DISCOVERY OF A SKELETON AND VASE. 279 



horn, about two inches long, sharp at the point, with 

 an eye at the other end. They all called it a nee- 

 dle, and the reason of their immediate and unhesi- 

 tating opinion was the fact that the Indians of the 

 present day use needles of the same material, two 

 of which the cura procured for me on our return to 

 the convent. One of the Indians, who had acquired 

 some confidence by gossiping with the cura, jocosely 

 said that the skeleton was either that of a woman 

 or a tailor. 



The position of this skeleton was not in the cen- 

 tre of the sepulchre, but on one side, and on the oth- 

 er side of it was a very large rough stone or rock 

 firmly imbedded in the earth, which it would have 

 taken a long time to excavate with our instruments. 

 In digging round it and on the other side, at some 

 little distance from the skeleton we found a large 

 vase of rude pottery, resembling very much the can- 

 taroused by the Indians now as a water-jar. It had 

 a rough flat stone lying over the mouth, so as to ex- 

 clude the earth, on removing which we found, to 

 our great disappointment, that it was entirely empty, 

 except some little hard black flakes, which were 

 thrown out and buried before the vase was taken 

 up. It had a small hole worn in one side of the bot- 

 tom, through which liquid or pulverized substances 

 could have escaped. It may have contained water 

 or the heart of the skeleton. This vase was got 

 out entire, and is now ashes. 



One idea presented itself to my mind with more 



