448 REPORT — 1902. 



in any essential particular from the typical ones at Hatzic. But some of 

 those on Vancouver Island might be more aptly termed cairns than tumuli, 

 as they are constructed without clay or sand or soil of any kind, the 

 pieces of rock or boulders being piled up in conical form over the body, 

 much as we find them in the Scotch cairns. 



I have already alluded to the different kinds of sand found in some 

 of these structures. I regard this as a remarkable feature. What its 

 presence signified, I am unable to say ; but that it had some special signi- 

 fication there can be no doubt. It is found in all the larger of the 

 Hatzic mounds, sometimes in large quantities, and also in those near 

 Sumas Lake and at Point Roberts ; and it is also quite frequently seen 

 in those on Vancouver Island. This sand is sometimes spread over the 

 structure in distinct layers or strata of varying thickness. Sometimes in 

 the same mound we have layers of dark reddish or brown sand alternat- 

 ing with layers of clay and dark-grey sand. In no instance is this sand 

 the natural soil of the place where the mounds are erected, but has been 

 laboriously brought from some other spot. I may here state that the 

 Indians who live in the vicinity of these tumuli know nothing about them 

 or their builders. Burial by inhumation was never practised in the Delta 

 district by the present tribes as far as they themselves know, or as far as 

 their traditions reveal. Burial in or under trees ; in roughly constructed 

 wooden tombs, erected on poles ; in large family box-like receptacles ; 

 in blankets or in separate coffins or boxes, which were placed under sheds 

 in the burial grounds, or suspended from the branches of trees, was the 

 prevailing custom among these tribes when we first came into contact 

 with them, and as far back as they have any record of. I have already 

 pointed out my reasons for thinking they could not have occupied their 

 present territory beyond a few centuries at most, and the presence among 

 them of these old tombs, disclosing this strange mode of sepulture, of 

 which they know nothing, seems to confirm this view. The conservation 

 and perpetuation of well-established customs are a very strong trait in the 

 character of primitive man all over the world, and though changes and modi- 

 fications may and do, by lapse of time or alteration of circumstances, take 

 place, yet we rarely meet with cases of such radical change as that which 

 must have taken place here if the present tribes are the descendants of 

 the mound builders. Unfortunately we have thus far been able to secure 

 so little somatological material from these tombs that it is impossible to 

 institute comparisons between the morphological characters of the mound 

 builders and those of the modern tribes, and so determine the question, 

 if possible, by this means. In only one instance did I succeed in recover- 

 ing a few bones and a portion of a skull, the examination of which has 

 only made the question more perplexing. This skull had been subjected 

 to considerable pressure in the ground, and had in consequence suffered 

 very much from deformation post-mortem. To make the matter worse, it 

 had also been deformed in the lifetime of the individual to whom it 

 belonged ; and although Dr. Boas inclines to the belief that such of the 

 face as is left presents features in common with the heads of the present 

 Indians, the evidence in support of this is of so scanty and inconclusive 

 a nature that it can scarcely be taken into account. This fragmentary 

 skull, then, does not afford us much help. There is, however, one point of 

 interest about it. It appears to be the skull of a woman. If it be so, 

 then the honours paid to deceased wives or women among the mound 

 builders were very much greater than those paid to deceased wives or 



