THE MISSOURIUM. 93 
mentioned to me some time afterwards by a Mr. Wash, who 
lived in the vicinity. 
On hearing this, I immediately made arrangements to pro- 
ceed to the place. On my arrival there, in October, 1838, I 
found the prospects rather dull; as the bones which had been 
dug out of the spring were principally destroyed. They had 
been removed from their place of embedment. without the 
least care, and were of course more or less broken; then ex- 
posed to the air without any kind of preservation being applied 
to them; and eventually what few remained tolerably whole, 
were broken by their curious visitors, to ascertain if they con- 
tained marrow; until the few remaining fragments were col- 
lected together by an intelligent gentleman, by the name of 
Bailey, residing in the neighbourhood, who presented them to 
me, and assisted me in my farther researches. I found nine 
feet beneath the surface a layer of ashes from six to twelve 
inches in thickness, mingled with chareoal, large pieces of wood 
partly burned, together with Indian implements of war, as 
stone arrow-heads, tomahawks, &c. &c. Also more than one 
hundred and fifty pieces of rocks, varying from three to twenty- 
five pounds in weight, which must have been carried here from 
the rocky shores of the Burbois river, a distance of 300 yards; 
as there was no rock, stones, or even gravel near to be found; 
and those pieces of rocks taken out of the ashes were precisely 
the same as that found on the river, which is a species of lime- 
stone; these had been thrown evidently with the intention of 
striking the animal. I found the fore and hind foot standing 
in a perpendicular position; and likewise the full length of the 
leg below the layer of ashes, so deep in the mud and water that 
the fire had no effect on them. 
The fore foot of the animal consists of four toes and a thumb; 
each toe has five joints, each last joint was armed with a claw, 
or long nail. The thumb has two joints; the crown of the 
foot is composed of four bones, joined together, and each con- 
nected to a toe. On the top of this is a thin round bone, con- 
necting them with the shin bone. The construction of this 
foot shows that it possessed much power in grasping and hold- 
ing objects. The hind foot is smaller, and has also four toes, 
