in a sitting posture; and an intelligent halfbreed Choctaw informed me that this was sometimes practised among themselves. The Choctaws formerly placed their dead on a

pan, that if the dead man should stand in need of water, he may not want a vessel to hold it in. They hang a garment from a tree, near the place of interment, for him to put on, if he chooses to come out of the grave. They also fix a spear near the graves of men, that an instrument of war and the chase may be in readiness for them. For the same purpose, beside the graves of their caciques, and men distinguished for military fame, they place horses, slain with many ceremonies, a custom common to most of the equestrian savages in Paraguay. The best horses, those which the deceased used and delighted in most, are generally slain at the grave.

"The Abipones are not content with any sepulchre, but take especial care that fathers may lie with their sons, wives with their husbands, grand-children with their grand-fathers, and great-grand-fathers; and that every family should have its burying-place. This nation having formerly inhabited more towards the north, know that their ancestors' monuments exist there, and venerate them as something divine. They feel the most lively pleasure in mingling the bones of their countrymen, wherever, amidst their perpetual peregrinations, they may have been buried, with the bones of their ancestors. Hence it is, that they dig them up, and remove them so often, and carry them over immense tracts of land, till at length they repose in the ancient and woody mausoleum of their forefathers; which they distinguish by certain marks, cut in the trees, and by other signs taught them by their ancestors. The Brazilians and Guaranies formerly disliked the trouble of digging pits for sepulchres. These hungry anthropophagi buried within their own bowels the flesh of those that yielded to fate. It must be confessed, however,

scaffold, in a large chamber, called the House of Bones, a particular portion of which was reserved for each particular family, as the Racoon Family, or the Panther Family.

that the Guaranies of after-times, more humane than their ancestors, placed dead bodies in clay pitchers. Seeking the savages in Albaevera, in the midst of the woods, I met with a plain artificially made, the trees being cut down for the purpose, and there I found three pitchers of this kind, each of which would contain a man, but all empty. The bottoms of the pitchers were placed toward the sky, the mouths towards the ground."-History of the Abipones.

Among the Minitaries, on the Missouri, Bradbury found the dead deposited on separate scaffolds. He thus describes one of these stages:

"In my way to the fort I passed through a small wood, where I discovered a stage, constructed betwixt four trees, standing very near each other, and to which the stage was attached, about ten feet from the ground. On this stage was laid the body of an Indian, wrapped in a buffalo robe. As the stage was very narrow, I could see all that was upon it, without much trouble. It was the body of a man, and beside it there lay a bow and quiver, with arrows, a tomahawk, and a scalping knife. There were a great number of stages erected, about a quarter of a mile from the village on which the dead bodies were deposited, which, for fear of giving offence, I avoided, as I found that, although it is the custom of these people thus to expose the dead bodies of their ancestors, yet they have, in a very high degree, that veneration for their remains, which is a characteristic of the American Indians.”

"When a Caraib died," says Sheldon, "he was immediately painted all over with roucou, and had his mustachios and the black streaks in his face made with a black paint, which was different from that used in their life-time. A kind of grave

Whenever they changed their residence, expelled by victorious tribes, or induced by the growing scarcity of deer, or buffalo, to dive deeper into the forests for subsistence, they carried the bones of their fathers along with them.

was then dug in the carbet where he died, about four feet square, and six or seven feet deep. The body was let down in it, when sand was thrown in, which reached to the knees, and the body was placed on it, in a sitting posture, resembling that in which they crouched round the fire, or the table, when alive, with the elbows on the knees, and the palms of the hands against the cheeks."—Account of the Caraibs,

Letter XV.

Foot of the Cumberland Mountain, Tennessee, 30th May, 1820.

My letter of yesterday brought down our journal to the 24th. We set off early on the 25th; and breakfasted at an Indian's, whose cabin has acquired the title of "the Clean House;" a distinction well deserved, and indicative of no common merit in the Indian Nation.

Soon after breakfast, we crossed a swamp, which had been held up in terrorem before us for some days; and took the precaution of passing it in company with some gentlemen whom we overtook, and who were acquainted with its intricacies. Our prudence, however, was unnecessary; as the dry weather had rendered it far less difficult and troublesome, than several which we had previously crossed alone. In winter, it must be almost impassable; and one of our companions assured us, that he had had to swim over many parts of it, and in others to plunge up to the saddleskirts in mire at every step. The bottom is a stiff clay; and horses sometimes stick so

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fast that they cannot be extricated, but are left to die.

Although the weather for some days had been remarkably dry, we had frequently to dismount several times in an hour, to drive our horses through creeks and streams, which would have embarrassed a Leicestershire fox hunter. One of my companions told me, that when travelling the route last spring, he had to swim his horse seven times in the course of a mile, and as frequently to unload the pack-horse which carried his provisions. We were more fortunate, and our journey was attended with little difficulty or fatigue.

In the course of this day's ride, we crossed the last waters which fall into the Tombigbee; and some little streams, which, taking an opposite direction, empty themselves into the Tennessee. We also passed, though still in the Indian Nation, the boundary line between Mississippi and Alabama. The country became more hilly; and we were glad to exchange our muddy streams for clear pebbly brooks.

At night, we slept in the woods; and in the morning, crossed Bear Creek, a beautiful romantic river. A few miles further, we came to the summit of a hill, from which we had an extensive view of the country below us. The