682 MOUNDS FULL OF HUMAN REMAINS. 



convincing proof that they had not been deposited after the 

 completion of the shell heap, but during its accumulation. 

 An old Indian with whom I discussed the matter expressed 

 the opinion of his people very plainly : ' That,' said he, ' is 

 the way in which the nations who used to eat men always 

 broke open the bones to get out the marrow ; so our fathers 

 have told us.' " The Caribs anxiously stated that they knew 

 nothing whatever about the mound, and that their fathers had 

 never lived in its neighbourhood. Two other mounds were 

 afterwards discovered; one 250 feet in length and 90 feet in 

 width, and about the same height as the former, and similarly 

 situated. Among the remains were the bones of a man who 

 must have been of lar^e stature and of immense strength. His 

 skull, which was very thick and hard, was found to have been 

 broken in twenty-seven pieces, which all fitted exactly ; but 

 when built up, a hole still remained in the right side near the 

 crown, where it would seem the fatal blow — by a pointed stone 

 tomahawk — had been given. Some of the mounds appeared to 

 be of later formation, and in them fragments of pottery were 

 found, though in the older ones none were discovered. While 

 searching over these fragments, the first personal ornaments 

 yet found were discovered, — two small plates of silver with 

 holes bored in them, by which they must have been suspended 

 from the ears. One had lost a corner ; but they had origin- 

 ally been cut or broken to the same size and form, and were 

 evidently a pair. Between them lay a skull, which had been 

 placed by itself, and was the first found unbroken. The orna- 

 ments, from their position, seemed to have been detached from 

 the head when deposited there. A few feet from that relic 

 lay the limbs of a female, of slight and delicate form. They 

 were unbroken, and much slighter than any others found 



