the body thus in
a subterranean vault until the flesh quits the bones. The bones are
then taken up, cleaned, jointed, clad in white-dressed deerskins,
and laid away in the _Quiogozon_, which is the royal tomb or
burial-place of their kings and war-captains, being a more
magnificent cabin reared at the public expense. This Quiogozon is an
object of veneration, in which the writer says he has known the
king, old men, and conjurers to spend several days with their idols
and dead kings, and into which he could never gain admittance.

Another class of mummies are those which have been found in the
saltpetre and other caves of Kentucky, and it is still a matter of doubt
with archaeologists whether any special pains were taken to preserve
these bodies, many believing that the impregnation of the soil with
certain minerals would account for the condition in which the specimens
were found. Charles Wilkins[32] thus describes one:

* * * An exsiccated body of a female[33] * * * was found at the
depth of about 10 feet from the surface of the cave bedded in clay
strongly impregnated with nitre, placed in a sitting posture,
incased in broad stones standing on their edges, with a flat atone
covering the whole. It was enveloped in coarse clothes, * * * the
whole wrapped in deer-skins, the hair of which was shaved off in the
manner in which the Indians prepare them for market. Enclosed in the
stone coffin were the working utensils, beads, feathers, and other
ornaments of dress which belonged to her.

The next description is by Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill.[34*]

AUG. 24th, 1815.

DEAR SIR: I offer you some observations on a curious piece of
American antiquity now in New York. It is a human body: found in one
of the limestone caverns of Kentucky. It is a perfect desiccation;
all the fluids are dried up. The skin, bones, and other firm parts
are in a state of entire preservation. I think it enough to have
puzzled Bryant and all the archaeologists.

This was found in exploring a calcareous cave in the neighborhood of
Glasgow for saltpetre.

These recesses, though under ground, are yet dry enough to attract
and retain the nitrick acid. It combines with lime and potash; and
probably the earthy matter of these excavations contains a good
proportion of calcareous carbonate. Amidst them drying and
antiseptick ingredients, it may be conceived that putrefaction would
be stayed, a