ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 29 



of the Mississippi river are familiar to many. The speaker 

 had occasion the previous winter to visit several places near 

 the mouth of the Red River where he had served, fourteen 

 years before, during the civil war. In one place, where 

 vessels were anchored at the earlier date, an island had 

 formed some rods in width, leaving a little channel between 

 itself and the main shore, and was covered with a growth of 

 cottonwood trees at least half as large as those of the adja- 

 cent forest. At Morganzia a large field was occupied for two 

 or three years by troops as a camp, and was not only stripped 

 of every tree, but was broken down by the constant march 

 of men and teams, so that the soil must have been in a 

 rather unfavorable condition. It was scarcely recognizable, 

 the old camp-ground being entirely covered with trees as 

 large as any others in" the vicinity. From such observations, 

 the speaker was led to conclude that evidences of antiquity 

 derived from forest growth and other changes in topographic 

 characteristics were apt to mislead archaeologists. 



Mr. Riley read a letter from a correspondent in San 

 Antonio, Texas, relating to the discovery of a remarkable 

 cave in a mountain standing in the valley of the Rio Nazas,. 

 state of Durango, Mexico. This river empties into a laguna, 

 or inland sea, ninety miles long and thirty miles wide, with 

 an elevation of about 3,000 feet above tide water ; it lias 

 no outlet. The mountain in which the burial cave is found, 

 stands near the shore of the lake. The cave is of great 

 extent and contains hundreds of mummies, representing 

 a distinct race of Indians of whom no history or tradition 

 exists. Each mummy is carefully wrapped in a blanket, 

 or mat made of the leaves of the Maquez plant and gorge- 

 ously colored with dyes and paints. The remains are 

 in an excellent state of preservation — the hair perfect, the 

 flesh seems to have become dessicated, or dried to the bones 

 with no trace of decomposition. No implements of metal 

 were found, but there was a profusion of arrows, spears, and 

 and knives, made of stone. The pottery showed a high 



