Above
it a pavement of flat stones was placed, on which others were
piled, so as to fill up the space between the ledge and the two
great blocks. To complete the grave, the Indians had contrived to
detach from the ledge a huge fragment, and to throw it over the
pile so as to rest on the two blocks. We undermined the grave on
both sides, but could not find any relics, or even bones. The
latter probably had decayed long since (in which case the grave
must have been of extreme antiquity), for I found in another place
some smaller heaps, beneath which a very few crumbling fragments
could yet be distinguished as having belonged to a man. Falconer
states, that where an Indian dies he is buried, but that
subsequently his bones are carefully taken up and carried, let the
distance be ever so great, to be deposited near the sea-coast. This
custom, I think, may be accounted for by recollecting that, before
the introduction of horses, these Indians must have led nearly the
same life as the Fuegians now do, and therefore generally have
resided in the neighbourhood of the sea. The common prejudice of
lying where one's ancestors have lain, would make the now roaming
Indians bring the less perishable part of their dead to their
ancient burial-ground on the coast.
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