the old, whom they respect . . . When the body is 

 placed, as it does not come up even with the ground on account of the 

 depth of the grave, they arch the grave over with sticks, so that 

 the earth will not fall back into it, and thus they cover up the 

 tomb ... If it is some illustrious personage they build a Pyramid 

 or monument of interlacing poles; as eager in that for glory as 

 we are in our marble and porphyry. If it is a man, they place 

 there as a sign and emblem, his bow, arrows, and shield; if a 

 woman, spoons, matachias^ or jewels, ornaments, etc. I have nearly 

 forgotten the most beautiful part of all; it is that they bury with 

 the dead man all that he owns, such as his bag, his arrows, his 

 skins and all his other articles and baggage, even his dogs if they 

 have not been eaten. Moreover, the survivors add to these a num- 

 ber of other such offerings, as tokens of friendship . . . These obse- 

 quies finished, they flee from the place, and, from that time on, they 

 hate all memory of the dead. If it happens that they are obliged 

 to speak lof him sometimes, it is under another and a new name." 

 (Biard, (1), pp. 127-131.) 



Dogs were among the gifts presented to the dying man by his 

 friends, and "they kill these dogs in order to send them on before 

 him into the other world," and they were eaten at the feast prepared 

 at the time of the death, " for they find them palatable." 



This general description would probably have applied to the burial 

 customs of the tribes occupying the greater part of the country east 

 of the Hudson, the present New England States, and the closely 

 flexed burials are easily explained and clearly described. The asso- 

 ciation of many objects with the remains is verified by the discoveries 

 made by the Pilgrims when they landed on Cape Cod, early in No- 

 vember, 1620, and interesting indeed is their old narrative. They 

 went ashore on the unknown coast to explore the woods and learn 

 what they might contain. They advanced a short distance and en- 

 countered small mounds of earth which were found to cover pits or 

 caches filled with corn. And then they found another : " It also was 

 covered with boords, so as we mused what it should be, and resolved 

 to digge it up, where we found, first a Matt, and under that a fayre 

 Bow, and there another Matt, and under that boord about three 

 quarters long, finely carved and paynted, with three tynes, or broches 

 on the top, like a Crowne ; also betweene the Matts we found Boules, 



