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APPENDIX, 



Island of St. Catherines, on the coast of Cahfornia, which had a spacious level 

 court, where the Indians performed their sacrifices. The place of the altar was 

 a large circular space, with an enclosure of feathers of divers colors; and within 

 the circle was an image strangely painted, representing some devil, according to 

 the manner of the Indians of Mexico, holding in his hand the figures of the sun and 

 the moon. — (^Vaneffas''s California, Vol. I., p. 105.) 



Prince Maximilian has described to us the " Medicine lodge " of the Minataree 

 Indians, of which the subjoined engraving (Fig. 36) is a plan. It is situated in 

 the centre of the village, and consists of an elliptical space, one hundred and 



twenty feet in length, enclosed by a fence ten or twelve feet high, composed of 

 reeds and poles, somewhat inclining inwards. It has an entrance to the left; 

 d, d, d, d, are four fires ; and in the semi-elliptical recesses, the medicine men and 

 elders of the tribe have their seats. — {Travels in America, p. 419.) The place 

 occupied by the spectators, is indicated by f,f. The Mandans had similar "medi- 

 cine lodges," except that they were circular in form. They had also a sacred 

 area in the centre of their village ; and within it was placed a shrine of high mystery, 

 around which their religious dances were performed. 



It would be profitless to inquire further into the character of the sacred edifices, 

 " medicine lodges," or " council houses " of the hunter tribes. It will be seen at 

 once, that they reflect little if any light upon the structures under notice. 



No sooner, however, do we pass to the southward, and arrive among the Creeks, 

 Natchez, and affihated Floridian tribes, than we discover traces of structures which, 

 if they do not entirely correspond with the regular earth-works of the West, never- 

 theless seem to be somewhat analogous to them. These natives, it will be remem- 

 bered, had made some slight advances in civilization, were agricultural in their 

 habits, lived in considerable towns, had a systematized religion, and sustained 

 many other resemblances to the semi-civilized nations of the continent. 



Adair, in his account of these Indians, frequently mentions " the Holy Square " 

 surrounding their temples, and within which their religious rites were performed. 

 He does not, however, descend to particularize ; and we are left to conjecture what 

 were its dimensions, and how its boundaries were designated. It must have been 

 of considerable size ; for he several times speaks of it as receiving an entire village 

 or tribe, at the time of the great annual festivals. He is so absorbed, however, 

 in his favorite theory, that he cannot describe any feature except by the name 

 borne by its fancied counterpart among the Jews. So we are not surprised in 



