cut away by a sharp instrument,
resembling a hatter's knife. The remnant of the hair, and the
gashes in the skin, nearly resemble the sheared pelt of
beaver. The next wrapper of cloth is made of twine doubled
and twisted. But the thread does not appear to have been
formed by the wheel, nor the web by the loom. The warp and
filling seemed to have been crossed and knotted by an
operation like that of the fabricks of the northwest coast,
and of the Sandwich islands. * * * The innermost tegument is
a mantle of cloth like the preceding; but furnished with
large brown feathers, arranged and fastened with great art,
so as to be capable of guarding the living wearer from wet
and cold. The plumage is distinct and entire, and the whole
bears a near similitude to the feathery cloaks now worn by
the nations of the northwestern coast of America.[53]

The Bureau of Ethnology had the good fortune to secure recently a number
of representative pieces of burial fabrics of the classes mentioned in
the preceding extracts, and somewhat detailed descriptions of these will
sufficiently illustrate the art as practiced by the early inhabitants of
the middle portions of the country.

The relics which have come into the possession of the Bureau were
obtained in 1885 by Mr. A. J. McGill from a rock shelter on "Clifty" or
Cliff Creek, Morgan county, Tennessee. Mr. J. W. Emmert, through whom
they were procured, reports that they were found in a grave 31/2 feet
below the surface and in earth strongly charged with niter and perhaps
other preservative salts. The more pliable cloths, together with skeins
of vegetal fiber, a dog's skull, some bone tools, and portions of human
bones and hair, were rolled up in a large split-cane mat. The grave was
situated about as shown in the accompanying section (figure 4). A shelf
some 20 feet in width, with depressed floor, occurs about midway between
the creek bed and the slightly overhanging ledge above, the whole height
being estimated at 300 feet.

[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. III
MANTLE OR SKIRT OF LIGHT-COLORED STUFF.]

The mat, a very excellent piece of work, is 6 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 4
inches. By reference to plate II it will be seen that it is neatly and
artistically made and quite well preserved. The strands are from
one-third to three-sixteenths of an inch in width and are even on the
edges and smoothly dress