rm itself by and to partake of the food deposited
near it.

These were probably the Massasauga Indians, then inhabiting the
north shore of Lake Ontario, but who were rather intruders here, the
country being claimed by the Oneidas.

It is not to be denied that the use of canoes for coffins has
occasionally been remarked, for the writer in 1873 removed from the
graves at Santa Barbara, California, an entire skeleton which was
discovered in a redwood canoe, but it is thought that the individual may
have been a noted fisherman, particularly as the implements of his
vocation--nets, fish-spears, &c.--were near him, and this burial was
only an exemplification of the well-rooted belief common to all Indians,
that the spirit in the next world makes use of the same articles as were
employed in this one. It should be added that of the many hundreds of
skeletons uncovered at Santa Barbara the one mentioned presented the
only example of the kind.

Among the Indians of the Mosquito coast, in Central America, canoe
burial in the ground, according to Bancroft, was common, and is thus
described:

The corpse is wrapped in cloth and placed in one-half of a pitpan
which has been cut in two. Friends assemble for the funeral and
drown their grief in _mushla_, the women giving vent to their sorrow
by dashing themselves on the ground until covered with blood, and
inflicting other tortures, occasionally even committing suicide. As
it is supposed that the evil spirit seeks to obtain possession of
the body, musicians are called in to lull it to sleep while
preparations are made for its removal. All at once four naked men,
who have disguised themselves with paint so as not to be recognized
and punished by _Wulasha_, rush out from a neighboring hut, and,
seizing a rope attached to the canoe, drag it into the woods,
followed by the music and the crowd. Here the pitpan is lowered into
the grave with bow, arrow, spear, paddle, and other implements to
serve the departed in the land beyond, then the other half of the
boat is placed over the body. A rude hut is constructed over the
grave, serving as a receptacle for the choice food, drink, and other
articles placed there from time to time by relatives.

_STONE GRAVES OR CISTS._

These are of considerable interest, not only from their somewhat rare
occurrence, except in certain localities, but from the manifest care
taken by the survivors to provide for