302 KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
examined many hundreds of their sepulchres 
and found that the skull always had the 
same singular shape. ‘The custom of modi- 
fying the shape of the head prevailed on the 
banks of the Columbia, and at Nootka Sound. 
‘Among the Columbian tribes, the child, 
immediately after birth, is put into a cradle 
of a peculiar construction, and pressure is 
applied to the forehead and occiput. After 
the head has been compressed for several 
months, it exhibits amost hideous appearance : 
the antero-posterior diameter is the smallest, 
while the breadth from .side to side, above 
the ears; is enormous, thus reversing the 
natural measurement of the cranium. As 
the individual increases in years, the deformity 
becomes less; but even in adult persons it is 
very great. From the excessive depression 
of the forehead, the eyes appear as if turned 
upwards—a circumstance which gives a 
peculiar physiognomy to the Indians. The 
process is slow and gentle ; so that the child 
does not appear to suffer in any way from so 
unnatural a process, nor do the intellectual 
qualities of the individual appear to be in 
any way ajjected by zt; on the contrary, a 
jlat head ts esteemed an honor, and dis- 
tinguishes the freeman from the slave.’ 
“These circumstances are sufficient to 
establish the fact that the human cranium 
may be distorted by artificial means, and 
thus render it probable that the skulls of 
the ancient Peruvians may have been dis- 
figured by the same process. This opinion 
is greatly strengthened by other circum- 
stances. Blumenbach has figured a deformed 
and compressed Peruvian cranium from Quilea. 
The form is different from that of the skull 
represented by Tiedman, and from those of 
the Indians of North Western America ; but 
different modes, and different degrees of 
compression, will produce different degrees 
of deformity. 
“Sometimes the pressure was applied 
diagonally from the left half of the frontal 
to the right half of the occipital bone. 
“Tn addition to these facts, we have the 
testimony of historians and travellers that it 
was the practice in Peru to compress the 
heads of their children. De la Condamine 
informs us that the custom prevails in South 
America, and that it was known to the 
Peruvians; and in the year 1585 the Synod 
of Lima prohibited the custom under pain of 
ecclesiastical punishment. The edict begins; 
‘Cupientes penitus extirpare abusum et 
superstitionem quibus Indi passim infantum 
capita formis imprimunt,’ &e. We cannot 
suppose that a public edict would have been 
issued against a practice that had no ex- 
istence. The practice, in fact, appears to 
have been common amongst all the tribes 
west of the Rocky Mountains. 
“The process used for the compression of 



the head is described as follows :—‘Imme- 
diately after birth, the infant is placed ina 
kind of oblong cradle, formed like a trough, 
with moss under it. The end on which the 
head reposes is more elevated than the rest. 
A padding is then placed on the forehead, 
with a piece of cedar bark over it; and, by 
means of cords, passed through small holes 
on each side of the cradle, the padding is 
pressed against the head. It is kept in this 
manner upwards of a year, and the process 
is not, I believe, attended with much pain. 
The appearance of the infant however, while 
in this state, is frightful ; and its little black 
eyes, forced out by the tightness of the 
bandages, resemble those of a mouse ina 
trap. When released from the inhuman 
process, the head is perfectly flattened, and 
the upper part of it seldom exceeds an inch 
in thickness. It never after recovers its 
rotundity. They deem this an _ essential 
point of beauty, and the most devoted 
adherent of our Charles I. never entertained 
a stronger aversion to a Round-head than 
these savages. They allege as an excuse for 
this custom that all their slaves have round 
heads, and, accordingly, every child of a 
bondsman, who is not adopted by the tribe, 
inherits, not only his father’s degradation, 
but his parental rotundity of cranium :” 
(““Cox’s Travels on the Columbia River.’’) 
“Another mode of compressure was by 
placing the infant on a sort of cradle; to the 
upper end of which, where the head was 
laid, a piece of thin board was attached by a 
hinge. The board being brought forward, 
the pressure on the forehead was gradually 
increased by drawing the extremity tighter, 
either by cords or by a weight suspended. 
By these means the forehead was flattened ; 
and the head was elongated backward, till 
brought to a thin edge. In adults, after this 
process, the nose is represented in the ex- 
amples given as projecting; a characteristic 
common among the American tribes gene- 
rally. 
‘“ As to the story of the little Aztecs being 
objects of reverence, and their being brought 
from a city cut off from all communication 
with the rest of the world, and never before 
known to exist till very lately—as to the 
mode of capturing them, and the attendant 
circumstances—these matters must be sub- 
stantiated by better evidence than the story 
of an adventurer. The account is altogether 
improbable ; and, if true, would be a disgrace 
to any party concerned in it. It has alto- 
gether the air of a monstrous fiction; dealing 
in vague generalities, and marking out no 
particular locality, lest it should lead to 
detection. . 
“The only part of the story to be depended 
upon is, that two little helpless objects have 
been brought from their native wilds in 


