Mounds full of Human Remains.

Undoubted proof has been discovered of the cannibal propensities of some large tribe now passed away, in mounds situated on high ground, and in swamps in the neighbourhood of the coast. On opening one of them—upwards of 20 feet in height and 130 in diameter at its base—it was found to be composed of shells mixed with a large number of broken bones, apparently the relics of meals. The shells were chiefly periwinkles; there were also mussels, the large claws of crabs, the bones of vertebrate fishes and land animals, as well as some hard slabs of pottery resembling the baking-pans used by the wilder tribes at the present day. Among them, the labourers were startled by coming upon human bones, in irregular positions and at unequal depths, huddled and jumbled together. The skulls, some of which were of great thickness, were in fragments. The long bones had all been cracked open, and contained sand and dust. Each mass appeared to have been deposited, without ceremony, in a common heap. Scarcely any were found in natural juxtaposition. Having dug up the bones of several adults, the labourers came upon the remains of a little child; one side of its head had been beaten in, and other bones broken open. With these human relics several stone axes or tomahawks, most of them broken, were dug up; and a sharp-edged stone, which might have been used as a knife. The Indians engaged in the work were very uneasy at having meddled with the human remains, or, as they said, “troubled the bones of the old time people.”

Other mounds of similar appearance were opened, and found filled with similar contents. Though some of the long bones had been broken up, in several instances they had not been severed from each other at the large joints, but merely doubled or twisted one upon the other before they were cast aside.

Mr Brett continues: “It was impossible to explain by any supposition of respectful or decent interment the broken condition of these relics, the violence with which they had been treated, or the apparent contumely with which they had been cast into the common receptacle for refuse matter. The great depth at which many of these remains were found, seemed a 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 large 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 originally 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 ornaments, 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 there. Between the plates was the fragment of a piece of cotton cord which had attached one of the plates to the ear.

While everything about the relics from the previous mounds indicated the savage condition of the people who formed them, these little silver trinkets, though rude, proved feelings approaching women in a state of civilisation. They, with the unbroken condition and comparative soundness of the bones found near them, bring us nearer our own times. As the state of the remains differed from those of the others, so probably did the period and circumstances of the poor girl’s fate; but there is a mystery about it which cannot now be explained. After the mound had been opened, the Indian congregation, neatly dressed, went in procession, with their pastor and teacher, from the chapel to the mound, and collecting round and over it, the various tribes joined in singing the glorious hymn—

“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Doth his successive journey run!”

while the lamb, the dove, and other Christian emblems on the banners borne by the school children, waved over the yawning cavity which had disclosed such relics of barbarous days, indicated a blessed change in the life of that long neglected race. May it be extended over the whole continent!

Vegetable Productions.

The trees and animals of Guiana afford a more satisfactory subject for contemplation than the degraded inhabitants. Among them, sin has not entered. They remain in all their perfection and beauty, as they first appeared fresh from the hands of the Creator. A large number are so similar to those found in the Valley of the Amazon, that they need no separate description. In the upper waters of its streams the