the Indian Papenau. This is probably the only specimen of the sort in existence today, and it may well have been the ordinary form of spoon made and used by the Indians of New England. The length of this specimen is 104 mm. and its greatest width is 41 mm. Through the larger end are three small perforations. Probably threads of flax, or sinew, passing through the perforations, bound the spoon to a wooden or a bone handle. (See plate XXXIX.)

The third New England specimen in the collection is a fish-line: 1736 A fishing line made of the wild Indian hemp. wt the shank bone of a fawn which serves both as hook and bait. The fish biting at it swallowing it down.

This line belongs to the collection sent by John Winthrop from New England and, according to the old label attached to the specimen, was made and used by the Indians of that region. The entire length of the cord is 13.6 meters, and of the bone 120 mm. As both ends of the bone have been cut away, it forms a tube through which the cord passes. The end of the cord is then tied, forming in this way a loop through the bone; unfortunately this is not shown in the illustration (pl. XXXIX). There is nothing to indicate how or where the sinker was attached.

OTHER OBJECTS

Only two objects now remain to be described.

There is no way

of ascertaining from what part of America these came, although they were obtained probably from the northern Indians. These specimens are shown on plate XXXIX with the New England material.

572 A long thin piece of wood like a lath shaped like a knife with a handle which one of the Indian Kings thrust down his throat. 'Tis used as a remedy to cause vomiting as a proang [?] tho' it did not cause him to vomit.

This most unusual but not unknown object is made of hickory. Both ends are broken; the part remaining is 515 mm. in length, with an average width of 14 mm. and a thickness of 2 mm. It is very doubtful whether these sticks were used for the purpose described, but rather were employed in ceremonies such as those performed by

the present Zuñi Indians and by the ancient inhabitants of the West Indies.

Another more perfect piece is :

1532 An instrument for cleaning the stomach used by the Indians of America.

This object also is made of hickory; it is evidently entire and perfect. The length is 820 mm., the average width 15 mm., and the thickness about 2 mm.

In this article I have described all the specimens from the American colonies remaining in the British Museum as part of the original Sloane collection. Before bringing the paper to a close I desire to express my indebtedness to Mr Chas. H. Read and Mr T. A. Joyce, of the British Museum, without whose assistance it could not have been prepared.

LONDON,

ENGLAND.

A CACHE OF STONE BOWLS IN CALIFORNIA

BY HORATIO N. RUST1

Mr H. W. Hunt, of San Fernando, California, has been tilling for several years the site of an old Indian village, and in doing so has unearthed fragments of not fewer than thirty Indian bowls, but no whole specimen. A short time ago, while plowing, he encountered a stone, and in digging it out discovered a cache of twenty-one sandstone bowls (see plate XL) carefully packed together in a space not exceeding four by five feet. On Mr Hunt's invitation I personally examined the contents of this interesting cache, finding the bowls quite symmetrical and all except one in perfect condition.

These utensils measure about 10 inches in greatest diameter, and from 7 to 10 inches across the bottom; they are about 1/4 inch in thickness at rim. A shallow groove is cut in the edge of the rim of each vessel, in which shell beads are set in asphaltum. About midway in the inside of one of the bowls a series of holes, about one-fourth of an inch in depth and diameter, is holes a shell bead is set in asphaltum. the only attempt at ornamentation.

cut, and in each of these These inset beads represent

After carefully examining the field in which these vessels were found I reached the conclusion that the thirty broken bowls indicated the former occupancy of the site by a village of considerable size, and that they had been broken by an enemy rather than through use. I was led also to the belief that the villagers had been killed and many of their vessels destroyed, but that the predatory enemy had failed to find the cache of bowls, which had been secreted by their owners in fear of such an attack.

This conclusion was reached in view of the experience gained from the examination of many village sites in California. On one occasion, at a site south of San Jacinto mountain, I discovered

1 As this paper is going to press, word is received of the unfortunate death of the author at his home in South Pasadena, California, on November 14. - EDITOR.