14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll, 71 



Trayes, Dishes, and such like Trinkets: at length we came to a faire 

 new Matt, and under that two Bundles, the one bigger, the other less, 

 we opened the greater and found in it a great quantitie of fine ancl 

 perfect red Powder, and in it the bones and skull of a man. The 

 skull had fine yellow haire still on it, and some of the flesh uncon- 

 sumed, there was bound up with it a knife, a pack-needle, and two or 

 three old iron things. It was bound up in a Saylers canvas Cassack, 

 and a payre of cloth breeches. . . . We opened the less bundle like- 

 wise, and found of the same Powder in it, and the bones and head of 

 a little childe, about the leggs, and other parts of it was bound strings, 

 and bracelets of fine white Beads ; there was also by it a little Bow, 

 about three quarters long, and some other odd knacks; we brought 

 sundry of the pretiest things aw^ay with us, and covered the Corps up 

 again." (Mourt, (1), p. 11.) 



This was probably just north of Pamet River, in Truro village, 

 where at the present day rising ground, slightly more elevated than 

 the surrounding country, continues to be known as Corn Hill. Near 

 the western edge of this area it becomes more level and falls away 

 abruptly on the shore of Cape Cod Bay, rising some 20 feet above 

 high tide and exposing bare sand with little vegetation. During the 

 summer of 1903 a dark line was visible on the face of the bank at an 

 average depth of about 2 feet below the present surface and it could 

 be traced for several hundred yards along the shore. This dark 

 stratum, several inches in thickness, proved to be an old sod line, and 

 at three points where it was somewhat thicker than elsewhere fire 

 beds were discovered and slight excavations revealed fragments of 

 pottery, bits of charred bones, and ashes. This may have been the 

 surface upon which stood the village of three centuries ago, and if so, 

 the land upon wiiich the Pilgrims trod has been covered by a mass 

 of drifting sand, swept by the winds across the narrow cape. 



Sailing from their safe anchorage near the end of the cape, the 

 Pilgrims, on December 6, 1620, arrived in the vicinity of Wellfleet 

 Bay, named by them Grwmpus Bay^ by reason of discovering " eight 

 or ten Saluages about a dead Grampus," and near by " we found a 

 great burying place, one part whereof w^as incompasscd with a large 

 Palazado, like a Church-yard, with yong spires foure or fiA'c yards 

 long, set as close one by another as they could two or three foot in 

 the ground, within it was full of graves, some bigger and some lesse, 

 some were also paled about, & others had like an Indian house made 

 over them, but not matted : those Graves were more sumptuous than 

 those at (^ome-Mll^ yet we digged none of them up . . . without 

 the Palazado were graves also, but not so costly." (Op. cit., p. IT.) 

 Not far away were several frames of wigwams, but the nuit covers 

 had been removed and the site had been temporarily abandoned. 



