88 BURIAL— AQUATIC— GOSH-UTES. 



land of spirits." It is well known to all readers of history to what an 



extreme this revolting practice has prevailed in Mexico, South America, and 



Africa. 



AQUATIC BUEIAL. 



As a confirmed rite or ceremony, this mode of disposing of the dead 

 has never been followed by any of our North American Indians, although 

 occasionally the dead have been disposed of by sinking in springs or water- 

 courses, by throwing into the sea, or by setting afloat in canoes. Among the 

 nations of antiquity the practice was not uncommon, for we are informed 

 that the Ichthyophagi, or fish-eaters, mentioned by Ptolemy, living in a 

 remon borderin»' on the Persian Gulf, invariablv committed their dead to 

 the sea, thus repaying the obligations they had incurred to its inhabitants. 

 The Lotophagians did the same, and the Hyperboreans, with a commend- 

 able degree of forethought for the survivors, when ill or about to die, threw 

 themselves into the sea. The burial of Baldor "the beautiful," it may be 

 remembered, was in a highly decorated ship, which was pushed down to the 

 sea, set on fire, and committed to the waves. The Itzas of Guatemala, liv- 

 ing on the islands of Lake Peter, according to Bancroft, are said to have 

 thrown their dead into the lake for want of room. The Indians of Nootka 

 Sound and the Chinooks were in the habit of thus getting rid of their dead 

 slaves, and, according to Timberlake, the Cherokees of Tennessee "seldom 

 bury the dead, but threw them into the river." 



After a careful search for well-authenticated instances of burial, aquatic 

 and semi-aquatic, but two have been found, which are here given. The 

 first relates to the Gosh-Utes, and is by Capt. J. II. Simpson:* 



" Skull Valley, which is a part of the Great Salt Lake Desert, and 

 which we have crossed to-day, Mr. George W. Bean, my guide over this 

 route last fall, says derives its name from trie number of skulls which have 

 been found in it, and which have arisen from the custom of the Goshute 

 Indians burying their dead in springs, which they sink with stones or keep 

 down with sticks. He says he has actually seen the Indians bury their 

 dead in this way near the town of rrovo, where he resides." 



As corroborative of this statement, Captain Simpson mentions in 



•Exploration Greal Salt Lake Valley, Utah, 1859, p. 48. 



