he tribe sat on the
ground, forming a large circle, inside of which another circle of
young girls were formed standing and swaying their bodies to and fro
and singing a mournful ditty. This was the only burial of a male
that I witnessed. The custom of burying females is very different,
their bodies being wrapped or bundled up in skins and laid away in
caves, with their valuables and in some cases food being placed with
them in their mouths. Occasionally money is left to pay for food in
the spirit land.

This account is furnished by Gen. Charles H. Tompkins, deputy
quartermaster-general, United States Army, who witnessed the burial
above related, and is the more interesting as it seems to be the only
well-authenticated case on record, although E. A. Barber[58] has
described what may possibly have been a case of cremation like the one
above noted:

A very singular case of aboriginal burial was brought to my notice
recently by Mr. William Klingbeil, of Philadelphia. On the New
Jersey bank of the Delaware River, a short distance below Gloucester
City, the skeleton of a man was found buried in a standing position,
in a high, red, sandy-clay bluff overlooking the stream. A few
inches below the surface the neck bones were found, and below these
the remainder of the skeleton, with the exception of the bones of
the hands and feet. The skull being wanting, it could not be
determined whether the remains were those of an Indian or of a white
man, but in either case the sepulture was peculiarly aboriginal.
A careful exhumation and critical examination by Mr. Klingbeil
disclosed the fact that around the lower extremities of the body had
been placed a number of large stones, which revealed traces of fire,
in conjunction with charred wood, and the bones of the feet had
undoubtedly been consumed. This fact makes it appear reasonably
certain that the subject had been executed, probably as a prisoner
of war. A pit had been dug, in which he was placed erect, and a fire
kindled around him. Then he had been buried alive, or, at least, if
he did not survive the fiery ordeal, his body was imbedded in the
earth, with the exception of his head, which was left protruding
above the surface. As no trace of the cranium could be found, it
seems probable that the head had either been burned or severed from
the body and removed, or else left a prey to ravenous birds. The
skeleton, which